General Questions about Charity Rides

A friend of mine did the TNT century ride in Tahoe this year, and his efforts are what inspired me to get back into biking. I'd like to do a charity ride next year, and I have a few general questions about fundraising and the differences between the organizations.

I've noticed that the Livestrong rides and at least some of the MS rides have really low minimum fundraising amounts (like $250), but the TNT rides and some of the others have much higher minimums, and I'm wondering why. Does some of the $$ go towards the participant's training and airfare? Are there other things it goes towards, or is it all going to the charity? Are there things I need to know (hidden expenses, things I'll have to plan for) with the events with lower minimums? How does it all work with these events?

The way it was explained to us, TNT figures out how much it costs per person for training, airfare (if needed), and hotel stay. They then multiply that by 4 to come up with the minimum.

Think of it this way. In general a charity ride has the focus on raising money through the ride. You raise a very small amount of money or simply donate through your registration. You show up. You ride. The charity may be responsible for the event itself but doesn't provide anything to you except the opportunity to ride event.

Team in Training provides coaching, training, maybe travel and lodging, etc., etc., and guaranteed registration in the chosen event. The chosen event is rarely (if ever) hosted by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. You raise a whole heck of a lot of money for the Society in return for the Team in Training coaching.
http://www.teamintraining.org/

Snap and SK are right.

I've been a coach for TNT since 2001, and have been involved w/the Leukemia/Lymphoma society in various roles since 1999. They figure the fundraising minimum by taking your expenses (hotel, airfare, event entry, costs for supported rides for X number of months), and multiply it by 4 to get the fundraising minimum amount. That way they guarantee that at least 75% of the money raised goes to leukemia research and patient services. Generally, the % is more because people actually raise well over the minimum.

Events like the AIDS ride and MS rides (which I am doing in 2 weeks), will often have lower $ minimums. The MS rides do not offer any coaching, there's no real sense of "team" besides what you bring to it with your friends (not to be underestimated ;)) and the organization leaves a lot to be desired in some ways, but of course the cause is good so I am wholeheartedly excited about my upcoming event. I know some events do not have a guaranteed percentage that goes to the cause. Historically, TNT's 75+% is the highest of any of these sorts of venture, just because they insist on a high amount.

So you can certainly be confident that the $ you raise will be going to a good cause - and I hope you have a wonderful time in the process! :)

I did a TNT ride in '99 one of the best experiences I've ever had! The coaching was top knotch and the transportation to the event was, also the rooms in Vegas, the banquet the staff support all along the way you couldn't has for a better organization!

That said I also do volunteer work every year for the LiveStrong Ride here in Portland and what a great group of people to work with!! I love it and will do it every year, this next spring '09 I plan to ride it as well as work with the pre ride stuff, wouldn't miss it!

I also do the Komen for the Cure Walk in Portland every year and it's fun, but I only do the walk I don't actually or extensively raise funds most all of my friends are doing the walk too, we're spread so thin.....

Those are the only ones I've been involved with but I gather to say that any organization that works that hard to raise funds is well worth it. You might just want to see what the ratio of funds raised actually go toward the cure of said desease. It's always better for the monies raised to actually go toward the cure. You can always research them and see if their mission statement is in line with what you want and feel compelled to work for.

SadieKate is right about whom is doing what and for whom, follow your heart helping others in need is always a good thing to do. Have fun with whatever you decide and good luck!

The Livestrong events do provide mentors for fundraising advice. I've never used them but they're there if you want them. Also their events exist because they are Livestrong events -- all the participants have raised money for the LAF. There is also training advice on their website but they don't have regularly scheduled training rides/runs like TNT teams do.

TNT events are general events that open to the public, so most of the other participants are not doing any fundraising for anything. And as mentioned previously, you don't have to pay extra for travel costs (except for meals, I think).

I've done a TNT event but am simply not able to raise that kind of money on a regular basis, so I do the Livestrong Challenge instead. Since I live near DC and I do the Philadelphia ride, I have to pay for the hotel out of pocket, but they do offer special group rates at several nearby hotels.

I've also done some Tour de Cure rides for the American Diabetes Assn, although I stopped doing them a few years back because I decided based on my family history to focus on cancer organizations. They were similar to the Livestrong rides in that every participant was a fundraiser and there was no organized training/fundraising assistance program. I guess probably most of the fundraisers outside of TNT are like that, too.

I will say that the Livestrong ride is hands-down the best organized ride I've ever done, in terms of details like route signage, police/volunteers at all key intersections, number of available medical volunteers, stuff like that. This year they even had portable sinks with soap, water and paper towels next to all the porta-potties at all the rest stops. They are also the only rides I've done that had people who lived along the route standing in front of their houses and cheering us on.

I'll chime in with two thumbs up for the Livestrong rides. Like NY biker, I was at the Philly ride. Last year I had 2 others with me, this year we were a team of 16 (9 cyclists and 7 runners). All my new folks commented on how impressed they were with the organization and the comraderie. At packet pick-up my brother in law and his friend met one of the guys running the show and he knew our team, based on our entry into the jersey contest. He sat with them for over 30 minutes and knew everything about my team and my sister, who has cancer and is the reason we ride, by the end of it. He knew me by name and what I did for a living and the next day, called out to me by name again. I'm sure he met hundreds of people, I was impressed that he remembered my name.

All that is just to say that although there isn't a "team" with livestrong, the atmosphere is anything but in my opinion. I figured I'd have to give my team a few weeks before asking if they would ride again next year, but sitting around our little canopy after the ride, they were already making plans for next year and recruiting new team members. I attribute a lot of that to the atmosphere of the ride and how well organized it all is.

Hey NY biker, how about the little girl with her own water stop, I love her! My sister said to her "you were here last year" and she responded, I'm here every year!!! My family also loved the little girl sitting on the wall at her yard and clanging on a triangle. :) We also love the cops. After 9 of us rode through one intersection, each shouting out "thank you" to the cop, he said to my sister "you people are so belligerent", which cracked us all up.

All that said though - whatever charity you choose to ride for, good for you! You will feel such a sense of accomplishment and a good cause will benefit from it!