Clifton CC

Hi Everyone,

For the past few years, we’ve organised The Macc Monster – www.maccmonster.co.uk – The cycle sportive in aid of Kidscan, the children’s cancer research charity.

As the event is organised to raise vital funds for our childhood cancer research, we offer sponsor materials to everyone taking part. However, the vast majority of people taking part choose not to fundraise. This is entirely their choice, but in order to make the event worthwhile for the charity, we’re hoping that more people will be keen to fundraise.

We are more than happy to provide people with sponsorship materials in order to make their fundraising as easy as possible.
This can include:
• Personalised sponsor forms
• A JustGiving.com or VirginMoneyGiving online sponsor page
• A Text To Donate code

My questions for you are as follows.
1) Would you be prepared to take part in a cycle sportive and pay the entry fee (£20) if you were also required to raise minimum sponsorship amount – e.g. £50 or £100
2) Would you be happier to raise the minimum sponsorship amount – e.g. £50/£100 if you did not have to pay to take part in the sportive?

If you’re able to answer these two questions I would really appreciate hearing back from you.
Thank you for your time.

The Kidscan Team.

In my experience people donate in their own way. Some choose to combine their charity donations with their cycling, others don't. Any mandatory requirement to raise funds would put me (and most people I think) off. Having a proportion of the entry fee go to charity is something I would be OK with as long as total entry fee remained reasonable.

Dr Dave wrote:In my experience people donate in their own way. Some choose to combine their charity donations with their cycling, others don't. Any mandatory requirement to raise funds would put me (and most people I think) off. Having a proportion of the entry fee go to charity is something I would be OK with as long as total entry fee remained reasonable.

Hi Dave,

Thank you very much for your comments.
What would you consider to be a reasonable entry fee - baring in mind it would be well publicised that a donation was going to the charity.

£20 for a 'bare-bones' sportive up to £70 ish for closed roads, freeby Tshirt/goody bag, feed-stations, electronic chip timing etc to include donation.

Option to increase donation element desirable but not compulsory.

Most riders do it with the ride not the charitable giving at the forefront of their minds when entering sportives.

Sorry this is late. I agree with what Dr Dave said.
The other problem is the number of sportives and fundraising events. The same people get asked to donate every time . Before I retired, we had all come to the conclusion that it was best not to seek sponsorship at work, but just make a donation ourselves, and gift aid it.[same applies to family and friends]
Your website suggests a very well organised event, but it is quite far from York and that leads to difficulties. I helped run a local sportive ,and that was difficult enough.
Most I talk to who participate in sportives agree with the above, and this probably explains why so few actually seek sponsorship for your sportive, and just come for the ride. It's difficult, and your costs will be high because of the high standards of the event. Charging more, with gift-aided donation element, probably best, and you know what you will get. No harm asking those without sponsorship fatigued friends to try and raise more.