Create A Program in Your City

What is DONATE A RIDE?

DONATE A RIDE, an award-winning program, is a community fundraising initiative providing transit tickets to charitable agencies to assist clients in crisis on a short-term basis. Without transportation access, people can miss out on everything from work and educational opportunities to medical treatments and access to basic services. In 2010, 60 charitable agencies received over 86,000 transit tickets which in turn served thousands of needy Edmontonians.

Will DONATE A RIDE work in my city?

In Edmonton, we found that the program addresses a significant demand. While we do offer reduced transit fares, a gap exists for people in crisis who need short term help. DONATE A RIDE is designed to address this need.

Edmonton's Story

In 1996, Edmonton City Councillor Allan Bolstad came up with an idea: on New Year's Eve, when public transit in Edmonton is free, buses could collect donations in their fare boxes, with the money collected purchasing transit tickets for Edmontonians in need. From this one gesture, DONATE A RIDE was born. Since then, the annual DONATE A RIDE campaign has grown to include fare boxes on transit buses from New Year's Eve until the end of January. Citizens can also donate through the United Way. The City of Edmonton donates to the program through a funding formula based on the city's population. Finally, the program is boosted through significant support from many of the city's public sector unions and corporations.

Since 1996, DONATE A RIDE has distributed about $1.3 million worth of transit tickets through pre-selected Edmonton social services agencies, which in turn give them out to their clients. Tax receipts are issued by the United Way, which handles all of the financial transactions and accounting.

How to start a DONATE A RIDE Program in 8 Steps

Step 1 – Determine Need
Step 2 – Identify a Champion
Step 3 – Gain Institutional Support
Step 4 – Engage Stakeholders
Step 5 – Determine How You Will Run the Program
Step 6 – Secure Funding
Step 7 – Decide on a Plan for Promotion
Step 8 – Launch the Program

Step 1 – Determine Need

In Edmonton, we have reduced fares for low-income seniors and for recipients of the province's Assisted Income for the Severely Handicapped program. However, we were not reaching people who needed emergency, short-term transit access. DONATE A RIDE was conceived and designed to address this.

Ways to determine need:

Check with charitable agencies in your city such as women's shelters, youth shelters, and homelessness agencies. Ask about their clients' transit access needs and how well they are being met. In some provinces, the provincial government may cover transit costs.
Find out if city politicians or city offices are getting calls requesting transit tickets. DONATE A RIDE was created because former City Councillor Allan Bolstad was getting calls like these, and he wanted to find a way to help.
Check with your transit department. Are they getting calls? Check with provincial government support programs. Are they turning people away who don't qualify for provincial support, but have a need?

DONATE A RIDE recipient agencies
DONATE A RIDE Ticket Disbursement History

Step 2 – Identify a Champion

In the case of Edmonton, we had a City Councillor convince his Council colleagues and the Mayor to develop DONATE A RIDE. It could just as easily have been championed initially by our transit branch or our City Manager.

Step 3 – Gain Institutional Support

For this program to be successful, it must have the support of key players in civic government, not just one or two champions. For Edmonton, the success of DONATE A RIDE has been possible due to the on-going support of the Mayor and City Council, our transit branch, and key personnel in other areas.

Step 4 – Engage Stakeholders

DONATE A RIDE is led by a Steering Committee made up of representatives from City Council, civic unions, administration, the business community, and the United Way. Many of the committee members represent groups who were founding sponsors of the program, and have continued to participate over its lifespan. Without support from various sectors, it would have been difficult to launch the program and achieve as much success as we have had to date.

DONATE A RIDE Steering Committee

Step 5 – Determine How You Will Run the Program

There are several aspects that need to be addressed. First, who will administer it? The program is run out of the office of the Chair, who comes from City Council, with other Committee members contributing as well. For your city, will it be run at the Council level, by the transit department, as a stand-alone program, or some other method?

Second, how will you distribute tickets? Will it be through social service agencies, directly from the municipality, or another means? If it's through agencies, how will they apply to become a participating organization?

Third, how will you fund the program? Will it be through sponsorships and donations, government funding, or some combination?

Online application form for recipient agencies
How we collect donations

Step 6 – Secure Funding

Edmonton's program is funded through a combination of corporate and union sponsorship, individual donations, and funding from the City of Edmonton.

We made the decision to cap gold sponsorship at a maximum of $5000 per year. We did not want to compete too much for dollars from the same charities we were trying to help through providing the transit tickets.

DONATE A RIDE Sponsors
Sample letter to potential sponsors
Sample sponsorship levels
Sample sponsorship application form
Sample sponsorship brochure

Step 7 – Decide on a Plan for Promotion

Edmonton promotes its program through an annual fundraising campaign that runs from December 31 to January 31. We advertise on buses and trains, offer different methods for citizens to donate, and we have a media launch in late December every year. We also have sponsorship packages and promotional brochures to distribute to interested parties.

Some questions you will have to answer include: how will you advertise? Will you run a targeted, time-specific campaign? How will your message reach funders and recipients?

Sample launch event brief
Sample launch event media advisory

Step 8 – Launch the Program

Once the previous seven steps have been identified, you should be ready to launch! There will be trial and error along the way, but with a committed group of participants, the program should be a success, and bring much reward to you and benefit to your citizens.

You are free to use the name DONATE A RIDE for your own program. All we ask is that you contact us first, and we will add you to our website as one of our partnering municipalities.