Fundraiser Profile

Name: Gareth Davidson & Simon Forrest
Occupation: By day - Senior Product Manager, and Information Systems Infrastructure and Security Manager for sanofi-aventis. By weekend - Part-time pedal-powered road warriors.
Age: Old enough to know better (30-something)
Status: Co-Team Captains
Number of team members: 26
Team total: $5205

How did you go about organising your team?

We sent out and email to all our Sydney-based staff a couple of months in advance looking for expressions of interest from those who wanted to ride. This gave them time to register, block out the day in their diary, and start training! We organised a couple of team training rides as well.

We also had a section on our intranet where people could read more about the ride (including some motivation that 56/90kms really isn't that far), a link to the Gong Ride site to register, and another to let us know they were joining our team.

Finally we put together a ride kit for each of our team members. This included the jersey, a couple of bidons (cycling talk for "water bottles") that were promo items generously donated by one of our products, a box of "Gastrolyte" (a rehydration solution our company makes), an after-ride cap donated by one of our sponsors, and an information sheet with things like contact phone numbers, and where we were meeting before and after the ride etc.

What did you do to fundraise to reach your team target?

We organised two team fundraising events:

1. Auctioning logo space on our jersey: As we designed a team jersey, we auctioned off "advertising space" to our company's suppliers in return for a fundraising donation. We held a silent auction, and asked for bids starting from $100, with the best & biggest plots of prime lycra advertising space going to the highest bids. We even said that for the right donation we would knock off our company logo and replace it with the sponsor with the biggest donation!

From about 8 suppliers we had 6 respondents, and raised $1850 with bids ranging from $100 to $1000,
but every cent counts.

It was a really simple way of raising money, and everyone wins. Most companies will find that their suppliers - i.e. the companies that they spend money with - will be quite happy to partner with them, make a donation, and get some advertising at the same time.

From one email to our suppliers, and then a bit of work to coordinate getting their logos on our jerseys, we raised almost $2000 without trying.

• Click here to view the email The Cyclopaths sent their suppliers
• Click here to view the jersey

2. We also held a waxathon. This was publicised internally and we had the wax strips on sale for $5 each from our cafe for a couple of weeks before the actual event. The wax strip sponsors then had the pleasure (and believe me, that was the operative word) in applying and removing the strip from the legs of some of our Gong ride team. We arranged for the modern-day equivalent of a public flogging where our willing volunteers lined up and took their punishment one lunch time about a week before the ride.

• Click here to view some photos of the event.

What did other team members do to raise funds?

Initially our team target was $2000, however our jersey advertising auction was a huge success and we smashed that! So we started scratching our heads for some other ideas. This is where the waxathon idea came about.

Our company sanofi-aventis also matched our efforts dollar for dollar up to a set amount as well.

Finally one of our departments organised a bbq lunch for the company one day, and we asked if they'd request a donation in exchange for a sausage, all of which went to the MS Society.

Being a company that uses a large number of external service providers we give business to, so we got team members to email their suppliers and ask them to sponsor them - i.e. to give something back by way of a good cause.

How easy (or hard) did you find fundraising as part of a team?

We were lucky in some respects - organising the auction for the logo space on the team jersey was really easy. Working for a company that makes a treatment for MS we asked them to cover the costs of producing the jersey, which they agreed to do. We then sent an email to our suppliers letting them know that it costs millions of dollars to have your logo sprayed over the legs, backs & bums of a pro cycling team, but for a kind donation to the MS Society they could achieve the same by sponsoring our team (yes okay, so we're hardly a pro team, but we looked just as good!). They emailed their bids back with their logo, and we sent these off to our jersey supplier who organised the artwork and made them for us.

One of our team member's husband operates a company called "Blackwolf" that make outdoor equipment. He kindly donated a number of hydration backpacks which we gave away to our top fundraisers, as well as auctioning off some others. Everyone wanted a backpack so there was some competition to see who could raise the most. Anyone could consider asking your company (or a supplier and give them some good press) to donate a prize for their top fundraiser.

How did you go about organising your team?

We sent out and email to all our Sydney-based staff a couple of months in advance looking for expressions of interest from those who wanted to ride. This gave them time to register, block out the day in their diary, and start training! We organised a couple of team training rides as well.

We also had a section on our intranet where people could read more about the ride (including some motivation that 56/90kms really isn't that far), a link to the Gong Ride site to register, and another to let us know they were joining our team.

Finally we put together a ride kit for each of our team members. This included the jersey, a couple of bidons (cycling talk for "water bottles") that were promo items generously donated by one of our products, a box of "Gastrolyte" (a rehydration solution our company makes), an after-ride cap donated by one of our sponsors, and an information sheet with things like contact phone numbers, and where we were meeting before and after the ride etc.

Why do you support people with MS - do you know much about it?

We probably know a little more than most about MS as we work for a company that makes one of the treatments for this debilitating disease. Organising a team for the Gong Ride was another way we could show our support for these people and the MS Society.

Since last year's ride I have learnt a good friend of mine has had MS for over 15 years. Regardless of my employer I'll always be participating in the Gong Ride in the hope that I'm doing my bit to bring the date of cure closer.

How did you enjoy the Gong Ride?

We all loved the event on the day! Apart from the fact you're doing it for a good cause, it's a fantastic ride with some unbelievable scenery and it's really well supported. If you've ever thought you'd like to ride a bike to Wollongong but don't know they way/think it's too far/would get lonely, then the Gong Ride is the best way to do it!

Coming back in 2007?

Absolutely. Our new Managing Director is a cyclist so we'll be dragging him along for sure. Even our NZ Country Manager is hoping he can organise a business trip to Sydney to tie in with this year's ride.