Ride for Pride

We are thrilled that you’re joining Ride 4 Pride, Rochester’s bike ride fundraiser for the LGBTQ+ communities! We currently have 46 registered riders and we’ve raised $ 6,778 for the Center for Youth’s LGBTQ+ programming! Our goal is $40,000 so please start your fundraising. Top fundraisers will receive some beautiful pieces of art from local artists!

Here is our April News & Notes with R4P updates, events, and tips.

1) We’ve got a website! Check us out at Ride4Pride.org. There you’ll find a gallery of photos from past rides, a list of our sponsors, some informative videos about LGBTQ+ language and culture, information about the Center for Youth programs that our fundraiser will be supporting, a list of riders with links to their fundraising pages, and a logistics page. Because anti-LGBTQ+ protesters disrupt many LGBTQ+ events in Rochester, some of our R4P information must remain private (e.g., the route, the party location, etc.). Our logistics page, which is password protected, is where you’ll find this private information. The password is “R4P”.

2) The list of riders on our website currently lists the names of riders who have a link AND have given us permission to post them. Once you have a Givecloud fundraising link, please send it to our website wizard, Craig, at [email protected], with permission for it to be posted on our website. It’s highly encouraged that you also send us a photo and a write up about why you’re biking. Use this link when you fundraise so your donors can understand why fundraising for LGBTQ+ youth is important to you. Check out Kellie and Jeannie’s pages for examples of completed pages.

3) We will be hosting a Ride 4 Pride Meet & Greet event on Wednesday, May 6 from 5-7pm at ROAR (621 Culver Road, Roc 14609). ROAR is one of our generous R4P sponsors. All riders and support crew are welcome. At this event you’ll get to enjoy some complimentary snacks, meet other cool R4P peeps, and check out some of the beautiful art that local artist, Mark Groaning, made specifically for our event. He is donating these pieces to Ride 4 Pride as prizes for the top fundraisers! You’ll also be able to participate in our “Why I ride” fundraising campaign. (See image from a previous year and start thinking about what you’ll write on your card.) RSVPing at [email protected] is helpful so we know about how much food to order. But if you haven’t RSVPed, and you find yourself free that evening, please join us!

4) The best way you can prepare for R4P is by getting some saddle time. Please join us for one or several of our upcoming training rides. We’ll be offering flat 14-mile rides as well as longer, hillier rides. See the complete schedule attached to this email. Email us at [email protected] with questions or call/text Alec at 585-362-5871 for last minute questions or directions.

5) A few riders have had some difficulty setting up their fundraising pages using Givecloud. Some simply get an error message or the security code never arrives in their inbox. If you’re experiencing this issue, the GiveCloud technical team is advising you to try signing up with your Facebook, Microsoft, or Google account (by clicking “More Options”). And please don’t suffer in silence. Let us know if you continue to have difficulties by emailing us at [email protected].

6) Here are some of our favorite tips for effective fundraising:

• Create a heartfelt write up about why you’re riding and include it in your ask for donations via email, text, or on social media. Keep in mind that personalized asks directed individually at people are much more effective than simply posting a general ask for donations.
• Create a hook or a gimmick to encourage donations (ie. “If I raise $1,000 I’ll ride dressed as Wonder Woman” or “If I raise $2,000 I’ll dye my hair purple for the ride.” Jeannie writes the names of her donors on her body in indelible ink so her supporters can join her for the ride. If people donate $100 or more, they get to choose their body part. Ooh lah lah! (Feel free to steal her idea if you like it!)
• Send your ask far and wide. You never know who might be eager to support our cause.
• Ask people to help spread the word by forwarding your story and fundraising link.
• Acknowledge donations right away by thanking your donors. 
• Put a pledge sheet in the lunchroom where you work. Feel free to use the attached template that Rider Dan created for us. It’s in Word doc form so you can edit it for your needs. Consider adding a QR code that links to your fundraising page for easy payments.
• Send a gentle reminder as the event gets closer to those who said they’d support you but haven’t donated yet. They may have just forgotten.

That’s all the news that’s fit to print (for now). We’re hoping to see your smiling faces at our Meet & Greet and training rides.

Shift Happens!

Alec, Jeannie, and Kellie