BikerDown National announced on September 15th that they have taken a necessary step to help riders fundraise online here in Colorado and nationwide. BikerDown National has struggled for years on how to help injured riders outside of the state of Colorado more effectively. BikerDown currently receives on average 2-3 help requests per days from out-of-state riders. BikerDown calls on all help requests and tries to help the families or injured rider weed through the trauma that they are going through but has been powerless to give any financial assistance to riders outside of Colorado or their current chapters.
On September 15th, we, BikerDown launched BD Fundme, which is like GoFundMe but at a significantly lower credit card processing rate. Anyone in the riding community will be able to log in and create an account with BikerDown and then set up what we call peer-to-peer fundraising and set the fundraiser and share on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. They can also copy the link and share thru text messages or email and reach out to family and friends.
This fundraising concept is not new to our community. GoFundMe and other social fundraising companies have been doing this for years. However, our BD Fundme processes your donations at a 2.6% rate versus others at a standard 8.5%.
Executive Director, Laurie Montoya, states, “We are not out to make any money from this service, but to provide our injured riders and riding community the same service as GoFundMe but with substantial cost savings.”
Most recently, BikerDown received a help request from Bobby Giroir from Amite, Louisiana. Bob was injured in 2015 and needed a reclining wheelchair that his doctor said would help him as well as his wife who cares for him. His medical insurance wouldn’t cover the cost of the chair. BikerDown set up the BD Fundme and posted it on Facebook. 7 days after posting this fundraiser and with a little networking with riders from Louisiana, Bob’s wheelchair was ordered on eBay and received at his home.
Laurie said, “This fundraiser gives me great hope that we will be able to help more riders and touch their lives with a simple act of kindness and hope.”
For more information on how to start a fundraiser or if you are an injured rider in need of fundraising, please visit our website at www.bikerdown.org and click on Help Request. You can also see what BD Fundme’s we are currently running to help injured riders.
