Fundraising Focus
How to Host a Spin-A-Thon
By The Pelotonia Team|August 29, 2018
Pelotonia 2018 has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t continue to raise money for life-saving cancer research. As you continue to raise the bar (and the funds), consider hosting a spin-a-thon in your office, at a gym, or even your neighborhood clubhouse. This fundraiser can lead to a big return and is an absolute blast for all involved.
We recently talked to Linda Dickert, the Marketing Manager of M/I Homes in Raleigh and a Pelotonia Leader. Her team was inspired to get involved after one of their own colleagues was diagnosed with cancer and wanted to rally around supporting her as she went through treatments.
Here are the steps they took to host their spin-a-thon:
Secure the dates and get some bikes
- Clearly, you need some bikes for a spin-a-thon (they got two!).
Decide team captains.
- Each team captain was responsible for filling time slots to ensure they were continuously riding for 7 hours. Each time slot was 30 minutes long. They ended up doing a male vs. female spin-a-thon to see who could ride the most miles in that time frame.
Provide snacks and refreshments for the day
- Linda recommended a lot of H2O, as they quickly went through this for those spinning, and watching, throughout the day. They also supplied Gatorade, Clif bars, and additional snacks for everyone participating.
Make it festive.
- Balloons! They wanted to make it a festive atmosphere, filled with pump-up music, decorations, and awesome team comradery. They also created a thermometer to show the progress of fundraising throughout the day and asked those spinning to fill in the amounts raised once they were done – it was the perfect photo op!
A list of those they wanted to call for donations.
- Each of their employees created a list leading up to spin-a-thon day. They compared their lists to ensure they weren’t calling the same companies. That morning they started making calls and sending emails to their friends, families, and vendors to ask them to support their team and cancer research. They would accept donations of any amount and asked to have their donors go to their Pelotonia fundraising page to make their donations. They also received checks and submitted them to Pelotonia.
Take photos.
- With all the fun, competition and laughter in the office, they documented the day with lots of great pictures! Plus, it was a great opportunity to send out photos to friends, family, and vendors to show their progress and ask for more donations.
As a team, they raised over $18,000 in 2017 by hosting this spin-a-thon in their office, for the first time.
Their 2018 results? They raised over $30,000, almost doubling their fundraising amount year over year!
Have you hosted a spin-a-thon in your office? Anything you would suggest as others plan their own?
Go for it – we hear it is a blast!
450 W. Broad Street, Columbus, OH | 614.221.6100
© 2024 Pelotonia. All rights reserved.
Major Funding Partners
