CONTRIBUTE to Bicycling Monterey—and FAQs about contributing

For over a decade, the Bicycling Monterey site and projects have been provided as a public service by an unpaid volunteer — and that’s still the case as 2020 begins! For FAQs and why contribute, scroll down.

Contribute via PayPal

Click donate button to contribute by debit card or credit card (it’s not necessary to have a PayPal account)—or to contribute from a PayPal balance.



Thank you!

To contribute by check, see FAQ #6.

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F A Q s 

Feel free to phone anytime if you have other questions.
  1. May I view the total amount of money contributed, and who has contributed?” 
    YES. See the Financial Contributors page (click here).
  2. “Can my contribution be listed as from Anonymous?” 
    YES. When making your contribution, simply indicate that preference.
  3. “Will you send me a written acknowledgement of my contribution?”
    YES, if you include a postal or email address with your contribution. It‘s a pleasure to send a written acknowledgement to contributors.
  4. “May I specify how I’d like my contribution to be used?”
YES. Include a note saying which Bicycling Monterey project you’d like your contribution to help with, or give us a call.
5. “May I set up an automatic monthly contribution?”
YES. PayPal has an option for doing that.
6. “May I contribute by check?” 
YES. That remains a payment option. Mail your check to Bicycling Monterey’s founder: Mari Lynch, Bicycling Monterey, PO Box 3041, Monterey, CA 93942-3041. Make payable to “Mari Lynch, Bicycling Monterey.”
7. “Will the amount of my individual contribution be displayed?
NO. Your individual contribution—made via PayPal or by check—is simply included in the total contributions figure on the Bicycling Monterey website’s Financial Contributors page.
8. “Is Bicycling Monterey a business?”
NO. For over a decade, Bicycling Monterey’s founder, Mari Lynch, has done the work of this website and all other Bicycling Monterey projects entirely as an unpaid volunteer. See a related comment from a Santa Cruz County bike advocacy leader.
9. “Why was the original domain name marilynch.com/blog?”
As Kera Abraham reported in the Monterey County Weekly in May 2011: “What started as Dehmler’s [Bicycling Monterey founder Mari Lynch Dehmler’s] personal blog two years ago quickly evolved into an umbrella website for all things two-wheeled in Monterey County.” To learn more, click here.
10. Is my contribution to Bicycling Monterey tax-deductible?”
NO, not at this time. Among our current projects is advocating for bike-friendly legislation, and—just as is the case with the California Bicycle Coalition—contributions are not tax-deductible.
Why contribute to Bicycling Monterey?
  • See what people say about the Bicycling Monterey site and projects—for example, on 12/3/19 from Monterey County resident Geoff Arnold: “Bicycling Monterey is the most informative, helpful, and resource-rich site you will find about cycling on the Central Coast! Let’s help keep it going. Please donate today!” Anneke Prins of the U.K.: “Your site is really useful…It is, by far, the most comprehensive bicycle site for Monterey County…and regularly updated, which is rare.” Stacy Meheen of Carmel, CA: “Mari Lynch does an AMAZING job promoting cycling in our county! Please support as you are able!!” Steve Cutcomb of San Francisco Bay Area, CA: “You’re definitely the role-model to follow, for anyone hoping to influence pedestrian/car/bike fairness and diplomacy and habit evolution in a community!” Rich Masoner, Scotts Valley, CA: “A one-woman bicycle advocacy MACHINE, and needs your help to continue her work in Monterey County, California. She’s done amazing work.” Edith Frederick, Salinas: “Absolutely necessary to support alternatives to driving!…Thank you for all you do that inspires us…and all you do for so many!” Ray Keener, Boulder, CO: “Monterey gets more bike friendly every year, and Mari Lynch is one of the main reasons why!”
  • Bicycling Monterey’s founder, Mari Lynch, has done all work of the site and projects as an unpaid volunteer since May 2009 and has donated well over 12,000 hours to this award-winning grassroots effort. For a brief history of those first ten years of bike advocacy volunteerism, click here.
  • Bicycling Monterey represents Monterey County and the Central Coast as a local partner of the California Bicycle Coalition. As of the start of 2020, there is not yet an official bicycle coalition for Monterey County, or for the Monterey Bay Tri-County Region. Bicycling Monterey serves as an Information Hub for Biking Monterey County and also provides a 33-section directory of Monterey County Bicycling Resources / Bike Community Leaders.
  • Bicycling Monterey’s more than 700 posts and pages also provide resources and inspiration for people who bike anywhere! The riding skills and safety section, the Spanish resources compilation, and much more are used by people around the state, nation, and beyond.

Thank you, financial contributors!

For other ways to support this work, please refer to the About section’s portal page—or just phone us anytime.

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In case you’re curious, here’s an archived note about crowdfunding and the 2016 rewards program:

  • On December 22, 2015, ten women launched a crowdfunding effort (“Volunteer & Service Fundraiser for Mari Lynch Dehmler, Bicycling Monterey Site & Projects, organized by Laurel Thomsen” at http://gofundme.com/bikemonterey). That platform was an option for making a contribution through the end of Bicycling Monterey’s 10th year. Beginning May 1, 2019, that option is no longer recommended, since contributing via Go Fund Me incurs a significant transaction fee (7.9% plus 30 cents).
  • As part of the crowdfunding effort, an optional rewards-for-contributors program ran from Feb 26-Dec 31, 2016. After 2016 the rewards program wasn’t continued, simply because it required far too many additional volunteer hours of Mari to be worthwhile. Nonetheless, the businesses that provided rewards in an effort to help were appreciated. To see who they were, click here.