Six Cycling Lessons for a Stronger Charity

Originally published June 6, 2016 on LinkedIn as “Increase your revenue by applying these cycling rules to your charity”

Updated September 2026

A few years ago, when I was living in Calgary, I fell back in love with cycling. I commuted by bike most days – close to two hours of riding – and spent Saturday nights on the trainer in the basement once the kids were in bed, getting ready for a summer of century rides.

All that time on the road gave me a lot of room to think. Much of it went to how the rules of cycling apply to the charitable sector. They still hold up.

1. Buy the best bike you can afford

A $149 department-store bike will get you from home to somewhere else. It won’t carry you up long hills, and you won’t care for it the way you care for a bike you saved for. When I bought my bike, I spent double what I had planned – and I tuned it, cleaned it and tracked it far more than any cheap bike I’d owned.

For charities, this means investing in skilled people. If you want to grow sustainable programs, hire experienced professionals who can carry out your strategic plan, and pay them fairly. The same goes for your campaigns: give your best ideas the time, talent and resources to become your best work.

2. Get the right fit

A great frame that doesn’t fit will wear you out or injure you. Fit matters as much as quality.

When you hire, look for people who fit the pace and culture of your organization. Do you need someone who will take the reins and run, or someone who will build carefully alongside you? Be honest about your organization’s quirks, and ask whether a candidate can work with them. Ask the same of your campaigns: do they fit your mission, your brand and the people you serve?

3. Don’t ride alone

Long rides are safer and better with company. There’s real motivation in chasing a friend up a hill.

Your team needs the same. Professional associations like AFP and CAGP, and specialist groups for your line of work, connect your people with peers who push them to grow. And the evidence is clear that learning keeps people: LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report found that 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their development.

Development doesn’t have to strain your budget. Plenty of options cost little or nothing:

1. Local AFP and CAGP chapter events, many of which offer bursaries.
2. Free webinars and resources from sector organizations and your provincial nonprofit network.
3. Mentorship pairings, inside your organization or with a peer charity.
4. Peer learning circles, where your team shares what’s working over lunch.
5. Stretch assignments with coaching and support.

Protect this investment in lean years. The people you invest in are the people who will stay and help you through them.

4. Use every gear

Terrain changes. A single-gear bike can’t climb efficiently, and if you stay in your big gear when the road tilts up, you stall.

Campaigns meet hills, too – a news cycle that buries your launch, a postal strike, a slow month. Build programs that can shift: bigger or smaller, broader or more focused, moved from mail to email to social when conditions change. Give every story a version that works for each audience you serve. And when you hit a hill, change gears before you think about changing bikes.

5. Never leave a rider in distress

When you pass a cyclist who has fallen or broken down, you stop. It’s good for the sport and it’s how good people ride.

Charities can do the same. Show up for your community when disaster hits, even when it isn’t your cause. Encourage your team to speak at conferences, join boards and volunteer. A strong, trusted sector benefits every charity and every donor.

6. Train like crazy

I didn’t get ready for a century ride by hoping. I trained – hill drills, long rides, rest days.

For charities, training means learning from the people you serve and the people who support you. Hold focus groups. Send short surveys. Test your stories and creative with a small group before a full launch. Track the numbers that matter and check them often. When one group responds well, invest there – and keep working on a message for the group that hasn’t responded yet.

Try this

Pick one of the six rules where your organization feels weakest. Name one small step you can take on it in the next 30 days, and put it on your calendar today.

Be well.

Sources

1. LinkedIn Learning, 2018 Workplace Learning Report – https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/workplace-learning-report-2018