Thank you

Now its’ time to think about getting out on your bike a bit and to think about fund raising – Helping kids and getting fitter, can’t be bad. Below are some tips to help you with your fund raising and some help to make getting on your bike and staying there a little easier.

You can set up a simple fund raising page here Mydonate. Remember there are trophies for the best fund raisers. If you’d prefer we have an old fashioned paper sponsorship form here

Tips for fundraising

Make sure your first donation sets a good standard.
This is really important, as people often decide how much to sponsor you based on the last donation made. Ask a family member or one of your more generous friends to get the ball rolling!

Match Funding.
If you work for a large organisation, it’s always worth asking if they offer match funding, or any other support for fundraising activities by employees – many do

Make it personal.
This charity works with local kids, people will know the young people, the schools, clubs and activities we support. People are much more likely to donate if your fundraising page is personalised, so upload photos and tell people what you’re doing and why. Inspire donors by talking about The Foundation, our work, and how their donations make all the difference.

Keep it up to date.
The more you keep everyone up to date with your training and preparations, the more likely they are to sponsor you. Set up a blog, Twitter, Facebook page or website, and be sure to post regular updates. Once you’ve completed your challenge, send a letter or email out. Include a picture of the event and let everyone know when you’ll be collecting donations.

Tell people.
Make sure you tell everyone, your boss, colleagues at work, mates at the pub, etc – don’t forget the local paper – about your challenge. Ask the paper to advertise your fundraising attempt and link to your fundraising page.

Chase the money.
The challenge is over? That doesn’t mean you have to stop fundraising. Chase up the people you couldn’t speak to before and show them some snaps of your struggle and achievement to guarantee a donation.

Spice it Up!
If you’re already well-matched against your challenge who’s going to sponsor you? There’s no fun in sponsoring an outdoors-loving rock-climber to hike up a mountain. But if that rock-climber announces he’ll have his chest waxed before the event as long as a certain amount of money is raised, people are more likely to pay attention.

Tips for getting on your bike and keeping going

Here are a few ideas:

Start by riding to work – some good tips here

For the more ambitious there is some useful info here and here (see page 10 onwards)