Have you heard about our Ride program?
in Events, Fundraising
JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes is a charitable bike ride that to-date has raised over $50 million for type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. The Ride gives cyclists of all ages and skill levels the opportunity to support breakthroughs that transform the lives of people with T1D, until there is a cure.
The Bacine Family is an integral part of our Eastern PA Ride Team. Melanie and Michael, along with their daughters Meredith and Madeline, will be riding with us in Sonoma this year. We asked them for their best fundraising tips to help any of our current and future riders:
What has worked well for you?
Writing a fundraising letter from the heart. It’s good to let the people who are donating know about what life is like for me living with diabetes. Let them know about current advances and what their money is going towards.
Meredith did a fundraiser spin class for her friends at Focus Fitness. That was a lot of fun.
What tips would you give to first-time fundraisers?
It’s all a personal comfort level. I started small until I got comfortable involving friends and family with JDRF. After a few years, I got more comfortable with it and now we send it to friends, family, friends of family, and more. The worst that can happen is that somebody does not donate.
If you are sending out an email, I recommend also sending the letter through snail mail to people who don’t have an email account. Also, a few weeks later, send the email out again to people who not yet donated. The first email could have been lost in the shuffle.
When do you start your fundraising? When do you like to have it completed by?
We send out our letters in April. Our events have typically been in June. I like to have fundraising done by the ride, but a few trickle in after when they see the ride pictures, etc.
Do you host fundraising events?
We have done a spin class and a fundraising night at Jules Pizza in Ardmore.