Should Our Nonprofit Host a Bike-a-Thon?
Every nonprofit knows a successful fundraiser offers inspiration for the next event. Keeping your most lucrative fundraisers fresh and exciting is always a challenge, but sometimes all you need is a little twist. For instance, turn the ever-popular Walk-a-Thon into a Bike-a-Thon.
A Bike-a-Thon is the perfect peer-to-peer fundraising event. Like a Walk-a-Thon, it has particular logistics to adhere to, but it appeals to a donor group that you maybe haven’t tapped into yet.
The Popularity of “A-Thons”
In the 1920s, promoters created dance marathons and unusual feats such as flagpole sitting as zany endurance contests. By the 1930s, winners of dance marathons were earning much-needed cash prizes and chances at fame. One contestant, Callum Devillier, even added as his headstone epitaph: “World Champion Marathon Dancer. 3780 Continuous Hours.”
Rather than being a spectator sport, today’s “a-thons” are a fun way to build event attendance and raise money for a common cause.
The use of “a-thons” has grown recently. Everything from Read-a-Thons to Dance-a-Thons to Bowl-a-Thons raise money for various charities. Cancer and AIDS research centers, school PTOs, sports teams, and churches have capitalized on the “a-thon” craze.
Why? Because they are successful and fun, everyone can participate (from individuals to families), and you can make them small local events or large citywide competitions.
One of the advantages of a Bike-a-Thon over a Walk-a-Thon is the awareness it raises for your organization. Bikes are on roadways which are far more conspicuous than sidewalks. Don’t let the amount of advance preparation scare you away. Your first Bike-a-Thon may be extra work, but it’s smooth sailing the following year.
Peer-to-Peer is powerful software that equips others to fundraise on your behalf.
Steps For Planning a Peer-to-Peer Bike-a-Thon Fundraiser
Step 1. Assemble Your Bike-a-Thon Committee
Every fundraising event requires a leadership team, and a Bike-a-Thon is no different. You need dedicated volunteers who take on various tasks to pull this event together.
Assemble a team of like-minded board members, staff, volunteers, and bicyclists, people with different organizational skills who can plan a fun event. Consider a Bike-a-Thon theme such as Tour de France, the best-decorated bike, or feature a holiday.
Choose FundEasy’s Peer-to-Peer, the fundraising event management software that provides unlimited users with varying access levels so your whole team can use it. The setup wizard walks each user through setting up the Bike-a-Thon and ensuring the event is ready to launch.
Are your volunteers computer-challenged? That’s okay. FundEasy provides training videos, guided tutorials, and customer support. It’s an extremely easy system to learn.
FundEasy allows your team to work smarter, not harder. You can connect FundEasy to products you use daily, like Quickbooks, Constant Contact, or MailChimp.
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” John Quincy Adams
Step 2. Handle The Logistics
Your organization needs permits for the bike route, traffic control, First Aid stations, and liability insurance. Set a date for your Bike-a-Thon that gives you enough time to deal with local officials and get the legalities out of the way.
Your committee needs to discuss your official route. Determine ahead of time what type of course your bikers take. Obviously, the longer the Bike-a-Thon, the greater the donations. Decide if your Bike-a-Thon is about the amount of time it takes to complete or the distance bikers travel.
Encourage bikers to fundraise in the Bike-a-Thon based on distance or loops. Bikers correlate their fundraising goal with a certain distance, and when achieved, they engage donors again by increasing their fundraising goal for a further distance!
Ensure an easier or shorter route for the less enthusiastic bicyclists, families, and others, including tricycles and wheelchairs. Be sure to communicate that bikers are responsible for helmets and proper attire.
The goal is for everyone to end up at the same finish line.
FundEasy has helped world-changing nonprofits raise more than $1 billion.
Step 3. Begin Marketing
You need detailed fundraising event management software to assist your marketing team. FundEasy’s P2P fundraising platform gives your team a leg up on promoting your event.
With FundEasy, they can easily create a secure, mobile-friendly web page without web-design experience to promote the Bike-a-Thon specifically. Your team controls the images and messaging so your organization’s brand is cohesive.
The software equips each participant with a personalized fundraising page, so they do the marketing for you.
Just look at the many marketing features of FundEasy’s Peer-to-Peer fundraising campaigns:
Upload custom graphics.
Design your web page and emails with your brand colors, logo, and mission statement.
Your webpage includes links for easy social sharing.
Import email addresses for emailing invitations.
Personalize emails and invitations with merge fields.
Segment emails based on previous attendance, new prospects, donation amount, etc.
Schedule emails.
Send emails by group or individually.
See real-time registrations generated from your emailed invites.
Make it easy for bikers to promote the event and collect donations. Provide mobile-friendly P2P fundraising pages for each participant. You define the brand and messaging, but participants can add photos, videos, and blog-like updates to customize their P2P page.
Add a Fund-Meter on your Bike-a-Thon campaign webpage to reflect the total donations and pledges. Every donation fills the thermometer a little higher. Donors see the real-time impact of each donation as they give.
Participants can add a FundMeter to their p2p page to reflect individual donations and pledges.
Built-in social sharing makes it quick and easy for participants to spread the word and invite donors.
Set up teams for healthy competition and use the leaderboard to display top fundraisers.
Send unlimited blog-style updates to bikers.
Participants can share your fundraiser, including how to give and join, through an emailed invitation and social media.
Empower your supporters to fundraise for your cause!
Step 4. Take Registrations
Don’t waste your time with spreadsheets or Post-It notes. You get easy event registration for nonprofits with FundEasy.
