Obliteride rider raises $2,500 in three simple steps

When Tory Grant set out to raise $2,000 for his registration in Obliteride, the Aug. 9-11 bike benefit for the Hutchinson Center, he started with three simple steps:

First, he posted on Facebook what he was doing, why he was riding and a link to his fundraising page.

Second, he wrote a short, personalized email to family, friends and close contacts with a link to his fundraising page.

Third, he committed to thanking those who donated to his ride on their Facebook pages.

Grant, a manager at Old Town Bicycle in Tacoma, figured his first post would declare his intentions, the email messages would give his contacts a compelling reason and an easy way to give, and the acknowledgement on Facebook would help build buzz.

It was simple, it was easy and it worked. Within two days he had raised $2,500 and half of his email messages resulted in online donations.

“I thought: My God this is crazy,” said Grant, who is riding to honor his friend Bob, who died of cancer, and his wife, Sara, recently diagnosed with a rare tumor replacing her thyroid.

Grant’s method is one other Obliteride riders are using to achieve their fundraising goals, and 100 percent of the money raised will go toward lifesaving cancer research at Fred Hutch. Raising a thousand dollars or more can seem challenging, Grant said, but it helps to keep it simple, start with people close to you and remember why you are riding.

“A lot of people have a hard time asking for money,” he said. “It is really about raising money for cancer research and then at the end you get to do this great bike ride.”

Sign up to participate in Obliteride or donate to support Grant’s ride.