What is it like to raise $11 million for a health project in 9 months?
As a startup founder, fundraising is my least favorite part of the job, but it’s necessary to solve big problems. In late 2023, I decided to join a group of people pushing the boundaries of health justice. I wanted to learn from them what it’s like to raise more than $310M over the last 30 years.
Since 1994, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center have produced a unique experience called the AIDS/LifeCycle, a 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It’s a fundraising event to reduce new HIV infections and improve the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS.
To join this group, I needed to accomplish these two things:
– I set a personal challenge to raise at least $10k.
– I also needed to ride 545 miles by bike.
Raising the minimum amount of money to participate is not easy ($3.5k). Only about 50% of participants were able to do that. So, I built an AI Strava Extension to help my fundraising efforts and then opened it to all participants to use. Thank you, DonorDrive , for being transparent and making your API open, and also Strava for accepting my submission as a Developer Partner.
I raised the minimum amount of money to participate quite quickly, and I’m proud to have helped a significant number of other participants. In fact, 96% of participants who used the Strava extension were able to raise the minimum to participate in the ride, making some of them top fundraisers.
Long story short, together, more than 1,300 participants and 400 volunteers fundraised $11 million using various fundraising strategies, from corporate matching to fundraising parties.
How was the ride? Well, it was a unique experience that words can hardly do justice. The camaraderie, the physical challenge, and the shared purpose made it an unforgettable journey. I encourage you to sign up for AIDS/LifeCycle 2025 to experience it for yourself.
My next challenge is to tackle other big problems, join Climate Ride challenges, and raise funds for organizations related to sustainability and climate change.
