Riding for charity...

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Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
...I know lot's of people ride long distances for charity. So i thought one day i might do something along those lines. What is the best way to go about doing that?
 

friedel

New Member
Location
On our bikes!
As far as I've seen, the basic guideline is that all the money you raise should go to the charity and not to fund your ride. Then I guess it's just a question of picking a charity and canvassing people for support. Depending on the charity, you might be able to arrange to visit some of their projects en route.

The reason we didn't do our ride for charity is that we didn't want to be looped into definitely riding x distance. If we said we were going to bike around the world for a cause, then we'd feel like we were breaking the contract the first time we got on a train or changed our route or stayed in one spot for a long time.

It's something to think about before you ride for whatever cause -- can you follow through.
 

mr_hippo

Living Legend & Old Fart
I can only speak for the Tour de Thailand - all riders are asked to raise a minimum of US$1000 fir the half ride and US$2000 for the full ride and all monies raised go to the two charities involved - The Max Foundation and Queen Sirikit Foundation for the Blind. If you are coming from overseas then you will have to pay your airfare and are asked to contribute US$300 towards the cost of your accommodation. So a cheap flight and about £150 for 4 week cycling holiday in Thailand is, I think, a good bargain plus you are making a good contribution to charity.
The charities that offer a 'free' cycling holiday if you raise X amount are doing a great disservice - there's no such thing as 'free'. I wonder what percentage goes to charity?
There's still time to sponsor me - check on the link below!
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
friedel said:
As far as I've seen, the basic guideline is that all the money you raise should go to the charity and not to fund your ride. Then I guess it's just a question of picking a charity and canvassing people for support. Depending on the charity, you might be able to arrange to visit some of their projects en route.

The reason we didn't do our ride for charity is that we didn't want to be looped into definitely riding x distance. If we said we were going to bike around the world for a cause, then we'd feel like we were breaking the contract the first time we got on a train or changed our route or stayed in one spot for a long time.

It's something to think about before you ride for whatever cause -- can you follow through.

Sometimes you just can't win. I too declined offers of sponsorship from friends and colleagues partially for the very same reasons as you i.e. a sense of obligation to the sponsors' expectations rather than one's own personal vagaries. Some folk needed a lot of work on my part for them accept that I didn't want sponsorship and that if they were determined to give money to charity, could do so direct to a charity of their choice. Some people were mildly remonstrative because I was wasting an opportunity to do something for charity. I've enjoyed my two E2E rides and my Channel; to the MEd ride all the more for knowing that it didn't matter one jots whether or not I finished.

Another reason for my refusal to accept sponsorship comes from the amount of work that I had to put in to gather in the sponsorship money from the one sponsored ride that I did do. Lots of sponsors find it easy to part with the ink pledging the money but become very hard to find when one is trying to part them from their money.

A sponsored ride is mixing business with pleasure. I'm of the opinion that they are best as separate entities and not bed fellows.

Sometimes an attempt to raise one's profile can backfire. Have a look at the following link.

http://www.swldxer.co.uk/zbeverley.jpg

It gives the impression that they have claimed that they will be cycling through tropical temperatures on the worst possible roads on a ride through France and Germany to Prague. A bit of detective work revealed that that claim relates to a Malawi charity ride that might or might not have taken place in May 2007 and because of the sloppy journalism that used some out of context words lifted from the Just Giving site and a failure to update the Just Giving site giving the impression that the quest has been completed, has resulted in a whopping additional sum of £0.00 being donated after the newspaper article appeared in the past week or so.
 
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Bigtallfatbloke

Bigtallfatbloke

New Member
..interesting points. Hmm.....do I need the hassle?....probably not....could I raise money another way....probably not......maybe I should things to organised charity rides....that way I ge tin some training....hopefully raise some cash for a good cause....and keep the touring thing seperate for the reasons to chaps have outlined.
 

redfox

New Member
Location
Bourne End, UK
I added a charity element to my JOGLE. I am reluctant to say I did it for charity because that wasn't the motivation at all; I just decided that if I could get some money for a good cause at the same time than why not?

I managed to raise £1,500 and all of it went to the National Autistic Society.

If you want to do it, most charities have and events team you can email. Just tell them your plan and they will provide the fund raising materials.

I have avoided raising sponsorship on all my tours since. Partly because it would involve pestering the exact same people as last time and, partly, because I did feel obliged to complete the tour exactly as described and I prefer the freedom to change my mind.
 
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