Touring - Fundraising Problems

Hi everybody,

As you may have seen from my other posts, I will be riding across the country this summer for charity, Autism Speaks and the National Down Syndrome Society.

I am currently an individual (I am still trying to organize a group) and I don't have enough time to set myself up as a nonprofit. Accordingly, many companies are reluctant to give me donations, I'm guessing because there is no assurance I will give the money to charity. Any advice on how to get businesses to be more willing to donate?

I had the idea of giving patches on my jersey, so in any media they would be advertised. How well do you think that would go over? I see problems because most companies have an order minimum of 10 pieces, and I don't want to carry that much, and also they need a few weeks to print them, but, since I am leaving in late June, that gives me only a few months to raise funds before I have to leave.

My other question was on the legality of using donations to cover trip costs. I am a very frugal person (ask my friends when they have no money), so I would keep the costs to a minimum, but I am not sure if that is allowed since the funds are going to charity. Much of the money raised would go to charity, but I'm not sure if its allowed...any IRS agents or accountants here?

Thanks for the help guys!

Alex

I think that if you want to have professional businesses contribute, you need to act professionally yourself. That would mean going to the effort of forming a 503-C, putting together some sort of press package, contacting media along the route and setting up interviews, news stories, etc. What are you bringing to the table that will entice a company to want to contribute? That may be the question that provides the answer to what will work. For instance, do you have a popular blog where the companies that donate will receive exposure?

I have seen several articles on blogs as well as videos on youtube that describe what is needed to get sponsorships and/or donations. Any company should and will be leery of donating to just anybody that shows up and says give me some money so I can give it to charity. They can simply donate directly to the charity unless you are providing something that is advantageous to them.

Hope this helps a bit to give you some ideas of what to think about in approaching this endeavor.

Edit: I want you to know that I admire your efforts and think it is great that you are trying to raise money for a worthy cause.

Haha I totally agree but the problem is time. If I did this again (and I'm thinking about doing it again next year) I would start planning way ahead.

Did you think logos on the jersey would be a good incentive offering?

And unfortunately I don't have a blog or even a twitter. Maybe worth creating a twitter account?

I think you still have time to try and arrange some media exposure along the way. Perhaps the charity could help with this. Maybe a jersey with the entire back stating that some company supports Autism Speaks would get a donation. I think your best bet might be to get friends to sponsor you per mile and to sign up friends of theirs to do the same - and I am talking about small amounts, so it adds up to just $25 or more each. Businesses do business, and you have not done the prep to do business. you also say you don't have the time for it now, so I would look in other directions. You really need some kind of publicity and promotion to go the business route, because like I said before, they can just donate directly if they aren't getting any added value by going through you. That is the important thing. What value are you adding or bringing to the table for the business you want to get a donation from?

I am not disparaging your goal and objective at all, but just trying to be objective in my answer. Most people who do this kind of thing do put several months into planning and prepping to make it all work.

1. Have you contacted the charity and told them what you're planning to do?

Some charities will work with you to set up a link on your website so that people can click the link and donate directly to the charity. That's a good way to do it. You don't handle the funds at all.

Or maybe they'll authorise a jersey with their website and info on it which you can wear while riding.


2. No, ethically, you do not have the right to use any of the money you raise to pay for your little holiday.

Some, myself included think that asking others to donate money because you are riding across the country is bad form. Basically a bike tour is a vacation. I have no respect for folks who would fund their vacation with donations.

That said...
My suggestion would be to arrange for all donations to go directly to the charity. Your charity of choice can probably help you with the logistics.

Some, myself included think that asking others to donate money because you are riding across the country is bad form. Basically a bike tour is a vacation. I have no respect for folks who would fund their vacation with donations.

That said...
My suggestion would be to arrange for all donations to go directly to the charity. Your charity of choice can probably help you with the logistics.

I fully agree. I was all on board until the statement of using some of the funds to pay for your expenses. Your expenses may be able to be tax deductable for you, you should check on that, but its really bad karma to ask that your adventure be paid by supporters of the charity.

