The AIDS Rides® make no guarantee
about what percentage of donations will go back to AIDS services. This
depends entirely on how many individuals ride, and on how much money they
raise. The more raised, the greater the percentage returned to services.
How much money has gone back to AIDS services?
Nearly $54 million* from all Rides - a record. The American
AIDS Rides® have delivered more money more quickly back to AIDS charities
than any single known AIDS fundraising event operation in history. And
this is what AIDS charities need. Money. As quickly as they can get it.
Since the first Ride in California in 1994, thirty-one campaigns have been
completed.** Nationally, $90 million* has been raised through 1998, and
approximately 57%* of every donor dollar or a total of $54* million has
gone back to AIDS services. In 1998, California AIDS Ride® 5 raised
$9.5 million and returned approximately 60% of donor dollars back to AIDS
services. Please note that the percentage for your city may be different
- Please call your local Ride office for further information.
Where does the rest of the money go?
For California AIDS Ride® 5, approximately 24% of
every dollar went into event awareness marketing and administrative expenses,
and the other 16% went toward rider safety and support - meals, showers,
safety signage, tents, and everything it takes to move your friends and
loved ones, and thousands of other people, safely from town to town each
day. Safety is priority one with the AIDS Ride®. |
What is the standard for return
on donations?
Different organizations say different things, and it
always depends on the nature of the fundraising appeal. Standards are different
for a special event like the AIDS Ride® than they are for a solicitation
you might get in the mail. As a person who gives to charity, you should
do all you can to understand the complexities of charitable fundraising.
Don't accept any one number as a norm. For instance, an event that returns
70% of your dollar back to charity may look better than one that sends
60% back. But what if the event that returns 70% raised $100,000, while
the event that returns 60% raised $8 million? The 60% event returned a
lot more money to the cause. One of the leading professional fundraising
trade organizations, the National Society of Fundraising Executives, states
that a minimum of 50% of every dollar from events should go back to charity.
California AIDS Ride's® historic average of 60% falls well above that
guideline.
The AIDS Ride® is extremely different from most fundraising
events. In addition to fundraising, it is an awareness-raising and empowering
event. For many people, the Ride is a life-changing experience. Providing
the setting for that kind of experience requires very complicated logistics
and mobilization operations. The AIDS Ride® is truly a new model in
a class by itself, and one for which no real standards exist. This makes
it even more remarkable that the Rides DO fall within the accepted cost
standards for other, less complicated events. |
Do the organizers try to get
things donated?
Constantly. We have full-time staff working on nothing
but bringing in corporate donations to help defray costs. Companies like
Tanqueray, who donate nearly $1 million annually in cash to defray costs,
continue to come on board to help us send even more dollars back to AIDS
services.
An important note...
The AIDS Ride® has many intangible benefits you can
be proud of - like the advertising that helps increase awareness about
AIDS, like the way the Ride gives hope to HIV positive riders, like the
way the AIDS riders get people talking about AIDS as they go out and seek
donations, like the children that line the streets to cheer on the riders
and get first-hand experience of heroism, or like the way the Ride teaches
people that, we can work together to solve our problems. These are
the things that make the Ride so unexplainably magical. These are important
reasons to give as well. And these are things you can count on the AIDS
Ride® delivering.
*Based on projected revenue through 1998.
**Includes five 1998 AIDS Rides.
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