Friends & Family Chipin for Worlds Fundraising

SInce the days following Desoto, we have heard all sorts of innovative plans for raising the necessary fundage to get to the 2010 UCI BMX World Championships in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Bake Sales, Door to Door fundraising, putting the arm on grandma and grandpa, BMX Garage Sales, Powerball tickets…people are getting creative.

Based on BMXNEWS calculations, the trip will cost around $7500 for two, including air, hotel, entry fees and food. Add another $3000 for each additional family member up to 4, then you’ll need two rooms. Raising $10K in 110 days is a pace on which, if it were only a little faster, you could run for congress.

In our non-BMX life, we have seen people use so-called “micro funding” websites. These sites allow you to set up a “cause,” which has a funding goal…and then direct friends and family to that page to make their contributions (via credit card or PayPal). If you do not reach your goal, the cause does not “make” and the contributors are not charged for the contribution.

One of the sites we found easiest to use was chipin.com. This site gives you all the tools you need to go viral with your cause, including hooks to Facebook, twitter, and code to create “Chipin” widgets for your own site, if you have one, or to place in a fundraising email. Best part of the whole thing is that it’s free for contributors using PayPal (chipin takes a small fee to offset credit card costs on payment made through their system).

We like the online fundraising method because it allows you to monitor your goal, and because you have a record of the people who made the trip possible, so you can send them a picture of your rider on the podium.

Check it out at www.chipin.com.