And unfortunately I don't have a blog or even a twitter. Maybe worth creating a twitter account?

No blog? No website?

How is anyone going to follow your progress?
How is anyone going to know where you are, or where you're going, so they can join you (you say in your first post that you're hoping to put together a group)?
If someone is interested in donating to your charity, through you, how do you plan to provide the online link directly to the charity?

With no online presence, no one is going to believe you're for real.


Also, you say ... "so in any media they would be advertised" ... what media? You're just cycling across the US like so many others. It's not particularly newsworthy. Or were you planning to arrange media coverage along the way? If that's your plan, have you talked to the charity about that?

Although I assume your intentions are honorable, without setting up a non-profit with full disclosure, using cause-donations for your own expenses is wrong. It sounds like you need some more planning. There are several non-profit collection groups that you could set up an account with. You provide awareness, they do the money handling and legal paperwork.

If you want others to pay for your tour, then just FULLY DISCLOSE to them that you want money to pay for your trip. I'm not recommending this, but there is nothing wrong with it, IMO.

And unfortunately I don't have a blog or even a twitter. Maybe worth creating a twitter account?

On the Autism Speaks web page under "Ways to Give", there is a link that says "Create a fundraising page to honor a loved one": http://www.autismspeaks.org/ways-give On the National Down Syndrome Society web page, there is a pointer to a donations page including links and email contacts: http://www.ndss.org/get-involved/donate/

Perhaps you could contact both groups and see the best way that you could use their existing donation pages so that any donations were summarized, such as their tribute/memorial or other pages. In this case, what I would do - is go to local print shop and have business cards printed up with:
- your name
- bicycling across America
- raising money for Autism Speaks and National Down Syndrome Society
and the web links I list on those business cards would be the ones I got from the agencies so people could donate directly to the groups.

Rather than create a patch or other mechanism - I would use my bicycle, gear and natural curiosity of people. When they strike up conversations, I would introduce myself, say what I was raising money for and leave them with a business card. I would let the agencies handle the business of collecting the donations, issuing tax receipts, etc. If I were raising money or awareness in advance, I would more directly contact local newspaper and see if they might do a story or otherwise contact groups I knew about. Again, I'd use the business cards to leave behind pointers to the donation links.

As far as collecting donations for your own expenses on the trip, I wouldn't refuse money if someone wanted to give it to me - but I would try to be very clear and not try to mix donations to the agencies (direct to their web site) and donations to the ride (if any, given to you directly).

As far as collecting donations for your own expenses on the trip, I wouldn't refuse money if someone wanted to give it to me - but I would try to be very clear and not try to mix donations to the agencies (direct to their web site) and donations to the ride (if any, given to you directly).
I tend to think this is good advice. These are likely to take the form of a comped room or meal. Once in a while you might get that even if you are just riding across the country for nothing other than your own pleasure.

Alright I understand that. I will try to pay for it myself. However I am still in high school and don't have too much money to fund the ride. Maybe I could ask for them to donate to two different accounts that don't mix, one for the charity and one for funding the ride across country?

And btw this isn't a pleasure ride, I'm not trying to be selfish. I thought this would be a cool thing to do to raise money for charity. I'm giving up a lot of other stuff (football camp, college preparation camps) in order to do this. But I understand your concern and thank you.

And you were discussing media, I was going to contact a nationwide network and try to get coverage. I saw a kid a couple of years ago who rode across on Good Morning America and thought I could kind of do the same thing. Not viable?

If there is some possibility that you might need donations to fund your trip, set up two accounts. One for the charity and one for your expenses. Let people decide whether they want to help you make the trip or just donate to the charity or both. You'll need to be transparent and honest about how the money is being used.

Alright I understand that. I will try to pay for it myself. However I am still in high school and don't have too much money to fund the ride. Maybe I could ask for them to donate to two different accounts that don't mix, one for the charity and one for funding the ride across country?

And btw this isn't a pleasure ride, I'm not trying to be selfish. I thought this would be a cool thing to do to raise money for charity. I'm giving up a lot of other stuff (football camp, college preparation camps) in order to do this. But I understand your concern and thank you.

