giving back to BC Cycling -

Karl Honerlaw

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Jul 30, 2010, 1:25:57 PM7/30/10

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Hey BC Cyling Alumni,
I am not sure exactly who gets these emails, but to those of you who don’t know me, my name is Karl Honerlaw; I rode with the club all 4 years I was at BC, raced all four years, and was the club president my senior year. For me (as I am sure for most of you) the cycling club was one of the true highlights of my time at BC. BC Cycling helped me discover the sport of cycling, get involved with racing, improve as an athlete, grow as a leader, and was where I made some of my best friends. Probably also like most of you, I hope that the club can provide the same advantages to current and future club members as well, and hopefully improve over time.
Even though I am no longer a member of BC Cycling, I still want to give back to the club. And now that I am a college grad and employed full time I feel I am able to make some kind of contribution.
So, I am reaching out to past BC Cycling alumni for some advice on how I might best be able to do this. I would like to make a contribution that helps strengthen the team, makes it more competitive, rewards riders’ hard work, or makes being a member more enjoyable. At the same time, I don’t want any contribution to be wasted, or have team members become overly focused on money.
Just to give you an idea, I am planning on a donation of $1,000-$1,500 that would be given in the spring (March-April).
Here are a few ideas I have had:
1. Simply donate the money to the team’s general fund. This gives them the freedom to spend it as they wish and makes them less dependent on the budgeting by SOFC. However, will BC give the club less money if they have money from fundraising and donations?
2. I had the idea of creating like a scholarship/reward for the best (or top two) rider/s. This would be money that could only be spent to help the individual improve as a student (ie on tuition) or a cyclist (on something bike related like a new bike, a training trip, coaching, etc.). I had this idea as something that would keep riders motivated during the long New England winters, giving them another reason to get up for morning weekend rides and stay focused during the off season. I also thought it could add a little inter team competition. I envisioned that at the end of the year riders would submit some type of portfolio or application detailing why they deserve the reward. The I, and hopefully other club alumni would review the various applications and make a decision. However, my concern with this idea is that you don’t want riders (after all this is collegiate cycling) becoming overly focused on money. I also would not want it to become a source of inter-team dra!
ma or conflict. I do like this idea though because I feel like it challenges riders to become more and more competitive, like winning (or placing well in a high cat road race) or going to nationals.
3. If BC helps host the Beanpot this year (pretty sure this is happening), donate the money to the race’s general fund.
4. Use the money to help the club put on a training trip in the spring, or the fall of 2011. Granted, this is not enough to cover the cost of the entire trip, but it would cover over half.
5. Reimburse riders for race fees at the end of the season. This is obviously not enough to cover all fees, but it could reimburse riders who had top results, completed certain # of races, or some other criteria. Or cover race fees for certain race/s.
These are just a few ideas I had. What do you guys think? Like I said, BC did so much for me I want to give back, but I want to be as sure as possible that whatever way I do this, it has positive results. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Karl

Dana Prey

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Aug 4, 2010, 2:05:38 PM8/4/10

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Hey Karl,
You can see who is on this mailing list by going to the members section of the Google Group here: http://groups.google.com/group/bc-cycling-alumni/members

For contributions/rewards: I think they would be best utilized for active/regular team members. I don't necessarily think having an inter-team competition for one or two scholarships would be all that beneficial -- it might create drama, and the selection criteria is subjective, and only one or two people actually benefit in the end, which doesn't really go along with the spirit of running a club sport. I'm also concerned about sustainability of this type of reward -- how likely is it that there will be this much money to give out every year? Would this only happen once? I think consistency is one of the most important aspects of running a club team. It's a nice and generous idea but I don't think it's sustainable long term.

I do like the idea of reimbursing those who race -- that way the ones who race the most are the ones rewarded. Those who are out there every weekend should be supported, whether they're an A rider or an intro. A training trip with some kind of subsidy is also a good idea. Promotes team bonding, gets good training in, makes it a viable option for more team members to attend with the additional financial support.

Anyway, just some quick thoughts..

Dana

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Andrew Armstrong

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Aug 4, 2010, 4:14:36 PM8/4/10

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Hey Karl and Dana,

I agree with the sustainability concerns of an award / reward approach as well as with the point that it may create drama and also supports an individual rather than the entire team or program. How would we ensure the money is there every year? etc. etc. The real value of something like that is the consistency of it year in and year out.

