We know fundraising can be intimidating, but you’re not alone.
You have joined a truly EPIC team of over 500 previous thighsers, who have collectively raised over £650,000 since 2016.
We have the experience and we’ve got your back. Use us.
Thighs is a different kind of a bike ride. And we like to do fundraising a bit differently too.
YES: every penny donated goes to MASS Action, who redistribute the funds to grassroots projects like Khora, a social kitchen, asylum support centre and free shop for displaced people in Athens.
BUT ALSO: every time you go out and tell people what you’re doing, that’s another golden opportunity to bring people into a positive conversation around refugees, migration and freedom of movement.
INSPIRE
- Abi did a no uniform day and assembly at the primary school where she teaches. Kids brought £1 to donate
- Rosie put on a cyclist yoga session in exchange for a donation and then cleverly sold home-baked cakes to hungry yogis
- Andrew brought home a load of wine from Portugal and put on a wine tasting evening in exchange for a donation. Scientific fact: drunk people are super generous
- Jack raised more than £2,000 via the cunning ruse of a raffle, promoted on Instagram. £10 a ticket and he rustled up some brilliant prizes from generous friends
- Fen raised £650 by putting on a house party and Stephen cooked up a BBQ at work (don’t be stingey with the party poppers) with raffles and donation buckets for any loose change
YES PEOPLE. We love all this.
These are now your ideas: borrow and build on them.
You’ll notice that NONE of these involve sending emails around to your network asking for dosh.
Although emails and social media posts are a decent way to raise money from people who love you, we’d really encourage you to double down on what you’ve committed to doing this summer.
THIS ISN’T JUST A BIKE RIDE
By doing something a bit out of the ordinary for your fundraiser, you’ll not only inspire more donations, but also help raise awareness of the position refugees and people on the move find themselves in.
Why were YOU drawn to ride a ridiculously long way this summer?
Of course, the adventure has us all salivating – but why join a fundraising bike ride?
- You wanted to DO something about a crappy situation, maybe feel more empowered
- You volunteer and know how important grassroots refugee projects are to their members
- You’re angry about borders and geopolitics
- Actually, it really was all about the adventure… 😂 That’s fine for now – but have a read of why we ride and see what chimes most strongly with you
This core motivation doesn’t have to form part of what you tell your donors, but it’s what will give you the energy to keep on reaching out.
CONNECT
Now you can start generating ideas on how you (and only you) can make an authentic connection with all those lovely people about to hand over some of their hard-earned.
- What do love? How do you like to relate to people? (e.g. house parties or Instagram raffles)
- What skills or hobbies can you share? (e.g. drinking Portuguese wine or yoga)
- How can you bring your passion into work or your community? (e.g. no uniform day or a BBQ)
Take one small step towards making this a reality. Publicly commit to a date, send an email to your boss, buy a case of wine.
Take a deep breath and plunge…