New York, USA
Human Services
About the Fundraising Event
The annual Bike4Chai fundraiser is a massive event that brings hundreds of cyclists from across the world together to raise money for the children of Chai Lifeline and their families.
On August 13, 2020, the typical two-day fundraising event turned out a little different than usual due to coronavirus health and safety concerns. But the defining aspects of Bike4Chai have stayed the same — using fundraising teams and peer-to-peer technology to raise money for hundreds of children struggling with serious or chronic illness.
Yoel Margolese
Bike4Chai Director
“The ultimate success of the campaign comes from the interaction we have with the riders. The functionality of the platform gives us more time to build relationships with our riders.”
Their Fundraising Event Solution
Bike4Chai 2020 was unlike all previous years due to all of the changing restrictions and health precautions in New York. This one annual event typically covers over ⅓ of Camp Simcha’s operating costs. Camp Simcha is a retreat for children with cancer and disabilities operated by Chai Lifeline. If they canceled this event, they faced potentially canceling Camp Simcha. They forged forward.
Adjusting their Event
In order to make the event safe for all participants, changes needed to be made to the usual structure. They shortened the event to one day instead of two days and set a cap at the number of participants for all riders to keep a safe distance from one another.
Bike4Chai used Neon Fundraise’s virtual technology to motivate fundraisers to surpass previous efforts with leaderboards, team goals, a searchable rider database, peer-to-peer technology, and website builder customization.
This year, 400 riders used Strava Club to track performance and analyze results for the cycling challenge. This allowed team members and donors to track the progress and results of individuals and teams in order to keep the competition alive, even when socially distancing. The Strava integration is now available for Neon One clients using Rallybound that allows fundraisers to connect their Strava app to automatically import endurance activities for their event.
19,422
Total Donations
$7.5 Million+
Raised
460
Participating Cyclists
Their Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Event Results
Many riders had an initial reluctance to ask for money, but as always, at the core, people want to help, and that’s exactly what they did.
Neon Fundraise’s software provided the motivation and the resources needed to make the initial ask along with the ability for donors to search for specific fundraisers and teams, helping to foster trust and retain year over year donors.
Even though the two-day event was cut to one day and state restrictions put a 500 participant cap on the event, 10-20% fewer than the typical year, they were still able to raise over $7.5 million, with two teams alone raising over $1 million