When it’s time to begin registering bikers online for the Bike-a-Thon, FundEasy’s Peer-to-Peer software makes registration a piece of cake for your volunteers! You can modify your registration form to have participants provide their t-shirt size or sign a release of liability too.
Peer-to-Peer registration provides automated registration emails. Once a biker registers, you provide them with a personalized P2P fundraising page that they use to promote the event and accept donations. The page is easily shared on a variety of social media sites.
Here are some of the registration features of FundEasy’s Peer-to-Peer fundraising campaigns:
Customizable registration forms maintain your branding.
Get real-time registration data, including responses to custom questions.
Capture participant data online, and import it to your donor management system.
Automated registration emails keep the event front and center in supporters’ inboxes.
View your Dashboard with registration statistics
Participants register online and you can enter mailed-in registrations.
Send automatic registration confirmation emails.
Allow administrators to edit all registration data.
Receive detailed registrant reports.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Step 5. Recruit Corporate Sponsors
Every event needs corporate sponsors, although some nonprofit organizations have more difficulty than others recruiting. For a Bike-a-Thon, approach bike shops and sports and athletic wear stores to become corporate sponsors.
Sponsors provide additional funds to cover start-up expenses. Promote them on your website and offer other opportunities to participate on the day of the event. Consider trading promotional space for t-shirts, water bottles, or prizes.
FundEasy’s fundraising software provides corporate sponsor recording and recognition options.
“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; They just have the heart.” Elizabeth Andrew
Step 6. Track Donations
The easier it is to donate to your event, the more successful it becomes. FundEasy makes donating quick, easy, and trackable. Although a Walk-a-Thon may be easier to organize, your organization can reap greater rewards by putting in more effort to plan a Bike-a-Thon.
Since most donors prefer online giving, you dramatically reduce the cash your volunteers have to handle on the event day. However, FundEasy easily records offline donations too.
Set your donor-giving choices at different levels with each increased level funding more initiatives and increasing the biker’s distance. Determine if there is a minimum amount that bikers need to collect in pledges in order to participate. By offering prizes or incentives, you encourage them to collect more.
A few of the donation features of FundEasy’s peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns include:
FundEasy automatically and immediately sends receipts for online donations via email.
Receive quick deposits directly to your bank account instantly.
Choose between direct deposit or checks.
Check your dashboard for real-time transaction statistics.
Allow donors to cover processing fees so 100% of their gift goes to your organization.
Printable receipts and invoices.
Use easy settlement reports to reconcile bank statements.
Get transaction reports.
Download an event summary report.
Record offline donations, so fundraising totals are always accurate.
Anonymous giving is available.
Top individual and team fundraisers can be featured on both your event page and individual pages.
What about your supporters who love the idea of a Bike-a-Thon, but don’t own a bike? You can use FundEasy’s Crowdfunding setup to encourage non-bikers to raise money for the event. With a simple setup, you create a crowdfunding page that supporters share in less than 10 minutes to raise funds!
Stress-free fundraising is minutes away with FundEasy!
Step 7. The Day of the Event
As with any fundraiser, you need to recruit volunteers for the day of the Bike-a-Thon, and you need a lot of them. A well-organized event should be a fun opportunity for supporters to interact and increase community awareness about your nonprofit.
Prepare your volunteers with detailed information about the bike route and provide them with printed maps. Be sure everyone is aware of the locations of First Aid stations.
Begin the day with check-in for bicyclists. Each cyclist should receive a map that includes cues such as where there is a hill, a sharp turn, or where to find assistance. By using FundEasy’s Peer-to-Peer software, you can quickly check riders in with the live check-in app and provide them with the information they need.
Volunteers must be stationed along the route to give directions and assist. You want to make sure no one gets lost!
Have individuals stand at checkpoints or rest stops and enlist vans or pickup trucks as support vehicles that bikers can access in case of an accident. If your Bike-a-Thon is on a hot summer day, provide water for hydration for both bikers and volunteers.
As cyclists reach the finish line, offer thirst-quenching refreshments and a place to cool down. By having entertainment, bicyclists and their family and friends will be more likely to stick around. Be ready to offer prizes at the end of the event for the cyclist that raises the most money, finishes the course first, or brings the biggest crowd to cheer them on.
Have pamphlets and other information available to promote your nonprofit to participants and bystanders. Take advantage of every opportunity to share your mission.
Easy-to-use software that helps nonprofits thrive financially
Step 8. Post Event
The beauty of using FundEasy is all donations are directly deposited into your organization’s bank account. You can access a P2P page summary sheet with reports for transactions and registrant details. Plus, design custom reports to provide your nonprofit with specific information.
So, was it worth it? A Bike-a-Thon takes more preparation than a Walk-a-Thon or another “a-Thon” you might choose, but the attention you receive from passersby is priceless. You’re on the streets and in people’s neighborhoods. What better way to promote your nonprofit’s mission?
If you’d like to learn more about FundEasy’s Peer-to-Peer, Attendance, or Crowdfunding products, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Check out our calendar and choose a time that’s convenient for you. We’d love to chat with you!
If you'd like to learn more about our Peer-to-Peer, Attendance, or Crowdfunding products, please reach out! We'd love to chat.
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Madison Hull
This article was inspired by our customers and written to encourage your fundraising efforts. Although we work with nonprofits and events daily, our team members are not Event Consultants. We encourage you to consult with your event consultant, executive team, and/or affiliate organization before making any major changes to your events.
