For more than 20 years, The Hill Country Ride for AIDS (HCRA) has been an iconic on-the-ground fundraising event in Texas. Rather than cancel the 2020 ride and disrupt critical funding for many local health organizations, the team decide to take “the ride” virtual.
It was important to support their mission to raise funds for their beneficiaries providing HIV/AIDS services and prevention efforts to help their patients stay healthy in the face of this pandemic. They knew they had to take action.
Ready to pivot virtual for their mission, Hill Country Ride for Aids was able to bring their in-person peer-to-peer fundraising activities online. These included:
To replicate the fun and competitive atmosphere of the road ride, the team created 12 weeks of fun challenges.
The challenges ranged from cycling to fundraising to sharing a favorite carb-loading dinner. They alternated weekly between physical and fundraising goals.
Each physical challenge had two options so everyone could participate — a challenge for avid cyclists and one for the “athletic supporters.”
They also hosted Matching Gift days, offered challenge prizes, and recognized sponsors supported the Virtual Ride.
Shifting a peer-to-peer road ride virtual needs a good fundraising strategy to create the same competitive atmosphere. HCRA drove donor engagement and motivation to give with these fundraising strategies:
HCRA implemented these best practices to make their virtual peer-to-peer event a success:
Fundraising results are in! With their virtual campaign, HCRA has raised over $430,000. They are excited about the level of participation and fundraising impact that their virtual peer-to-peer ride created.
Moving a peer-to-peer event virtual can be done, and learning from HCRA, putting your mission first, embracing innovative and bringing fun challenges to your campaign can help increase fundraising success. That’s some #FearlessFundraisers!
You can learn more about Hill Country Ride for AIDS and support their mission by visiting their website.