Ten Reasons to Donate to OOFD this Giving Season

1. We made a plan to focus on sustainability and program growth and are sticking to it
2. Momentum with our Adaptive Program
3. We are reaching the next level of fundraising as a growing non-profit 
4. Keeping our rides affordable and accessible for adventurers on any budget
5. A good percentage of our expenses go straight into our local county, state, and national parks
6. Support our amazing crew of volunteers from trainings to appreciation
7. We are part of an ecosystem of incredible organizations in Chicago that focus on everything from conservation to outdoor recreation to education
8. We welcome and encourage new folks to try out bigger bike adventures in nature.
9. Expressed by OOFD donor and volunteer Dan Linn
10. Gratitude and reciprocity​

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1. We made a plan to focus on sustainability and program growth and are sticking to it

In 2020, we wrote a 5 year plan (2021-2025).

The Goal - sustainability for the org.
The Method -  slowly scale up to a full-time paid Executive Director (ED).
The Path - increase our programming (specifically on overnight rides) and participants so our mission can reach more adventurer seekers.

2021 - 258 participants. ED - 0 paid hours a week
2022 - 228 participants. ED - 10 paid hours a week
2023 - 433 participants.  ED - 20 paid hours a week
2024 - 557 participants. ED - 28 paid hours  a week
2025 - Goal of 654 participants on our rides. ED -  Full-time paid salary and benefits
We have not always hit every goal of our 5 Year Plan, but we have adjusted, adapted, and made sure we stayed on track to reach the ultimate goal of sustainability through supporting a full-time Executive Director role as well as growing our programs and supporting our volunteers.

So please consider donating to help us continue to grow OOFD towards sustainability so we can assure we will be here for years to come to continue living our WAVE values and being Welcoming Adventurous Volunteers that Educate. ​

Donation link here - https://donorbox.org/support-oofd-3-3

Reason #2: Momentum with our Adaptive Program

We just finished up our 4th year of officially having an Adaptive Program that serves mainly youth with adaptive needs. We got the big $50,000 Laureus grant to help us scale this program up this year, and we did in a major way. We got over 120 young people with adaptive needs out in nature, riding our custom adaptive tandem bikes, many of which were riding a bike for their first time. And we got over 20 families with children with adaptive needs on our family bike camping trips this year. With your help, we will continue to extend our reach to get more people with adaptive needs out in nature on empowering and inclusive bike adventures. 

If you want to contribute to us making awesome adventures happen inside of our Adaptive Program, consider donating to our Giving Tuesday Campaign here or in our bio - https://donorbox.org/support-oofd-3-3

Reason #3: We are reaching the next level of fundraising as a growing non-profit

We have focused almost to a flaw on growing our programming over the past few years. The idea was that is where our mission lives. That is what gets us so jazzed. Always.

As we grow as a non-profit org, we are learning from our partners and community of non-profits here in Chicago and from classes we take. And it is obvious that we can use some improvement on our fundraising. For some context, here are some OOFD fundraising totals over the past couple years (outside of the annual Hootenanny Fundraiser Party).

2023 - $5,574 (5% of our total income)
2024 - $12,494 (8% of our total income)
2025 - Goal is $20,000 (10% of our operating budget)

We still are hyper focused and driven by our programming and making sure our mission reaches as many adventure seekers in Chicagoland as possible. And, we are learning to reach out to our community to ask for support to help us continue on the path towards being a next level, sustainable org that will be here for years to come to serve our home, from the humans to the habitats. 

If you want to help us reach that next stage as a growing non-profit that is learning to grow on a variety of levels, consider donating to our Giving Tuesday Campaign here - https://donorbox.org/support-oofd-3-3

Reason #4: Keeping our rides affordable and accessible for adventurers on any budget

Our bike camping tours are easily half the price of other bike camping tour nonprofits tours and about a tenth the price of the high end bike camping tour companies. Shoot, there are 3 hour walking tours in Chicago that cost more than our 2 day overnight tours. We are not crazy even though many folks often say our prices are. We are here to break down as many barriers to local adventures in nature as possible, especially the barrier of price.

​If you want to help us keep our prices generously low, consider donating to OOFD. ​

Reason #5: A good percentage of our expenses go straight into our local county, state, and national parks

Plus, our bike camping trips almost exclusively stay at local county, state, and national parks so big parts of our annual expenses go straight to supporting these crucial lands, resources, and organizations. Especially as we have been begun booking campsites for next year, we have been sending $1000s to these parks just over the last couple weeks.

​If you want to help us contribute to our local parks , consider donating to OOFD.​

Reason #6: Support our amazing crew of volunteers from trainings to appreciation

We had 57 different individuals lead bike camping trips for OOFD this past year alone, many of them leading 2-3 rides each and some even lead as many as 8 over the year! 


We recognize that these folks are what make OOFD as special as it is. We wouldn't be able to do what we do without them, and they deserve to be showered in gratitude. 


