2ndGen

I need some information on riding for fund-raising events.

Cancer has hit my family hard this year (especially my mother, my niece and my sister).

I'd like to ride "for" them and if I can raise money for the cause, so be it.
I plan on getting my employer to sponsor me. With over 3,000 employees
in my firm, I'm hoping I can raise a lot of awareness and in the process,
give my loved ones a big smile and place some hope in their hearts.

I have no idea on how to get started, who to contact, how to become involved.
I would imagine that I contact a local fundraising group with cycling events?

As for my company, I can send out a mass email worldwide to reach the 3K employees.
I'll try to invite as many as possible to ride with me in the NYC area.

Anybody have any experience & advice that they can share with me? Thanks!



[I'm reaching out to Livestrong for starters.]

ischgl99

There is a big event in CT in July if that is close enough for you. I have not done this event, I do the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure each year, but I came across this one because the 100 mile course actually passes nearby my house. The areas these routes go through is very pretty and the roads are decent for riding, but typical Northern roads with the occasional pothole.

www.ctchallenge.com

10 Wheels

Sign Up:

https://www.charitybicycleride.com/ch...ike_events.htm

2ndGen

Thanks. Bookmarked.


Thank you.

johnny99

Really hard to request donations from people you do not know personally without people thinking you are a spammer. You really need to make your appeal as personal as possible. Include your photo and phone number and ask people to call you for more information about this charity. Yes, organizing local training rides is a great idea. Much better to ask for money in person than by e-mail.

If you are a manager of the company, be very careful of not pressuring people who work under you for money. Contact your human resource department for guidelines. They may have a charity matching program, as well as guidelines for using company time and resources for soliciting.

10 Wheels

To get donations you have to be very forward with your personal information.
Tell it all about you and your family.

2ndGen

Well, generally, when employees of my company have had their causes, they've been allowed
to send a mass email out and whoever wanted to contribute could at their discretion.
I work for a very, very generous company.

What I was planning was exactly that...contacting HR and asking them how to go about it.

androidtt

Do you have a Facebook? Sometimes there is an app so that you can raise awareness/funds for a charity ride (ie. MS150). Many of my friends donated. One friend I haven't seen since high school even helped out!

njkayaker

This probably a bad idea (even if you get approval to do it).

Terex

Get a part time job. Donate the money directly. The whole charity bike/run/walk industry is a big scam.

johnny99

Or donate a percentage of your salary for a year (or more). See if your company will match it.

CNY James

i have had mixed luck soliciting funds for stuff but the best luck I had came from when I said I would match my donors $1:$1
People seemed to respond well to that since they knew I was taking it seriously too.

And of all of the advice I can give when actually doing the rides... watch the hell out. All of the comfort bikers at charity rides are downright dangerous.

Nachoman

Good luck!

2ndGen

Thanks!

Again, I'm riding mostly for my loved ones just to give them some encouragement.
"If" I can actually contribute something worthy to the cause in general, that'd be good.

johnny99

I wouldn't say that ALL of the charity bike rides are scams, but some of the sure do sound that way. If you do work through a fundraising outfit (instead of donating your money directly to a research center or hospital), then study their financials carefully. Some of the fundraisers use way too much of the donations for fundraising expenses. Be especially wary of fundraisers that offer all kinds of perks to the bicyclists (even free airfare and luxury accommodations). Those costs of course come out of the pot that could go to the charity programs.

pdedes

as mentioned earlier, bike rides, walks, etc. are an inefficient way to raise money for charities. many are run by 3rd party organizations that wind up taking up to 70% of every dollar raised for "administrative purposes". and that's before any charity inefficiencies.

people should stop donating blindly to charities when many don't actually need your money. a good example is the red cross. charities like these take your donation today for whatever reason (tsunami, japan, etc.)and use it to purchase government t-bills and other income producing instruments. it's better to look for charities that actually will deploy your money in the calendar year. look for fundraising efficiency, percentage of money raised actually deployed to programming, etc.

ride for yourself. find a worthy charity for your money.

robncircus

Make sure to check your company policy on employee solicitation before requesting money.

Also, reserarch your rides carefully. Many of the charity rides have to use the majority of the money made to host the actual event and pay the prganizer(s). Try to choose one that puts the money in the appropriate places.

EKCooper

I certainly understand where you're coming from. If you're interested in raising funds for a specific type of cancer, the Leukemia &Lymphoma Society raises funds through Team in Training (https://www.teamintraining.org/firsttimehere/). Approximately 76% of the funds raised go directly to cancer research or patient support. It's always good to look up that type of information (like someone already mentioned). I work with the triathlon team, but they do have century rides (https://www.teamintraining.org/firstt...turyridescycle). We have a team at Lake Tahoe right now completing their century ride today. Of course they train you to complete the ride, but they also support you and offer advice on fundraising. Take care.

johnny99

Where does the other 24% of the money go?

rollin

I hope your mother, niece and sister a full recovery.

Some thoughts.

Getting sponsorship for doing something I enjoy doing has always seemed a little odd to me. For instance I got a request for me to sponsor someone trekking the Inca trail - to me that's me subsiding their trekking trip. No thanks.

- What I've done in the past is made sure that the event was a stretch for me - show that it was indeed a challenge. Show the pain not just the pleasure.

- cover the costs out of my own pocket. I cycled London to Paris on an organised ride. Minimum donation was GBP 1000 (to cover logistics and a small contribution to the charity) - I covered this amount myself - everything I was sponsored for went straight to the charity.

- be clear about where peoples money is going

- try to choose a charity that has low overheads

- Leverage tax. Many companies will match donations like for like as they can right off against tax - investigate this.


Ride hard and enjoy!

znomit

+1
I do these things occasionally and usually just donate what I feel is a reasonable entry fee myself and don't pester anybody.

Sometimes you need to dig very very deeply to find out if your donation money is being appropriately spent.

EKCooper

Toward administrative costs and pariticipation support. I'll use the group they have in Tahoe right now. Of the money each person raises, out of that comes money to pay the staff, advertising, bike jersey, the airfare to Tahoe, the hotel, coaching, two meals, bike shipment, etc (and, I'm sure there are other expenses I'm not thinking of). And, any money raised above the fundraising minimum, 100% of that goes directly to cancer support and research.

johnny99

I would feel more comfortable donating to a "charity" like that if the staff were volunteers and the bicyclists paid for their own expenses. I can't believe that you are using charitable donations to pay for airfare, hotels, meals, etc. That is like having people donate to your vacation.

datlas 

+1

Also, if you are going to do charity events I would stick with ones that are smaller or have a limited field.

Mass events with thousands of riders of varying abilities are DANGEROUS!

RT

Good luck to you. I did the same for Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research in 2005. It feels really good to do something, anything to help find a cure. FWIW, I paid for all expenses as part of my donation to the cause.

If you are interested, there is a group doing a Tour de Yellow Bracelet in this forum. You could take that bracelet along with you on a leg of your ride, maybe use that as a publicity tool (one of many) to raise awareness for your ride.