Contribution FAQs
Already know you want to contribute? Click here.
May I view the total amount of money contributed to date, and who has contributed?
YES. See Bicycling Monterey’s Financial Contributors page.
Can my contribution be listed as from Anonymous?
YES. When making your contribution, simply indicate that preference.
Will the amount of my individual contribution be displayed?
NO. Your individual contribution amount is simply included in the total contributions figure on Bicycling Monterey’s Financial Contributors page.
Will you send me a written acknowledgement of my contribution?
YES, if a postal or email address is included with your contribution. It is a pleasure to send a written acknowledgement!
May I make a contribution in memory of someone?
YES. When making your contribution, simply indicate “in memory of” and the person’s name.
May I specify how I’d like my contribution to be used?
YES. If contributing via PayPal, Bicycling Monterey’s “Use this donation for” drop-down offers options, i.e., “Website and Public Outreach,” “Education,” “Advocacy,” and “General Operating Expenses.” If contributing via check (or PayPal), you may include a note. Or phone us.
If you don’t specify a preference, your contribution will be used where most needed—toward one of Bicycling Monterey’s current projects, or for general operating expenses.
Is there a way to set up an automatic monthly contribution?
YES. PayPal offers that option. And Bicycling Monterey’s automatic monthly contributors (of $10 or more, beginning May 2024), are further acknowledged on the financial contributors page as Pedal Pushers.
As a grassroots volunteer effort for 15 years, not a formal nonprofit organization, is Bicycling Monterey a legitimate effort to support?
Del Rey Oaks resident Susan Ragsdale-Cronin, in a letter to the Monterey County Herald on March 28, 2011, wrote: “From the colossal chain of events that Wall Street can trigger to the unraveling of local nonprofits, untangling the web of deceit is no fun. But it is exactly this contrast that makes me appreciate the toil of people committed to transparent and honest work. For this, all of our community should look with admiration and gratitude to people such as…Mari Lynch (Bicycling Monterey).”
Sea Otter Classic cofounder Frank Yohannan wrote, on April 4, 2012, regarding Bicycling Monterey’s founder, Mari Lynch: “Mari has a well-earned reputation for integrity and ethics.”
We maintain detailed records of all contributions, including contributions of project supplies.
Can you tell me more about why Bicycling Monterey is a worthy recipient of contributions?
- See what people say about the Bicycling Monterey website and projects.
- As of May 1, 2024, there is not yet an official bicycle coalition in the Monterey Bay Tri-County Region. Bicycling Monterey helps fill that gap by serving as Information Hub for Biking Monterey County, including a 35-section directory of Monterey County Bicycling Resources / Bike Community Leaders.
- Bicycling Monterey serves as Monterey County’s local partner of the California Bicycle Coalition / CalBike. As another Monterey Bay region CalBike partner, Bike Santa Cruz County, commented on social media: “Mari operates @BikeMonterey on a literal shoestring budget. Please support the work Bicycling Monterey does to support cycling and encourage climate consciousness across the country and beyond.” (See that and other comments from Santa Cruz County bike advocacy leaders.)
- Are you outside Monterey County? Bicycling Monterey includes 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.
Is my contribution to Bicycling Monterey tax-deductible?
NO, not at this time. Among our projects is advocating for bike-friendly legislation, and—just as is the case with the California Bicycle Coalition—contributions are not tax-deductible. (Contributions to the California Bicycle Coalition are not tax-deductible because they help support legislative lobbying efforts. People who only want to make a contribution if it is tax-deductible may wish to contribute to CalBike’s California Mobility Fund.)
Aren’t there already plenty of financial contributions?
NO. Total financial contributions received over Bicycling Monterey’s first 15 years was $20,019 (averaging $1,335/year, $111/month, and less than $4/day). That’s gross contributions, before expenses. For updates, see current total. Fundraising isn’t one of our areas of expertise. If you’d like to volunteer to help raise funds for the Bicycling Monterey work, please phone us. Imagine how much more could be accomplished with more financial support.
Hasn’t Bicycling Monterey been supported by government grants or funding, e.g., Measure X?
NO. For fifteen years (1 May 2009 – 1 May 2024), all Bicycling Monterey work has been accomplished without receiving any local, state, or federal government grants or funding.
You may be curious to know that Bicycling Monterey has been described as being the work of a social entrepreneur. What’s that? As defined by the Ashoka Foundation (“Everyone a Changemaker“): “Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to move in different directions.”
Bicycling Monterey is among bike advocates worldwide encouraging societies to move in the direction of more people biking!
Has the founder really put much time into the Bicycling Monterey work?
YES. Over fifteen years (1 May 2009 – 1 May 2024), Bicycling Monterey’s founder has done all work of the site and projects as an unpaid volunteer and has given well over 22,000 hours to this work. As a Transportation Agency for Monterey County bike-ped advisory committee chair, Mike Novo, wrote in October 2023: “Thank you for all your efforts to support our mission. You are a great asset for the bicycling community, and that is an understatement!”
How did Bicycling Monterey get started?
For a brief history of Bicycling Monterey’s first decade, click here.
Why was the original domain name marilynch.com/blog?
As reported in the Monterey County Weekly by Kera Abraham 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.
Is Bicycling Monterey a business?
NO. For fifteen years (1 May 2009 – 1 May 2024), the work of Bicycling Monterey’s founder on this website and on all other Bicycling Monterey projects has been done entirely as an unpaid volunteer.
(Contributions to the California Bicycle Coalition / CalBike are not tax-deductible because they help support legislative lobbying efforts. People who only want to make a contribution if it is tax deductible have the option of donating to CalBike’s California Mobility Fund.)
Does Bicycling Monterey receive money from businesses and organizations for promotion on bikemonterey.org?
NO. For fifteen years (1 May 2009 – 1 May 2024), all information has been provided as a public service. We have not accepted money in exchange for promotion, including that there have been no pay-per-clicks on the Bicycling Monterey site. We also have not charged any fees for businesses and organizations participating in Bicycling Monterey projects, e.g., HER Helmet Thursdays. While businesses are not excluded from making a financial contribution, fewer than a dozen contributions have come from businesses over the first 15 years.
Is there a poster I can share to help encourage people to contribute to Bicycling Monterey?
YES. You can print the poster below and share it on community bulletin boards, etc. It includes a QR code, helpful on a physical poster, so people who are out and about can scan the code and don’t need to type a URL into their phone. Thank you!
Thank you for checking out the FAQs. If you have other questions, please feel free to contact us.
To contribute, click here.