And you were discussing media, I was going to contact a nationwide network and try to get coverage. I saw a kid a couple of years ago who rode across on Good Morning America and thought I could kind of do the same thing. Not viable?

You can ask for donations to cover your trip if you want, but I suspect that with the US economy being what it is, people aren't going to want to pay for your fun and interesting little holiday. Yes, I know you say this isn't a pleasure ride ... but that's not how people are going to look at it. Riding a bicycle is looked at as a leisure activity.

If you want to fund this trip, get a part-time job and start putting money away.


As for the donations for the charity ...

1) Have you contacted the charity and talked to them yet?

2) Set up a website. This will accomplish two things: a) Anyone who donates to you will be able to follow your progress, and b) you'll be able to put a link to the charity's donations area there so that you will not touch the money for the charity at all. It will go directly to the charity.


You can try contacting the media, and maybe you'll get some coverage, but it could be old news by now because someone else has done it. If you're going to go that route, however, you'd better have that website set up .... and you'd better have talked to the charity so that you can show proof you are officially affliated with them.


You've got to go through the right channels and be professional ... people aren't just going to hand money over to some high school kid on the promise that he'll give it to a charity.

Alright I understand that. I will try to pay for it myself. However I am still in high school and don't have too much money to fund the ride. Maybe I could ask for them to donate to two different accounts that don't mix, one for the charity and one for funding the ride across country?

And btw this isn't a pleasure ride, I'm not trying to be selfish. I thought this would be a cool thing to do to raise money for charity. I'm giving up a lot of other stuff (football camp, college preparation camps) in order to do this. But I understand your concern and thank you.

And you were discussing media, I was going to contact a nationwide network and try to get coverage. I saw a kid a couple of years ago who rode across on Good Morning America and thought I could kind of do the same thing. Not viable?

If you cannot pay for the ride yourself then you should not go. Why should others pay for your vacation? You said above that there is no assurance that the money will go to charity. If you meant they have no assurance then that can be arranged where you would never touch the money. If you meant you can not be certain it will go to charity then you are doing this for all of the wrong reasons.

Sorry but unless 100% of the donations are going to charity then it is not a selfless act it is a free vacation no matter how you look at it.

Raising money for charity is a noble cause. If you truly want to be selfless then take a year and earn the money and pay for the trip on your own. It will also give you time to arrange donations directed to the charity and not touched by you.


If you do that then you can look yourself in the mirror with pride. It would be a heck of an accomplishment for a young person to fund a cross country trip and raise money to boot.


Now if you want to get sponsors that are knowingly paying your way then go for it. But don't you think every Tom, Dick and Harry and Sally have the same idea? Unless you are doing something unique or have connections you are going to have a hard time convincing folks to fund the trip.

I think what everyone is expressing here is that if this ride is truely for charity, then you have to pay the expenses for the ride. Given that you appear to be ill-prepared for a charity ride, you should consider other options.

If your heart is really into this charity, while not just volunteer at the local level near your home all summer. There is no need to ride cross country to help the charity. I would guess that your talents would be very benefitical assisting at local events or just working in your local area to raise awareness. After that experience, next year you would be far better prepared to move to a larger fundraising effort.

+1^

I do not view this, in general, as a good plan.

• You don't sound adequately prepared.
• You don't have the requisite fundraising experience. Sounds like you don't have any fundraising experience, really.
• You do not apparently have a plan for properly funneling collected cash to the charities.
• It doesn't sound like you have much of a plan for raising money in the first place.
• You don't appear to have any particular connection to these charities.
• It takes more than two weeks to establish your credibility as someone who's doing something like this for charity.

There are already lots of established charity organizations that run a variety of cycling events; MS Society, the AIDS Ride, Tour de Cure (diabetes). Might want to start with one of those.

If I were you, I'd do the college prep camp.

Hi everybody,

As you may have seen from my other posts, I will be riding across the country this summer for charity, Autism Speaks and the National Down Syndrome Society.

