6 minute read
Riders in the Storm
How the Pan Mass Challenge pedaled through the pandemic
Written by Robert Cocuzzo Photography by Ken Richardson
PMC Founder Billy Starr
PMC founder Billy Starr with WBZ/CBS Boston's David Wade and Lisa Hughes for the 2019 ride
billy starr, founder, pan mass challenge
The coronavirus pandemic has pummeled the nonprofit sector. With most organizations depending on events and galas for their big annual fundraising hauls, canceled in-person events greatly hindered their ability to source contributions. Yet while most nonprofits raced to find ways to eliminate overhead and get lean to weather the storm, one of the country’s most successful charity events found a way to pivot and power forward. One could argue that switching gears is in the DNA of the Pan-Mass Challenge—a bike-a-thon that’s bearing down on raising a billion dollars for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute—but the remarkable success of last year’s event in the midst of a global pandemic is a testament to something much bigger than the bike.
“There was never ever a consideration that we were going to punt and say, ‘See you next year…cancer can wait,’” says Billy Starr, who founded the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) in honor of his late mother forty-one years ago. During the early part of 2020, the PMC already had a record number of registrations, with more than 6,800 participants signed up. In past years, part of the PMC’s fundraising might has hinged on riders pledging to hit a target goal. If they couldn’t meet that mark, their credit cards were charged the difference. However, when the pandemic hit, Starr and his team decided to release those 6,800 riders from their registrations as well as their credit card commitments. Starr decided that he was going to rely on the culture that he and his team had created to keep riders engaged and committed to fundraising.
The PMC has evolved from the ad hoc fundraising bike ride to Cape Cod that Starr pulled together with a ragtag group of riders in 1980 to become the largest athletic fundraising event in the country. A key driver to its success has been the robust community that Starr and his team have created. For thousands of riders, the PMC is a core part of their identity, shaping how they spend their time and treasure. PMC teams train together throughout the year and set more and more ambitious fundraising goals.
“The PMC is a mission-first organization: Our people share a common passion for making an impact in the fight against cancer,” Starr says. “Connected to our mission is our 100 percent pass-through rate for rider-raised dollars, which is a key motivator for our riders and their donors. They know that every penny they raise or give will make a difference.”
Starr benefited from having already hatched the idea of a reimagined ride back in 1997, long before “reimagined events” became the hot catch phrase of the pandemic. Instead of holding its traditional three-day ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown, the PMC encouraged riders to create their own course. “It has never been about the miles,” Starr says. “Who cares if you ride one mile or a thousand? The ride is a catalyst to ask your community to support Dana-Farber through the PMC.” So the organization shipped the riders their 2020 PMC jerseys along with fundraising tools to ride their own event.
Although 24 percent of the originally registered riders decided to forgo the PMC amidst the pandemic, those who stayed committed to their own virtual ride hit nearly the same fundraising targets that they had in 2019. Starr
The PMC rich culture was key to keeping riders engaged through the pandemic
and his team also reengaged 1,600 former riders, pulling them out of retirement to pedal their own reimagined rides. These routes snaked all around New England. One team pedaled 190 miles by looping around the island of Nantucket. Another rider plotted a course to the homes of each of his donors where he hand-delivered thank-you notes. “That personal aspect has always been critical to their participation and that’s what drew them in in the first place,” Starr says.
The PMC entered 2020 with a goal of raising $65 million. When the pandemic hit, it adjusted the goal to $41 million. Forty-one million on the event’s forty-first year had a nice ring to it. When all the numbers were tallied, the PMC raked in $50 million for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute—what amounted to 64 percent of the organization’s annual operating costs. In addition to the fundraising force of the riders, the 2020 haul also benefited from six major gifts, ranging from $300,000 to $2.5 million. Even before the ride, the PMC released $4 million, including a $1 million matching gift, to serve as the seed funding for Dana-Farber’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, which met the emerging needs created by the pandemic in treating cancer patients.
“At Dana-Farber, the source of our strength has always
Photo by Heidi Kirn
been our people—from our dedicated frontline staff and investigators to essential partners like the PMC,” wrote Dr. Laurie Glimcher, the president and CEO of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, to the PMC community. “Now more than ever, your philanthropy has a deep and broad impact across our labs and clinics.”
Looking toward the summer of 2021, Starr and the PMC are keeping the momentum going by working within the state health guidelines to get the organized rides back up and spinning again. Instead of the three traditional routes previously offered, the PMC now has sixteen routes that riders can participate in this summer, including a hundred-mile ride that leaves from Patriot Place in Foxboro and finishes in Wellesley.
With cyclists spread out over more than a dozen routes, Starr believes that social distancing and health protocols will be effectively implemented. Along those lines, he and his team are turning all of the beloved in-person celebrations to virtual events. Reimagined rides will continue to provide another way for people to participate and fundraise, whether they pedal one or one hundred miles. At press time, the PMC already had 5,100 cyclists committed for the 2021 ride scheduled for August 7-8. “Above all, we will remain laser focused on our commitment to helping fund lifesaving cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber,” Starr says. “Our PMC motto of ‘Commit, you’ll figure it out!’ continues to ring true as we navigate these uncharted circumstances.” NEL
While 2020 was defined by reimagined rides, Billy Starr and his team have created more than a dozen group routes that will enable social distancing during this summer's PMC
