Ride for A Reason is a popular fundraising bikeathon sponsored by the Claremont Middle School PTA, and benefiting seven public schools in Oakland. Their annual event has raised over $1,000,000. This community has shown its devotion each year through online donations and volunteer efforts to make the event a success.
Remember when peer-to-peer campaigns were run on paper with pledge forms? Using pledge forms is still a great way to enhance the success of crowdfunding events. Here’s how one organization successfully uses peer-to-peer software and walk-a-thon pledge forms.
Why They Do It
Ride for a Reason funds support monthly campus-wide community-building activities, including community art projects and student clubs (Gay-Straight Alliance, Girls’ Empowerment, Robotics Club, Japanese Culture and Language Club). Oakland schools serve students with diverse educational needs, and funds help provide special education. “We are particularly proud of how we’ve consistently increased the number of students reading and performing math skills at or above grade level.”
Ride for a Reason’s fundraising campaign has helped students achieve success in many ways:
- Hire math aides to provide a second instructor for differentiated learning
- Hire more staff librarians to help reluctant readers find books that will captivate them
- Hire a long-term substitute teacher who can be in any classroom, providing a higher level of instruction
- Offer an after-school program that supports 6th, 7th, and 8th graders struggling with academics
- Purchase books, BART tickets, and science materials
- Professional development
“Ride for a Reason funds allow us to provide mental health services for students who do not have Medi-Cal, or other mental health service access. With over 20 languages on campus, no single provider could treat our entire student population. We have to search for a variety of providers with linguistic and cultural competencies to meet our students’ needs, and they are needy. Virtually no one immigrates to a new country because things are good where they came from. Our students’ families are escaping poverty, violence, and war. Some families immigrate here gradually: many of our students are joining parents they have not seen in years. All of our students miss family and friends left behind. Navigating a new country under these circumstances is tremendously difficult.”
“We have used the DoJiggy platform for 8 years and have found no product better on the market that matches its value for its versatility and functionality. Tech support is very responsive.”
— Andrew S. Ride for a Reason
Utilizing Crowdfunding Software
To succeed in such a large endeavor, Ride for a Reason received help from great bikeathon fundraising software. They use crowdfunding software to register bikers and obtain donations easily and securely for their bike-a-thon fundraiser. Their pledge forms are housed on the crowdfunding website and can be printed by donors or participants.
Bike-a-thon participants can easily create personal fundraising pages to upload photos and share their enthusiasm for the mission. They direct supporters to make secure donations online. They can easily send an email or post on social media requesting a donation and include a link to their online pledge form. Participants can also print pledge forms and take them to work, church, or activities.
Providing fundraising tools to peer-to-peer event participants is an important component in encouraging participants to fundraise for your cause.
Always Start Early!
The event is on April 27, and this dynamic team has already raised funds as of November. They have several registrants on their crowdfunding website. All of the planning that happened before this means they started early! Their pledge forms are in motion. The PTA has been in touch with donors year-round to keep them engaged in this successful event.
Inspiring Crowdfunding Sponsors
Ride for a Reason sponsors provide funding to cover start-up expenses, as well as in-kind donations. In return, sponsors want to be recognized for their contributions. Their fundraising website includes a sponsor page that highlights each sponsor.
Ride for a Reason typically emails to more than 1,000 current and past riders, volunteers, donors, and other supporters. R4R sends messages via school email distribution lists, and R4R’s beneficiary schools enroll more than 5,000 Oakland students. R4R maintains a website and a Facebook page with updates on current happenings. R4R has had stories in the local papers: the Sacramento Bee, the East Bay Times, the East Bay Express, and the Rockridge News. They ensure that their audience knows that a sponsor’s business cares about local issues and families.
Features of Our Bike-a-thon Fundraising Software
DoJiggy’s peer-to-peer crowdfunding software offers all the features and functionality organizations need to succeed. Start with our bike-a-thon template that comes with these powerful tools and features for your biking event:
- Personal and team fundraising pages
- Social media links for easy sharing
- Responsive design for mobile donations and pledges
- Various registration options, including participant import
- Leaderboards with top individual and team fundraisers
- Fundraising thermometers
- Prize management system
- Participant privacy for kids’ rides
- Ability to take per-unit pledges (i.e., per mile or lap) or flat-rate donations
- Detailed financial reporting capabilities
- Integrated email management system to email bikers and sponsors
Walk-a-thon Pledge Form Templates
To help you get started on a peer-to-peer fundraiser, DoJiggy has created walk-a-thon pledge form templates. These pledge form templates allow organizations to customize them to fit their needs. It is generally a good idea to present the pledge forms to your fundraisers in printed or digital PDF format. Your organization may use one or a combination of these pledge forms for your crowdfunding event.
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