I am currently an individual (I am still trying to organize a group) and I don't have enough time to set myself up as a nonprofit. Accordingly, many companies are reluctant to give me donations, I'm guessing because there is no assurance I will give the money to charity. Any advice on how to get businesses to be more willing to donate?

I had the idea of giving patches on my jersey, so in any media they would be advertised. How well do you think that would go over? I see problems because most companies have an order minimum of 10 pieces, and I don't want to carry that much, and also they need a few weeks to print them, but, since I am leaving in late June, that gives me only a few months to raise funds before I have to leave.

My other question was on the legality of using donations to cover trip costs. I am a very frugal person (ask my friends when they have no money), so I would keep the costs to a minimum, but I am not sure if that is allowed since the funds are going to charity. Much of the money raised would go to charity, but I'm not sure if its allowed...any IRS agents or accountants here?

Thanks for the help guys!

Alex

Alex, here's a link to Autism Speaks Canada with a pair of bikers who are raising funds for this society through this website. It's legit and a sample you can emulate.

http://events.autismspeaks.ca/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&eventID=531&participantID=9490

I really commend you for doing this. As a fundraiser myself, I know that raising funds for any society is a difficult process. I also did fund raising for Heart and Stroke foundation in the past as well as Ride for Cancer and MS bike rides so perhaps I can shed some light into your potential cause.

First and foremost, you must identify yourself as someone who is either suffering from down syndrome /autism or know of someone who does by name would be best. It is best if someone is really close to you, like your immediate family member or maybe a niece or nephew or cousin. If no one is close, then perhaps a friend. You're going to get asked a lot on this for sure. Donation works really well through sympathy because that's how we are -- we have compassion. Unfortunately, many scam artists in the past had abused this sympathetic cause to steal other people's money to fund their lifestyle that many people today are extremely reluctant to give any money to anyone's cause unless there is a tie to a legit society or group and that they can check it, track, tweet it and catch up on blogs.
This is unfortunately the new reality.
Secondly, if you are looking to fund your trip to promote a cause, you should be soliciting sponsorship not donors. Donors donate to the cause, whereas sponsors use you as a moving billboard across the US to promote their involvement in the charity they are supporting. Which means, you got to need a website or perhaps convince Autism Speaks USA to build you a website like the one I just linked. You need to have your photo on it and a little of your bio and the reason why you do what you want to do. When you have a presence on a legit charity website, then perhaps you can ask this charity to give 2 options link. Donate or Sponsor, where donate will forward the funds directly to Autism Speaks and then Sponsor will forward any funds directly to your PayPal account towards your trip. You also need to have a monetary goal like I'm raising $100,000 or $200,000. The higher the value, the more challenge and the more people will keep tabs on your progress and the more value your cause will become. But you must be able to convey your gratitude by means of tweeting and blogging your cause when your goal is approaching. People always want to know where the money is going and what they could do to help. You can not really expect just taking other people's money without reporting what this sponsorship is doing for you and how it is furthering your reach towards your charity cause. All of that is legit and I know a friend of mine is doing exactly like this for a bike ride with both donate and sponsor links to it. As long as you are upfront with your approach, then it's fair game if people want to fund your bike ride across America.

With all the good news, here are some bad news.

As you know, we are in the midst of an economy downturn and with money committed elsewhere between various charity events (there are a LOT of charity bike ride btw), it becomes very difficult for someone like yourself out of high school to try and network with people to solicit sponsorship and donations, because really what you are doing is done like dinner for so many times with so many bike riders every year that it does not make newsworthy. Lastly, a lot of money had gone through for event promotions and administration work that the money raised from any charity event are used to pay for these expenses and what's left (not much really) are actually ended up towards the cause. So most people I know of who do these kind of fund raising pay their own way. Some hope that their sponsorship money can hopefully offset some of that, but realistically, it will not be. Most charities expect that you are volunteering your time and effort towards a good cause and expect expenses borne by each individual fund raiser will be their sole responsibility.

I hope this helps. I like the idea of patches, but really how new and innovative is that? I'm afraid it's not.

Good luck on your cause!

