FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Donation Questions
Peloton Questions
Profile Questions / Making Changes
General Questions
Training Questions
Pelotonia has created opportunities for anyone to help the cause. You can ride in the event, volunteer your time, be a virtual rider, or donate to support friends and family.
Yes, there are fundraising minimums required for rider participation in the event. They are:
• Columbus to Groveport, one-day ride - I commit to raise a minimum $1000 to fight cancer.
• Columbus to Amanda, one-day ride - I commit to raise a minimum of $1000 to fight cancer.
• Columbus to Athens, one-day ride - I commit to raise a minimum of $1500 to fight cancer.
• To Athens and Back, two-day ride - I commit to raise a minimum of $2000 to fight cancer.
There are no fundraising requirements for our Volunteers, although it is certainly encouraged.
Virtual Riders are individuals who are unable to participate as a rider or help by volunteering their time, but would still like to fundraise.
To set up a Virtual Rider profile, we ask only that you start your fundraising effort with your own small donation of $10.
To set up a Virtual Rider profile, we ask only that you start your fundraising effort with your own small donation of $10.
There are no fundraising requirements for Virtual Riders, and we do not retain your credit card information.
$100. This helps Pelotonia provide your essential participation gear such as Pelotonia t-shirts, food, beverages, route support, etc.
Each rider must pay a non-refundable $100 registration fee that does not count toward his or her fundraising minimum. This is charged to your card when you register.
We retain your card information if for any reason a rider is unable to reach his or her fundraising minimum. This credit card is then charged for the unmet portion of his or her fundraising commitment. We know this seems aggressive, but we also know that this model is very successful.
Remember, any rider may back out of the event by July 29th and become a Virtual Rider. This removes any fundraising commitment.
Also, all riders have until October 31st, 2009 to reach their goal. If you have questions, please contact us at questions@pelotonia.org, or 614.221.6100.
Pelotonia has provided many great tools to help you reach your goal. When you register, you can create your own customized profile which allows you to add a pictures and tell other why you're riding. Participants can also join Pelotons and help their friends reach their goals. We also provide a pre-written email which includes a link to your profile. You can customize this message and send it to all your contacts, quickly reaching your goal.
Please see our fundraising tips page for more suggestions. Remember, all riders will have until two months after the event to reach their goal.
We encourage all our riders to participate in the two-day ride, if possible. However if you're only able to dedicate one day, we will still deliver an amazing experience.
You should prepare according to your own fitness level. This event will be both challenging and rewarding, and we have provided great training tips from local cyclists and health experts in the "Training Tips" section.
Pelotonia will include riders of all experience levels. There will be a rest stop every 15 or 20 miles for water, food, mechanical or medical attention. SAG wagons will also patrol the routes to provide immediate assistance if necessary. Local law enforcement will also be helping to keep the roads safe. This will be a fully supported experience, and you will feel safe while participating.
We've selected a very scenic route through southeast Ohio. The first 50 miles is relatively flat, with some small rolling hills. Beyond 50 miles, there are hills that will both challenge and inspire you. We've selected this route keeping in mind that riders of all levels will be participating.
A good friend of Pelotonia, Donn Young has graciously written some tips on purchasing a bike for the ride. Donn is a retired Research Scientist and former Director of the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center's Biostatistics Shared Resource where he spent 33 years designing and analyzing cancer clinical trials. He became a cancer survivor in 2006. To read his article, please download the PDF document by clicking here.
Training Questions
Yes, of course. Through some great community partners, we offer training rides and informational sessions. Please check out the Training Tips section for more information.
Absolutely! Pelotonia has an online forum where riders, captains, as well as volunteers, and virtual riders can share group training rides, successful fundraising tips, group fundraising events and anything else that you think may prove helpful in making Pelotonia a great success!
You can visit this Google Group Forum here: http://groups.google.com/group/pelotonia?hl=en
You can search for your Rider, Virtual Rider, or Peloton. When you find who you are looking for, simply click the "Donate To My Ride" button on a Rider, Peloton, Virtual Rider, or Volunteer profile to make a donation!
Why do you ask for so much donor information? Will this be shared?
We want to collect enough information to properly thank and acknowledge our donors with Tax Acknowledgement letters. If a donation is made without using the website, Pelotonia cannot guarantee enough information has been collected for a Tax Acknowledgement to reach the donor.
We want to collect enough information to properly thank and acknowledge our donors with Tax Acknowledgement letters. If a donation is made without using the website, Pelotonia cannot guarantee enough information has been collected for a Tax Acknowledgement to reach the donor.
Our donor list will never be shared with any organization besides the recipient of our fundraising.
Every check donation must be submitted with a Donation Invoice.
To create a pledge invoice, you must make a check donation on the website. You can do this by selecting 'check' from the "I will be paying by" line on the donation page. After submitting your donation, print your invoice from the Thank You page by clicking "Click here to view the invoice for your donation". If you forget to print this invoice, simply print a copy of the Thank You email - it contains the same information.
To create a pledge invoice, you must make a check donation on the website. You can do this by selecting 'check' from the "I will be paying by" line on the donation page. After submitting your donation, print your invoice from the Thank You page by clicking "Click here to view the invoice for your donation". If you forget to print this invoice, simply print a copy of the Thank You email - it contains the same information.
Make the check out to PELOTONIA, and mail the invoice or copy of the email with your check to:
Pelotonia
351 W Nationwide Blvd
Columbus, OH 43215
Pelotonia
351 W Nationwide Blvd
Columbus, OH 43215
If you send Pelotonia a check donation without making an online pledge record AND do not include an email address, please do not expect a tax acknowledgement letter for gifts under $250.