We always are finding new ways to appreciate them from supplying a $5000 annual budget towards trainings they might want to take, free and discounted spots on our overnights, awesome swag including custom guide patches each year, and custom 5 year anniversary knives for the guides that have been around that long.

Your donation helps us support this amazing crew of volunteers who really make OOFD one of the best places to be a volunteer. 

Reason #7: We are part of an ecosystem of incredible organizations in Chicago that focus on everything from conservation to outdoor recreation to education

We are part of an ecosystem of incredible organizations in Chicago that focus on everything from conservation to outdoor recreation to education. 

Giving in the United States reached $427.71 billion (in 2018) and individuals gave 70% of that. So your donations to nonprofit organizations truly creates the bulk of the funds that so many orgs rely on to keep doing the amazing work they do. So even if you don’t support OOFD this giving season, we challenge you to think about a cause or org that you appreciate, that you want to see them continue to do their important work, and donate to them. 

Here’s a few to help get your brainstorming get started:  KEEN Chicago, Working Bikes, The Recyclery, Bikes N’ Roses, Boxing Out Negativity, Active Transportation Alliance, West Town Bikes, Openlands, Friends of the Forest Preserves, Alliance for the Great Lakes, Block Club Chicago, Chicago Wilderness Alliance, and so many more. 
If OOFD is on your list of orgs you want to give to before the end of the year, our donate page is linked here https://donorbox.org/support-oofd-3-3

Reason #8: We welcome and encourage new folks to try out bigger bike adventures in nature

In 2024, 160 folks went bike camping for the first time in their lives with OOFD, and 123 folks rode the longest they had ever ridden their bike in one day!


We can’t begin to express how much those stats mean to us. We strive to be a welcoming community of adventurers aiming to break down barriers to local bike camping opportunities, so to see this many folks trust us to go on these types of adventures for their first time under the guidance of the OOFD crew is simply incredible. That is 160+ folks that now have a greater appreciation for our local, beautiful habitats and recognize how accessible they are. It just takes a bike and an adventurous spirit. Its stats like this that help us know that we are living up to our mission.


If you want to help us introduce folks to the wonders of bike camping, consider donating to OOFD.

Reason #9: Expressed by OOFD donor and volunteer Dan Linn

Greetings fellow cycling enthusiasts, 

 I wanted to share with you some of the reasons I am donating to Out Our Front Door this holiday season because this organization is important to me.  I did the Good Land ride two summers ago and earlier this year a friend asked me if I had some free time to volunteer with OOFD’s Adaptive Program event at LADSE.  I did, so I went to a suburb one morning and helped out by taking kids on bike rides around the school parking lot. 
 And while this may not seem like much for most of us, I was profoundly impacted by the fact that the majority of the 30 or so kids that day had NEVER been on a bicycle before. The amount of joy, smiles, and excitement that those children felt while pedaling with the wind in their face for the first time was amazing. It made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to bicycle for exercise, enjoyment, or simply human powered transportation.  I also reflected on how much bicycling was a cornerstone of my own childhood and my first tastes of freedom and movement.  

 That was just one positive impact OOFD had on me this year.  I also was able to go on the SWMI ride, a couple of the monthly hangs, and even did my first ride as a guide for the Indigenous Peoples Family Overnight Ride.  Each of those events added to the awesomeness of OOFD for me, and I have made friends and met neighbors along the way that I otherwise would likely not have had the pleasure of meeting.  

 Chicago has a robust bicycling community and how OOFD utilizes that community to further educate and enlighten folks about the natural history of our region is yet another way that this organization has impressed me. As a lover of nature, history, and geography, the educational spiels that OOFD does on their rides have become highlights for me. On a few occasions, I have even gone on deep dives into learning more once I am in my tent after the day's ride.  

 Finally, let me just add that OOFD’s Executive Director Glenn is someone whose positivity is so contagious that just seeing the glee that he gets jumping in Lake Michigan, helping others ride bikes, and simply enjoying life, is worthy of my financial contribution. Glenn is always happy to help and has nurtured this organization from its infancy to an organization that is changing peoples’ lives by getting them on bicycles and increasing their knowledge and appreciation for what is literally Out Our Front Door.  

 So if you have gotten this far thank you and I look forward to riding with you in 2025.  
​
 Dan Linn

Reason #10: Gratitude and reciprocity

One of OOFD’s greatest heroes, Robin Wall Kimmerer, wrote in her new book, The Serviceberry, “If our first response to the receipt of gifts is gratitude, then our second is reciprocity: to give a gift in return.”

If you get us​ started on some Kimmerer, we’ll keep going. But goodness. That is so good. We are incredibly grateful for all of the gifts given. Not just monetary, but the time, effort, brain and pedal power of our volunteers, and of course of our partners. And most importantly our bike routes and natural spaces that welcome us to them on our adventures. 

We are grateful for all of the gifts we receive as part of this org. We will reciprocate. 

As we get ready to wrap out our end of the year fundraiser, consider donating.

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