To summarize what I had just said. You will need to associate yourself with a charity organization and get your photo and name on it. Be legit and then you ask for donations. The way you are doing now, I'm not surprised most businesses think you are a scam.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has some pretty sweet "vacation" rides. All free.

Thanks everybody for the advice. I'm thinking now this year just buy the bike and gear, and raise whatever money I can (all to charity) and head out. Then, when I get back, set myself up as a charity, get a website, twitter, etc., and next year have a much bigger and more organized ride, maybe somewhere else.

Also I think it would be a good idea to set up a blog. I am utterly clueless at programming, any help with that?

"Unfortunately, many scam artists in the past had abused this sympathetic cause to steal other people's money to fund their lifestyle that many people today are extremely reluctant to give any money to anyone's cause unless there is a tie to a legit society or group "

That pretty much describes the whole fund-raising enterprise in totality. You can keep up to 80% of the money you raise in some jurisdictions, as the cost of raising it. And many legitimate charities accept money from sketchy fundraisers, or fund-raising mechanisms, like books of gambling tickets, because every nickel collected, after they have also scalped it, could save a life, so how can they afford to turn it down. So on the one hand, someone who collected money and only took a modest percentage for personal use, would be a breath of fresh air. On the other hand, hard to see who is left to fund these scams, and in addition has the time to follow a blog.

You don't need to be a programmer to do a blog, it is pretty much set up for you. You should probably also look at crazyguyonabike, to get an idea of all the folks who have blogged this trip already. There is lots of interesting info there, on the touring part of the equation.

Thanks everybody for the advice. I'm thinking now this year just buy the bike and gear, and raise whatever money I can (all to charity) and head out. Then, when I get back, set myself up as a charity, get a website, twitter, etc., and next year have a much bigger and more organized ride, maybe somewhere else.

Also I think it would be a good idea to set up a blog. I am utterly clueless at programming, any help with that?

Now you're on the right track.

You can set up your own blog, but for maximum readership, go to crazyguyonabike. (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/?o=9) All there is to know
about cycle touring. Here is link to some guys (https://www.facebook.com/CrackTheCurse?sk=wall)who are walking to Chicago, raising money for cancer research. Might get some ideas from them, especially Matt Gregory.

Get a job this summer, ride next. Do charity work when you're not on holiday.

Maybe I could ask for them to donate to two different accounts that don't mix, one for the charity and one for funding the ride across country?

A tax attorney or CPA can correct me if I am wrong, but it's my understanding that in order for a donation to be tax deductible (a major reason people give) to the donor, the donation must be given directly to the charitable organization.

The reluctance on the part of companies to give is almost certainly based on three things: Without formal organization (1) You look like you are, in fact, trying to get someone to fund your fun, (2) any contribution will not be tax deductible, and (3) there won't be much exposure.

If the trip will not be pleasurable, you shouldn't go. BTW...I have good friends at the local office of a major U.S. charity for which I raise a lot of money. They do not like it when people who do the sort of thing that you are planning bug them too much for assistance and press. It takes up there time for something that, in all honesty, is not unique. More people that you might think take bike rides across the country for charities every year.

Alright I understand that. I will try to pay for it myself. However I am still in high school and don't have too much money to fund the ride. Maybe I could ask for them to donate to two different accounts that don't mix, one for the charity and one for funding the ride across country?

And btw this isn't a pleasure ride, I'm not trying to be selfish. I thought this would be a cool thing to do to raise money for charity. I'm giving up a lot of other stuff (football camp, college preparation camps) in order to do this. But I understand your concern and thank you.


Your motivation really isn't clear. If fund raising is your goal spending time on a bike isn't fund raising. Going on a big trip by yourself is cool but it's not clear if you're over 18, ending high school, have parental support or what support/constraints you have. I could be wrong but I get the sense you want some control over the big things in your life and the worthwhile things you're giving up this summer aren't entirely your creation whereas this trip, fund-raising or not, is your creation. If you're under 18 between 11th and 12th grade I don't think you will be well served by shooting your savings on this. You can have a hell of a lot of fun doing tours this summer in preparation for bigger ones later. If you are ending high school and heading to college a big tour would be great but it doesn't have to be across the country.