This is ensure we are operating as 'green' as possible.
If you receive a check donation that is not already on your donor list, please make a check donation to yourself, entering the donor's information on their behalf. This is to ensure we collect enough information to properly thank and recognize our donors.
If a donor has given you a check, and already made the donation online, simply include a note with the basic information about the donation, and we'll take care of the rest.
If a donor has given you a check, and you don't know all of the necessary information to complete the online donation form, feel free to use the manual check donation form. Click here to view and print the PDF. Just fill this out and send it to us at 351 W Nationwide Blvd, Columbus OH, 43215.
If you receive cash donations, either from an individual or from an event, we prefer you do not bring cash to the office. Instead, retain the cash and write a check, or take the cash to a bank and have a cashier's check issued. Please DO NOT send us cash through the mail.
Due to IRS regulations we are unable to acknowledge cash donations for tax purposes.
We can only send Tax Acknowledgements to the donor - the person who makes the payment.
If you receive a large cash donation and would like to properly credit the donor, here's what you can do.
To have a proper record of the donation, a rider can make an online donation on behalf of the donor by:
To have a proper record of the donation, a rider can make an online donation on behalf of the donor by:
- Retaining the cash and making a personal credit card donation
- Retaining the cash and making a personal check donation
- Purchasing a money order or cashier's check and making a check donation
IMPORTANT: The donor's information must be entered on the donation form, including their email address. This ensures that the donor will receive the tax acknowledgement. If the rider does not have the donor's email address, they can simply enter their own email and pass along the tax acknowledgment to the donor when acknowledgement is forwarded.
If Pelotonia receives a donation from a group collection (like a bake sale), we can credit that amount on the rider's donor list with the appropriate recognition name, and the information given to us.
We cannot credit the individual donations that total the overall donation.
Your total only reflects the payments we have received. For example, if a donor makes a check donation, it will only count towards your total funds raised when the donation has been received.
Log in to your profile to view your donor list in more detail, and see which donations have been received. There is a column title 'received'.
You are not fiscally responsible for unpaid pledges. You will, however, want to make sure your donors send their checks. When logged in, you can see the "Payment Received" column on your donor list. If this appears blank next to a donation, then that check has not yet been received. If some time passes and you don't see a change, you might want to politely follow up with that donor and ask them if they remembered to send their donation.
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A donation isn't showing up on my donor list? What's the deal?
Before reaching out to Pelotonia, first be sure that the donor has received a 'Thank You' email, and a donation confirmation number. If they did not receive either of these, the donation was not successful.
However, if the donation was successful and does not appear on your donor list, it is possible your donor made a general donation by mistake. We can correct this, but will need the following information to do so:
Date of the donation:
Donor's first and last name:
Ammount of the donation:
When we have enough information to find the donation, we are more than happy to ensure the donation is credited to your ride.
Riders can see donors' first and last name, email address, and donation amount from their personal profile.
However, if you would like to change the recognition name (the name that appears for public view), just send an email to 'questions@pelotonia.org'. Be sure to include the following information.
Rider Name:
Donor Name:
Date of the donation:
Desired Recognition Name:
Absolutely! All gifts are 100% tax deductible.
All online credit card donors will immediately receive an official Tax Acknowledgement letter via email.
All online check donors will receive an official Tax Acknowledgement letter via email after the check is received by Pelotonia.
Donors who send a check without including an email address will only receive an official Tax Acknowledgement letter if their gift is $250 or more.
If you plan to be a member or Captain of a Peloton, please review the following document. It is very important to the success and understanding of how Pelotons function.
Please review these guidelines for a clear understanding of how funds sharing works within Pelotons. To view this doucument in PDF format, please click here.
Absolutely, but you need to contact the Pelotonia staff to do so. If you want to change your Peloton name, please call or email us.
The Peloton Captain must add you to a Peloton. Just shoot them an email with your rider ID number and they can add you.
Participants can only be a member of one Peloton because membership involves sharing funds. Because any participant (volunteer or virtual rider) can raise money, they are able to share their funds with the riders on their team. They can only share funds with those on their team.
If a participant were to be a member of more than one Peloton, it would prevent them from sharing their funds and helping their members reach their goal.
To create and edit your profile after you've registered, simply click "Log In" at the top right corner of the webpage and enter the email and password you used when you registered.
I'm having trouble uploading my picture. What is wrong?
Your picture must be approximately a 4:3 ratio, to avoid it being 'smashed' or 'stretched'. It cannot be larger than 250k, and must be either a JPEG or GIF format.
To re-size an image, try this website: http://www.picresize.com/ . Just upload the image you want to resize, make you selections, and download the new file. Then use this file as your new profile picture.
Yes, of course! You can change your selection anytime. This change also changes your fundraising commitment appropriately. If for some reason you feel you will be unable to reach your goal before the fundraising deadline, you can cancel or downgrade to an appropriate route and fundraising commitment before July 29th.
To change your route, just send a quick email to questions@pelotonia.org
You can change this information through your profile by logging in, and click the "My Information" link under 'Manage My Profile', on the left side of the screen. Make sure to hit "Save" after making any changes.
Please remember that when you change your email address, this changes your log in as well.
Yes, Pelotonia is a registered non-profit organization. If you would like more information about our Tax ID# or non-profit status, please give us a call or email us.
