bosoxmrkn

I really want to do the Pan Mass Challenge next year. It's set for early August. The kicker, is that the minimum donation is $4200. I don't have a large or particularly wealthy family, so coming up with that kind of change is going to be very hard to come by. I hate asking for money, even though the money is going towards a good cause. What kinds of things am I going to expect to have to do to get the donations I need? I'm willing to put in the effort, as I think this really is a life changing event/cause and cycling 192 miles over 2 days in support of that cause seems like one of the biggest gestures I, personally, could do.

merlin55

I would not expect people to donate more than 50% of the total cost....if you won't or can't match their donations with yours I woudn't even bother asking. $4200 to do a 2 day ride is nuts, what justifies $2000/day?

amillerinmaine

You might want to check out how some of the top individual fund-raisers did it for this years Dempsey Challenge in Maine. They've hit $10,000 + !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

zerotopanmass

I've done the PMC twice now and would recommend it to anyone. The first year I hit the minimum, $4200, this year I made it over $5000. Remember you have a long time to raise the money, January 2011 -> October 2011. I've lost loved ones to cancer so it's not a question of if I can raise the money, I put in the effort and make it happen, it's not easy. You will have to get over not liking asking people for money though. I'll be riding again next year, hope to see you out there!

crockett

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drmweaver2

This is the key - it's simply putting in the effort regardless of any personal discomfort with doing so. There are loads of websites/pages with ideas of how to do it - from shaking a can at a mall to email lists, from walking around downtown with a sandwich board sign to getting a school class to do the legwork for you as a "class project". You just have to put in the effort, tally the results and repeat as needed until you reach the goal.

Remember that most non-cyclists are more impressed/responsive to total mileage and/or personal relations to a particular cause. Otherwise, gathering donations/pledges can be as simple as door-to-door knuckle-rapping and never allowing 1 rejection to stop you from rapping on another door with another shake of the donation can.

bidaci

The PMC is a great experience that I am glad to have experienced. That being said, it is getting harder each year to meet the minimum amount to be raised. I believe that last year there was no bail out period and as soon as you signed up your were on the hook for the full amount.

Brian Sharpe

That's quite a bit more than I had to raise for the Ride The Rideau but you've got almost a year to do it.

Do you have children involved in any sports clubs? We had my son's soccer team help out with a bbq at a local grocery store. This particular grocery store has bbq fundraisers every 2nd weekend (faor various sports clubs, charities,service clubs etc) and provides the food & drinks at their cost - a 1 day bbq selling hot dogs, hamburgers & soft drinks raised about $900.00

Solicit local merchants for donations - you'd be surprised how many are willing to help out for a good cause. (See if your LBS may be willing to kick in some $$ in exchange for you wearing their jersey)

Bake sales at work?

Car washes?

Offer to shave your head if enough $$ are collected at work?

With time and a little creativity you can do it.

Good luck!

reptilezs

good thread. i wrenched at the pmc last year and it was a great time. thinking about riding the next one and funding it with my wrenching services

Jean Beetham Smith 

I've done 6 PMC's. It is very hard to raise the money, especially if you don't work someplace where you have a lot of co-workers or matching donations. Most of the big time fund raisers have a large network to ask to donate. I sold my car one year to make the minimum, and my pearls the next. I've tried knocking on doors in the neighborhood and soliciting at events. It's hard. If you are interested in the ride just as a ride it isn't worth it. THE PMC IS NOT REALLY ABOUT CYCLING, IT IS ALL ABOUT FUNDRAISING FOR THE DANA FABER CANCER INSTITUTE. No one cares if you are the 1st rider in or last, what they care about is how much money you raise for cancer research and treatment. If you want to participate but aren't sure of your fund-raising abilities, consider volunteering at Bourne on the Saturday, then you can ride back to Wellesley on Sunday and only have to raise $1000. Or you can ride only the Wellesley-Sharon Loop on Sunday and only have to raise $1000.

Mr. Fly

It may be a bit difficult now with the bad economy and all, and it really depends on the living standard of your location (e.g., $4200 isn't the same in NYC as it is in Flint, MI). Nevertheless...

I once raised about $2500 for a charity stair climb in 3 weeks. What worked for me:

• I had a team leader that was always hounding and challenging me. He was a real go-getter and we had a friendly competition against another team (sorry, type A personality). The team leader raised well over $20,000 himself, BTW...more on that later...
• I had a bunch of good buddies who just love to see me sweat it out (in a good way) and were willing to pay for that privilege.
• In addition to my friends, I had many well-paid co-workers (this is in the SF bay area) and they all liked me, professionally and personally. I think that helped.
• The company I worked for had a donations-matching program. I helped my co-workers sort through that maze to get to the matching funds.
• I took the time to chat with all my donors so they understood where their money was going to. That took a bit of salesmanship.
• I upped the ante by agreeing to hauling my son up the stairs. He weighed 30+lb and the kid carrier was another 5 or 7 lb. That made it more challenging for me and provided an incentive for the donors to ante up.
• I upped the ante even more by promising to provide "extreme donors" (> $X) with thank you cards. I spent a bit of time making these cards that had a picture of me (with my kid on my back) and a handwritten note thanking them for supporting me. I got my kid to scribble on the cards too.
• I overcame the slight embarrassment of asking for money when I decided that I wasn't begging, but merely asking them to support me in a good cause. That was likely the most significant mental obstacle for me so once I overcame that, I really unashamedly spammed all the people I knew.

Regarding how my team leader managed to raise so much money himself, it all came down to hard work, connections and figuring out what was really important. He figured he was out there to raise money, so any money he can raise is good. So he took a page from professional sports, called up some contacts who had advertising budgets and offered them the team (we had about 10 people). He then made T-shirts with the highest bidder's logo on it and had us wear them during the event. Since the event got a fair amount of news exposure, someone actually ponied up $$$ to get their corporate logo plastered over a bright red T-shirt which we proudly wore during the event.

So by all means go collect and pool the small amounts from individuals, but don't forget to sell yourself to that corporate sponsor with (relatively) deep pockets.

Good luck!

skilsaw

What do you have to do to insure your donors get a tax deductible receipt? (Canadian charities issue them)
Can they give you a cheque made out to "...Cancer Society", or whoever the event is for.
By giving you a cheque that you can't cash, they know their donation is going to the cause.

Salmosebago

This will be my 10th PMC and the fund raising hasn't gotten any easier. The fund raising events (car wash, bake sale, etc.) are great and corp. sponsors work well too. My key has been to search out friends and family that work for companies that match funds. You bang a couple of good ones there and life becomes much easier. This will be my first year to push the "Paceline" approach to see if I can get friends to help out as well. When all else fails, I write a check. After 10 years the PMC is in my blood - can't wait! Good luck!!!!