That's why I favor a general contribution / donation / grant to the club's general fund. Of course this requires trusting the current club leadership to use it wisely and to enhance growth. As the BC beanpot rep for several years and the 2005 Beanpot committee chairman I am actually against donating the money to the beanpot on BC's behalf. At least if you want BC Cycling to benefit directly from it. During the years of involvement with beanpot I never actually saw it pay back any money to any of the clubs from the member schools that helps put it on.

Whatever you decide you may want to give the current club leadership a heads up prior to March when you said you would make the donation.

One thing I have always wanted to see happen is to set-up a Cycling club foundation within the BC parameters. Then any alumni or other cycling club donations could be made into the foundation and the club would receive the interest payments from the fund each year. By doing it within BC then BC runs/manages/maintains the fund/foundation. It would be pretty clean and easy for all involved and would be sustainable for the club. As the amount in the foundation grows so too would the annual interest payments the club receives. The challenge with this; however, is that it requires a much larger initial donation. When I was treasurer I asked around at BC and was told that $50,000 was the minimum amount needed to start such a foundation and that that amount would be needed from the outset. I'm not convinced that that is the exact way it's done, I think they just told me that to deter me as a student and over-state the challenges involved in setting one up. I'd like to inquire again with BC about the requirements now that we are alumni.

For example, I know the Texas A&M cycling club is currently in the process of setting up such a cycling club foundation and they are only required to get $25,000 and have five years to do so. I suggest that we inquire with BC through their alumni and/or development offices about our interest in setting up a cycling club foundation.

If we all get our act together before approaching them then we can present the development office with a plan: a group of alumni numbered X big in size, already committing to y money in initial contributions and raising z dollars over an initial campaign of 3-5 years in length to get the fund started. If we present them with such a plan they will be more likely to say yes even if the amount is less than their normal 'cookie cutter' minimum amount. Granted, the downside is that any initial funds would not be available to the club this year but we would have to look at it as an investment in the long term future.

So...what do y'all think about that? We could all pony up whatever we can to get started and then work in conjunction with the current club to raise the rest. I'm sure some current club member's parents would contribute once we started raising funds and over a few years we could have a sizable amount.

So, we should figure out how many alumni we have and what the potential 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year giving potential is for each so we can determine our potential as a whole group.

Karl, you said you were thinking of about $1,500 this spring...could you repeat that each year for the next five years? $7,500...that's a hell of a start to a target of $25,000

Can anyone else donate? 35 more people at just $100 per year over five years gets us there. Or 17 more people at $200 per year for five years... I know that it sounds daunting but if someone else steps up with a larger contribution...we get current parents involved...perhaps older, more established alumni...and boom we're there.

Thoughts?

--

Andrew Armstrong
www.armstrongcycling.com
Cell: 617-480-6705

Karl Honerlaw

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Aug 4, 2010, 5:23:03 PM8/4/10

to bc-cycli...@googlegroups.com, Andrew Armstrong

To everyone who has responded, thanks for the feedback! Let me think about this for a day or two. But for now, any other alumni have any opinions on this? Tom, Chuck, Greg, Johnathan, Vince, Chris, Chelsea, Amanda, Arjun, Jamie, Andre.... I really do appreciate the feedback. It lets you know if what you are thinking makes sense and gives a different perspective sometimes.

Karl

| On Wed, 4 Aug 2010 16:14:36 -0400

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Jaime Lawlor

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Aug 5, 2010, 6:27:02 PM8/5/10

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Hey gang! So glad to see our alum listserv gettin some action! Right now I'm not in a place to make any big donations HOWEVER hopefully later this fall I'll be landing a Big Kid job and would looovee to donate 1000 so ideally in the spring-ish I can help out-- especially during race season it would be great.

I think the award is a neat idea but I agree with what you guys have said; it could get problematic in trying to kinda keep everybody unified. So I'd like to see donations go to the general club budget-- I think Susie, Derek, Courtney & Matt will be pretty smart about using it. I did like the idea of returning racing fees to those who race the most. Like if there are 8 races then whoever makes 5-6 will get their fees back? If we donate to the general fund then it can be used to reimburse fees and also for training trips/things we haven't thought of the team might want!