The housing equity bubble burst in , now people are feeling less flush
with easy-passive wealth of the real-estate value rising.

now they have to get extra jobs too..

a few years as an hedge fund investment broker in the Caymans,
and you can gain money quickly.

As I understand Mark Beaumont made money by cultivating the grass seed from
traditional Scottish Golf courses, like St. Andrews, and marketing it to golf courses around the world.

then he began his goal,setting the shortest time for riding his bike around the world,
with a book about it to sell afterwards..

Alex,
I'm also planning to ride across the country this year and will be leaving in seven days. I'm on a pretty tight budget after building a new touring bike and getting the gear. You will be surprised how quickly that the expenses add up. In order to help pay for some of this trip I'm taking donations on my blog and will be giving a portion of the donations to a charity called YieldToLife. Its a not for profit charity with the goal of educating both motorists and cyclists on bicycle safety. I very clearly state on my sponsor page that I will be using some of the money to help fund my ride and that only a portion will be going to the charity. Depending on the amount of donations at the end of the ride will determine what percentage I will be passing onto the charity. By doing this i am not intending to "trick" anyone into giving me money. As long as you are specifically stating what the money is going towards, it is an ethical way of accepting donations. For instance you could say that half of the donations will be going towards the charity and half will go towards funding your ride. Good Luck!

If you'd like to check out my blog its mikesbigride.blogspot.com

Alex,
Depending on the amount of donations at the end of the ride will determine what percentage I will be passing onto the charity.

Just curious, but do you mean if the trip expenses (lodging,food, etc) amount to $3,000 and you raise $3,005 in donations, you are going to give the charity $5?

Just curious, but do you mean if the trip expenses (lodging,food,beer etc) amount to $3,000 and you raise $3,005 in donations, you are going to give the charity $5?

ftfy

Alex,
I'm also planning to ride across the country this year and will be leaving in seven days. I'm on a pretty tight budget after building a new touring bike and getting the gear. You will be surprised how quickly that the expenses add up. In order to help pay for some of this trip I'm taking donations on my blog and will be giving a portion of the donations to a charity called YieldToLife. Its a not for profit charity with the goal of educating both motorists and cyclists on bicycle safety. I very clearly state on my sponsor page that I will be using some of the money to help fund my ride and that only a portion will be going to the charity. Depending on the amount of donations at the end of the ride will determine what percentage I will be passing onto the charity. By doing this i am not intending to "trick" anyone into giving me money. As long as you are specifically stating what the money is going towards, it is an ethical way of accepting donations. For instance you could say that half of the donations will be going towards the charity and half will go towards funding your ride. Good Luck!


So how's that working out for you?

Are you collecting a lot of donations to fund your holiday?

I've decided that I will be upfront and give the vast majority of the money to charity, and collect a little to help offset the trip expenses. I think 90% to charity and 10% for the trip would be a good amount. I'm worried (if you look at my other posts) I might not be able to live on $40 a day, even though I would be camping most of the time. Any kind of expensive repair and boom I'm broke. So it would be nice to have maybe a couple hundred as an emergency fund. Of course, 90% (off the top machka) would go to charity.

Bikex, how old are you?

16

I'd strongly suggest you figure out touring through incremental trips before blowing savings on such an undertaking with so little knowledge.

I understand the desire to enact plans of ones own making, you're definately at the stage for doing it but it makes sense to do it incrementally, and when you're legally responsible. These comments sincerely aren't meant as a personal slight on you. I did my first long distance cycling around your age on a Schwinn 5spd riding around LA basin with a couple of long day trips with a friend overnight to a known friend of the family.

Unless you have more money coming your way as you hit 18 or in college I'd hold onto that $3k chunk of savings a little longer. If you're looking for means of escape, adventure you can do that every weekend with ever expanding rides.

I'd strongly suggest you figure out touring through incremental trips before blowing savings on such an undertaking with so little knowledge.

+1!

So how's that working out for you?

Are you collecting a lot of donations to fund your holiday?

