Tips for organising a charity ride??

magicrb22

Hi everyone,

First time poster here, so please go gently!
I apologise in advance if this isn't in the correct section, but I wasn't sure where to post it.

Anyways....

A couple of friends of mine along with myself have decided to organise a charity cycle next year to raise money for a charity close to us. We have decided to cycle from London to Edinburgh (our home town). We deliberately want to organise this ourselves, not do the rat race etc, as we think we can raise more money our way and we like the idea of organising it ourselves.
The number of riders has risen to about 16 (from 3) although I am sure there will be drop offs as we get closer to the time.
Anyway, I have organised little things for charity before but nothing on this scale, and wouldn't mind speaking to anyone who has done something like this before for some pointers.
Is there anyone out there who has organised a charity cycle like this that wouldn't mind giving me some pointers?

I don't even own a road bike yet, just about to change from my Trek Navigator Hybrid so training will be interesting!!

David

Lewiy

I organised a charity ride this year. For what it's worth it was a straight 24 hour relay from Lands End to Poole (230 miles) with 9 cyclists. We raised just over £4k for Poole Hospital. Not sure if that qualifies me to help you, but I'm happy to try to answer any questions you might have!

peter-e74

I organised a ride with three different routes 50k 100k and 200k. so not on the same scale as yours but happy to try to answer any questions you have.

my advice would be setup a 'virgin money giving' website to collect the money.
If you are worried about insurance speak to British cycling.
Work out if your riders need support ( van in case of breakdown, carry food etc ) or if it is everyone for themselves.
A point to point route is harder to organise as you will need transport to get to either the start or to get home.

magicrb22

Thanks guys.

So insurance was one of the questions I had on my list. I know I can get insurance as an individual through British Cycling but wasn't sure if we would need to have a specific 'event' type of insurance.
We have teamed up with a bike shop who are going to support us in terms of spares etc, and we will have a van in support with spares / food and things.
The plan I guess is to get the train down to London and cycle home. I used to work for a hotel company who are looking into accommodation for us en-route and willing to do us a deal as a sponsor of the event.

Do I need to notify councils or local authorities that we are travelling through? I'm thinking more of the start / finish points on each day.

My initial thinking is as you suggested, set up a just giving or virgin money page for the donations etc to be collected, but also to have 4 or 5 other events in the build up to the main event (race nights, childrens sponsored cycle, car boot sales etc etc) all under the same umbrella. - My thinking was some of the money collected at these events could be used to keep costs down for the actual participants and the rest going to the charitable fund. - Do you think that is fair or would people not like that not 100% of the cash is going to the charity?

We also plan on approaching as many local companies as possible for sponsorship and if we get a few of them on board, that would reduce costs further to the participants.

Thanks again.

David

Lewiy

I organised a charity quiz night in advance of my ride in order to fund some of the outlay I had for van and minibus hire, fuel, etc. I spoke to the charity in advance and they were happy for the funds to be used to facilitate the main event which would be drawing in the big money. As we had company fundraising matching as well, the charity agreed to accept the hard cash, plus the receipts for the outlays as the fundraising total on which to provide an invoice for company matching. Essentially this only served to pull in more cash for them so they were happy with that. I wouldn’t worry about the people giving you money as such, they don’t necessarily need to know how the cash is being distributed, as long as the charity is happy with however you want to do it. At the end of the day, if your event comes out in profit (so to speak) then it’s better than not doing it at all.

With local companies, we didn’t ask for sponsorship, but did ask for donation items for a raffle which we drew on the quiz night. It’s astonishing the stuff some companies will donate for a good cause! Mind you, a lot of effort went into this, we got maybe a 30% hit rate on companies asked. Don’t forget to try celebrities for signed photos!

mrfpb

There are related threads in Tours/Sportives/Organised Rides with some good advice.

peter-e74

British cycling can insure your event ( for small fee ) I think it is something like £60 per 100 riders. it insures you as an event organiser but not the riders. You will need to complete a risk assessment etc which isn't too bad. I didn't use them in the end as I managed to get our company insurance to cover us. depending on how many riders you have will dictate if you need to inform councils etc if your riders stay around 16 then you will not need to.

Planning your route takes longer than you think! you will need to think about how your riders are going to follow the route ( maps, GPS, signs ) Your route will be way too long for marking the route for them, and if your riders are not staying together as a group it could get interesting.

Are all your riders of a similar ability? Some of our slower riders wanted to set off early, some stop for lunch when others wanted to keep riding ( keeping track of everyone is a challenge )

We didn't spend any of the money donated by people on the event, but got lots of help from companies, you could easily ask companies to purchase your train tickets or pay for a nights accommodation etc.

magicrb22

Thanks guys, I really appreciate all the tips and advice.

I may have more as we go on!

morstar

Not specifically related to the ride itself but fundraising. I was part of a group of 8 who did a rat race organised ultra marathon for charity this summer. A just giving site is a great tool for fundraising. We got just shy of £10k between us.
I thought a collaborative page was good rather than lots of individual ones. It always seemed to have more momentum.
Never sure about reducing expenses. I am not at all well off but we all covered our own expenses and entry fees. They were an investment in an amazing personal experience. Funds raised are funds raised.
Get T-shirts and stuff printed. I was wearing my shirt for the charity at a bowling alley and one of the staff mentioned they do charity nights. You never know where opportunities lie.