If I'm able to I would definitely like to contribute every year. Like Karl said the cycling club was something that really defined my time at BC and I would really like to keep it up and running!

And that foundation idea sounded great. I am, however, entirely clueless as to what that means and requires haha but it sounded neat and I'd love to help out with it!

Talk to you all soon! jPod

Jaime A Lawlor
Syracuse Bicycle
2540 Erie Boulevard
Syracuse, NY

Karl Honerlaw

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Aug 10, 2010, 8:00:08 PM8/10/10

to bc-cycli...@googlegroups.com, Jaime Lawlor

Andrew, Dana, Chris, Jamie, and Scott, I appreciate your feedback.
- Sounds like the beanpot is not the way to go.
- as much as I personally like the idea, I also am concerned that a intra-team competition for a end of year reward could create conflict within the team and possibly not go to the most deserving rider.
It sounds like worth while options are:
1. reimburse race a portion of race fees
2. help sponsor a training trip
3. start a club foundation fun in which the club is able to utilize the interest each year.
4. making a donation to the club's general fund.

Dana and Andrew, I think you both are both right, longevity in any kind of donation is key to the club is key. I wish I could tell you I am settled in a carer for life and can donate a set $ amount indefinitely, that however is not the case. If I make a donation and feel that it was helpful to the club, I plan to make a similar donation the next year, and hopefully the year after that. However, I am not sure if in 2-3 years I will be working (in which case I plan to continue contributing) or going to grad school (probably not contributing much).
- for example, if we were going to propose a foundation to BC, at the moment I could only guarantee $1000, and hopefully $1,500 for the next two years, but only something smaller like $200 after that. As great as it would be to start a foundation, maybe the best thing to do in the time being is start small. Only 6 people have entered into this conversation, I dont think that is going to be sufficient support for such a large endeavor. However, if support can be organized, I would be very interested in contributing.

Does this seem reasonable?

Do people think that it makes sense to ask current club members how they think they could benefit? I specifically asked alumni and not the club, but maybe I should seek current member's advice as well.

Finally, Jamie, good luck in landing a job this fall. If you are interested in making some type of contribution, that would be great and maybe we would want to consider coordinating something. If anyone else is interested in creating a fleshed out plan and taking part by making a donation, that would be great as well. I think it is a lot better to have 20 alumni give $20 than 1 alum giving $400. The club would probably be impressed by the amount of support and this could be the start of really building a lively alumni network of sorts.

Hope everyone is enjoying the summer!
Karl
| On Thu, 5 Aug 2010 18:27:02 -0400

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David Fee

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Aug 10, 2010, 11:49:06 PM8/10/10

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I was on the BC Cycling Team back in 1991-95, and also consider it perhaps the most valuable of my college career.

I don't know if I can give a cash donation, but I work for Yakima (the car/bike rack company) and can make a product donation it that would help. Perhaps we could create an auction to help raise money. If this is of interest to anyone, let me know and I'll work on the product.

Thanks,
David Fee
BC Class of 1995

courtn...@gmail.com

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Aug 11, 2010, 12:08:13 AM8/11/10

to bc-cycli...@googlegroups.com, Andrew Armstrong

Hi all,

I was on the BC Cycling team 2002-2004. I'd like to help out in any way I can and in a couple of years hopefully can make some decent donations. I think its important to keep the club going strong and I think donations should be used for the BC team to grow and develop as a whole.

I was also on the rowing team at BC which as you know has a club component for the men's team. They brought in a large amount of donations by having a yearly dinner for alumni and parents before the Head of the Charles. Money was raised from the cost of the dinner ticket and also an option to "sponsor" a rower in the Head of the Charles. The sponsorship money would then go to the club's general fund. Perhaps a similar dinner and sponsorship method could be used before the beanpot race to help raise money for the cycling team to get things going.

Good luck with your efforts.

Courtney Shea
BC 2004
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Karl Honerlaw <hone...@bc.edu>
Sender: bc-cycli...@googlegroups.com
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:23:03
To: <bc-cycli...@googlegroups.com>; Andrew Armstrong<aparm...@gmail.com>
Reply-To: bc-cycli...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [BC Cycling Alumni] giving back to BC Cycling -

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