+1

Why on earth would anyone donate when the primary purpose of the fundraising is clearly to fund the holiday, and when it is quite likely that none of their money will go to the charity?

BikeX LeeG and Machka are right. Your various posts about this indicate that you are naive about almost every aspect of undertaking a cross- country tour. That's nothing to be ashamed of, I wouldn't have been any different when I was sixteen. But you've never even cycled a long distance in a day, you don't have much of an idea what you need to take with you, you haven't fixed a route and yet you aim to ride 100miles a day and camp every night.

I'd strongly suggest that you are nowhere near ready for this. Do some shorter overnight tours to get your ideas sorted out. There's always next year for the big trip.

+1

Why on earth would anyone donate when the primary purpose of the fundraising is clearly to fund the holiday, and when it is quite likely that none of their money will go to the charity?

No idea. I certainly wouldn't. If I want to fund a holiday, that holiday will be mine! :D


In fact ... Rowan and I are planning a cycling holiday. Anyone want to donate some cash toward our adventure? :D :D

In fact ... Rowan and I are planning a cycling holiday. Anyone want to donate some cash toward our adventure? :D :D

Here, I'll give up my holiday and fund yours. I hear you are a charity case ;-)

If I wanted to donate to Autism Speaks and the National Down Syndrome Society then I would do it directly to them. This guarantees that 100% of the money goes to the cause and I can tax deduct the donation. If I wanted to help you with the trip then I'd just give you the money straight out, no need to hide that behind another cause.

Maybe a better method would be to use your trip as an awareness campaign. You don't take any money for the Autism Speaks and the National Down Syndrome Society but educate people about the cause. If they want they can donate directly. For yourself you could ask if someone will donate or sponsor your campaign on bike, if you do a good job educating and creating awareness some people might be inclined to do so. My guess is a good campaign involves more than just riding a bike, meaning there will be lots of off bike time that isn't part of your ride. My local volunteer center has a youth granting program where youths can apply for a $500 grant. With a good and solid plan for an awareness campaign I could see such a grant be given.

BTW, people are probably more likely to support you through non-cash things, like hosting, feeding you and helping you out in other means. I don't even require that your ride is for a cause to give you a place to sleep. ;)

90% to charity and 10% for the trip

Don't forget that 10% isn't much money that you get from your collected donation. It's only $10 when someone writes a check for $100 and that won't happen too often since they need to write your name on the check.

Just curious, but do you mean if the trip expenses (lodging,food, etc) amount to $3,000 and you raise $3,005 in donations, you are going to give the charity $5?

Im budgeting 20 dollars a day for this trip which will be mainly used at affordable food joints and camping for free whenever possible. I'll be giving around half to the charity and half to support the tour. It might come shocking to many of you but I have been receiving donations, although most of them are form family and friends. People that know me personally know that I am an honest person and are not worried about my intentions with the money.

If by some slim chance I were to raise 3000 dollars, I would stick to the same plan I have now. (20$ a day)

Once again, I clearly state that only a portion of the money will be going to the charity. If I wasn't a college student already in debt, I would be donating the entire amount to charity (which I would state in my blog.) Please don't criticize me for swindling people out of their money, as that is in no way my intention. As a matter of fact if you go to my blog the section in which I explain all of this is under SPONSOR.

If your intention is indeed to raise funds for a good cause, it would be better for both of you, sprintfree and bikex, to ...

1) Contact your charitable organisation and become officially affiliated with them.

2) Put a direct link to the charitable organisation on your websites so that if you inspire people to donate, they can do so directly. That way, the money will not pass through the hands of teenagers who want to fund their holidays with a portion of the money.


Really, think about it ... if some unknown teenager came to you and asked for money for a bicycle holiday (and charity), would you be inclined to give it to him/her?


When it comes to funding our cycling endeavours, most of us acquire money through ... work.

Machka,
I am not an unknown teenager to the people that have donated to me. If you read my blog you would learn quite a bit about me and the reasons for doing this tour. I am a bit offended that you classify me and bikex as nieve teenagers. I may be one of the younger ones in the section (19), but I have been and continue to be well educated. I have taken multiple ethics courses and can distinguish between what is right and wrong.

