Fundraising Problems

[indyfabz]

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.

[LeeG]

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.

[fietsbob]

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..

[sprintfree]

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

[VT_Speed_TR]

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?

[znomit]

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

[Machka]

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?

[bikexcountry]

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.

[LeeG]

Bikex, how old are you?

[bikexcountry]

16

[LeeG]

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.

[Machka]

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

+1!

[chasm54]

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.

[Machka]

+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!


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

[VT_Speed_TR]

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

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

[cbike]

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.

[cbike]

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.

[sprintfree]

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.

[Machka]

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.

[sprintfree]

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.

[saddlesores]

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.

[lucille]

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.

[lucille]

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

[njkayaker]

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.

[njkayaker]

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).