Ideas for fundraising--let's hear some of your thoughts!

[Steve Mattson]

So, as we fall into the holiday's, winter and a potentially slower season for the BRW, I want to know what you all think about some ideas for some fundraising for our humble, but so amazingly incredible Bikerowave.

This idea came up on Nov/08's Volunteer meeting (thank you Richard B!).
A presence at the Santa Monica Farmer's Mkt on Sundays, at Ocean Park and Main.  We set up with the bike valet folks, have cards (spoke cards?) with all our info that we place on the cables or spokes of the bikes there.  Maybe, even setting up a work stand, do some minor repairs of bikes, air, adjust derailleurs, oil, etc.  I think this is a brilliant idea myself and brings out the nice side of Santa Monica.

Another idea, which is the donated plan of a guest Chris M. who came in two weeks ago on a Thursday and fell in love with the energy of the place then found himself riding along with us at the next Chicken Sando ride. 
In his words...
===============================
BLUEGRASS BIKE DRIVE & FUNDRAISER  for  BIKEROWAVE !!
------------------------------
join us for  an all -day acoustic bluegrass/folk/celtic  festival at Bikerowave ,
a santa monica bike collective ....,
donate your old bike , raise bike awareness , make new friends !
games for kids , weinie roast , bike ride ,
1pm  to 7 pm on a saturday / 5 bands
5.00 $ suggested donation or give us your old bike or both ..,
==========
i couldn't organize the whole thing but my string  band could play and i could recruit
some bands , and supply some p.a. gear , come up with some ideas for it ....,
that 20 something  producer chick  w/ the black bike
who was on the chicken sandwich ride might be the perfect point person  for something like this ...
the ditty bops might be down for it ...,
sounds very press friendly  ! ..,

We could invite all the other tenants too.  Who's the 20-something producer Chick with the black bike?
 
What do you think?  I love them both!

[JB]

I bike the mobile bikerowave idea!  (Maybe we should talk to the organizers of some of the larger rides and then set up shop at the starting point an hour before the ride starts).

Some other ideas for generating $ / getting more people to come visit.

More clinics
Brake clinic - teach everybody how to replace cables, cable housing, brake pads, etc.
Shifter/Derailleur clinic - teach everybody what's involved in adjusting derailleurs and shifting (starting with the very basics, like how to shift, a lot of folks get very confused).
Bike fitting workshop - How to properly fit a bike (seat angle/height/position, bar height, stem length, etc.)

Get more better bikes and sell them for more money, order a few NEW bikes and sell them.
Get on alibaba.com and locate some cheap bottom brackets for the obscure (French/Swiss) threading types.
Have some of the craftier folk design a "universal bottom bracket" that's adjustable enough to fit any frame, and use the royalties from the patent to fund our endeavors.  (I'm thinking about a sealed bearing that fits inside the bike frame, with a lockring on either side to hold it in place and keep it centered, so you don't have to worry about the internal threading at all.)

[Gern]

Have some of the craftier folk design a "universal bottom bracket" that's adjustable enough to fit any frame, and use the royalties from the patent to fund our endeavors.  (I'm thinking about a sealed bearing that fits inside the bike frame, with a lockring on either side to hold it in place and keep it centered, so you don't have to worry about the internal threading at all.)

"Art!, Sic Em, Get on It!"

[Steve Mattson]

What about the music party or the SM Farmer's Mkt ideas?  Or others?  I'd really like to hear what you have to say about this....


Okay, I'm going to digress away from the subject for a minute:  Here's the bottom bracket idea I have.  A BB that can be adjusted within the bottom bracket shell to adjust chain slack.  This would work with road bike and mountain bike frames that have vertical rear drop-outs so one could convert the bike to a single speed or fixed hub.  It would have to use smaller bearings so it could swivel several millimeters to move the chain enough to take out the slack.
I want a cut, Art.

[kp]

not exactly same, but very clever. neat as well.
http://www.trickstuff.de/index.php?p=d116en1

[Gern]

I Bike Love the Ideas!

We could even have at the beginning:

                                          The BikeRoWave Velorution Velocade 2008   
A Procession from BRW's humble first location to the current, including an historical reenactment of important bicycling events along the way.  Culminating in a county fair style extravaganza complete with live music, healthy food, bike rodeo events, demonstrations and much, much more!
film @ 11
taken by everyone with a camera

[JB]

http://interconnected.org/home/more/2008/11/cattledrive/

I think this is the best idea for raising funds/getting stuff ever...

[Elizabeth Hunter]

http://interconnected.org/home/more/2008/11/cattledrive/

I think this is the best idea for raising funds/getting stuff ever...

Wow. I can't help thinking that if I were him I would want people to send me whatever random plastic cows they had sitting around. I also think people would be more willing to send their own cows rather than having to buy specific cows for him. And think what a diverse herd it would be!

Can we have people send us plastic bicycles? Except...somehow get the money donated to us? Maybe we could auction off our herd of bicycles after they're collected.

*random babble*

Sorry.

[Elizabeth Hunter]

Oooh! I know!

We should have people make bicycle figurines, art,photographs, etc. and donate it to us and then have an art auction.

[Steve Mattson]

Art Auction!!!!!  Right there at the brw, or maybe somewhere else, a studio, coffee shop, bar, etc.  We could have a really big ride end up there and PARTY.

[Matthew Moore]

we should clean up and rebuild bicycles that we have and have a little auction

[Jaz]

Art auction? As in people donating art, or people donating a percentage of the sale? Or what?

[Steve Mattson]

Either way. It would be great to get donated art that we could sell at auction, but if the artist would want a cut, that would be good too.  We can't offer the 501c3 tax exempt thing, but we are a worthy cause!  I would imagine photographers, for example, printing several copies of a photo--lithography, the same thing.  It would cost some money to do all that.  What would be great, to jump on the limited edition thing Obama fever thing, get Shepard Fairey to make us up some limited edition prints for the BRW...

[JB]

Yeah, get some prints of St. Sheldon with "BIKE" underneath, like the Obama / HOPE posters.

[Steve Mattson]

I love the "Bike" Sheldon Brown idea. You two related?