If I wanted to go on vacation or "holiday" I would be going to the beach. However, being in the bike touring section of the forums, this is a bike tour of a substantial distance. It could easily be classified as quite a challenging thing to do a tour like this. If someone was fundraising money so that they could climb Mount Everest, would you consider that a holiday? I don't think there is anything wrong with asking others to help SPONSOR my dream to conquer this challenge. An added benefit to their sponsorship is that I will be choosing to give some of the collected money to the YieldtoLife charity because I have a strong belief in bicycle education.

If I wasn't a college student already in debt......

college students already in debt should be getting a job and earning their keep
instead of asking other employed people to fund their vacations.

Bikex, I think you should do it, but you should do it right. You got a lot of really good advice here which I'm probably repeating, but here it goes.
There's a lot of prep work you need to do. Plan for next year.

1. Go to college prep camp this summer!
2. Get a part time job, but make sure you keep up with your school work.
3. Contact the two charities you've chosen and tell them about your plans. Ask if they can help you set up a page, if they can offer any fundraising advice etc
4. Learn about how social media works. There are courses out there you can take and they won't be a waste of time, you will surely use this knowledge in the future.
5. Set up a blog, tell people about yourself and why you chose the particular charities. Usually it comes from a personal story, share it. Post regular updates from your progress in fundraising and preparation for the big trip. Post a link that will allow donors to make donations directly to the charities.
6. Set up a PayPall account (although you have to check if there's an age requirement, I'm not sure. If there is, ask your parent to set one up in your name) and post a link on your blog asking people to help you fund the ride, if they feel so inclined. Tell people about your part time job and efforts to earn money for it yourself. I have seen that done on blogs of people doing big tours (not for charities), there's nothing wrong with giving people an option.
7. Hit the Facebook, Twitter etc and link it all to your blog.
8. Start fundraising for the charities by doing garage sales, bake sales, bottle drives etc. Again, you need to be fundraising for charities and not yourself. You can casually slip it into the conversation that you're would also very much appreciate a little help with the trip itself. Pretty much let your community know what you're doing and try to earn their trust and support.
9. Keep at it. It doesn't matter that other have done things like that before. If you're creative, enthusiastic and not afraid of work, you will succeed.

But before you even start, think about it. Are you're doing it for the right reasons? Do you want to spend so much time and energy on it? Fundraising is not easy. I did a two day charity ride last year and found it very difficult asking people for money. I found the ride itself much easier than the fundraising.

Good luck.

10. Ask Sprintfree to help you set up your blog. Looks very good. ;)

Alright I understand that. I will try to pay for it myself. However I am still in high school and don't have too much money to fund the ride.
The fact that you don't have money for a vacation isn't likely to create a lot of sympathy. The fund-raising "event" thing works if it's some sort of sacrifice for you. Since a fair number of people ride across the country, the ride isn't any sacrifice. You'd be better-off presenting this as "I'm doing a somewhat challenging thing for my vacation (at my own cost) and I'd like to do something extra to make helpful to other people".


Maybe I could ask for them to donate to two different accounts that don't mix, one for the charity and one for funding the ride across country?
What makes it more compelling to contribute to your vacation instead of just donating directly to the organization?

Other people have suggested similar schemes here to get donations to fund their vacations. It's not an idea that is popular to the people it's pitched to.

I've decided that I will be upfront and give the vast majority of the money to charity, and collect a little to help offset the trip expenses. I think 90% to charity and 10% for the trip would be a good amount. I'm worried (if you look at my other posts) I might not be able to live on $40 a day, even though I would be camping most of the time. Any kind of expensive repair and boom I'm broke. So it would be nice to have maybe a couple hundred as an emergency fund. Of course, 90% (off the top machka) would go to charity.

???

This doesn't make much sense. How much money do you expect to rake in?

If you get $3000 total and have an "expensive repair", it's going to be hard to keep to your "commitment" of donating $2700 to charity (this is also ignoring the other expenses you are going to skim-off).