About the Canada Africa Partnership (CAP) Ride

WHAT IS THE CAP RIDE?

The Canada Africa Partnership Ride is an annual fundraising bike-a-thon the CAP Network has hosted since 2005 (previous names for the event include Bike2CAPAIDS and AIDS Ride for Africa).

Over the years, events have taken place each June in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver (and virtually since 2020!) in support of community projects in Africa. Together these peer-to-peer bike-a-thons have generated over $700,000 and have engaged more than 1,600 participants. An average of 70% of registered riders successfully raise funds with an average of $250 per rider.

In 2022, the Ride engaged 74 participants from across Canada and around the world, raising over $52,600 for 11 participating organizations.

Read our blog post about the 2020 CAP Ride: Virtual Bikeathon Triples Fundraising Target: Lessons Learned

Check out this Toronto Star article: Two Toronto charity bike-a-thons aim to reach fundraising targets amid pandemic

 

WHAT IS PEER-TO-PEER FUNDRAISING?

Peer-to-peer fundraising is an exciting and fast-growing non-profit fundraising channel. Through this fundraising mechanism, an organization's community members fundraise for the organization by soliciting donations from their family, friends and networks in support of the organization's work.

The CAP Network hosts the CAP Ride annually as a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign during which several organizations and projects join the ride, set a collective fundraising goal, and invite their communities to join their teams as riders or create their own supporting teams, and help them achieve the goal. Participants then fundraise for their respective teams by collecting pledges for their rides using CAP Network's central fundraising platform!

Together, we expand our networks and amplify our impact for community development in Africa. 

 

HOW WILL THE EVENT WORK THIS YEAR? 

This year, we will be hosting a hybrid Ride!

Our virtual rides over the last few years allowed more people to join from more cities around the world than ever before. This year is CAP Network's 20th anniversary, and to celebrate we will be having an in-person gathering at High Park in Toronto, with the option to ride anywhere, any time between Thursday June 1 and Sunday June 4. 

We are very excited to host a live celebration for our annual CAP Ride at our old stomping grounds at High Park in Toronto at 12pm on Sunday June 4th. As in pre-Covid years, we will gather in the park for a brief welcome ceremony, before riding out together along the water. Once folks complete their ride, they are invited to celebrate with us in the park, with food, games and good company!

For those who cannot make it to High Park to ride with us, we will host a virtual opening ceremony to kick off Ride week on Thursday June 1st at 7pm, and the closing ceremony will be Sunday June 4 at 4pm. The opening ceremony will launch our scavenger hunt, with a prize awarded to the winner. Participants will be asked to solve the riddles and take photos of what they think the answers are! The winner will be the team with the most correct answers. Prizes will be announced at the closing ceremony for top fundraiser, top friendraiser (most donors) and for the scavenger hunt! The closing ceremony will be hosted from the live event at High Park.

Participants are invited to ride your bike, roll, run, walk, or do any form of movement you like (yoga, dance, you name it!) for an equivalent of 10km, or whatever is accessible for you.  

You will be sent information and words of encouragement throughout your fundraising journey via email, and we can engage through social media using the hashtags #CAPRide #CAPRide2023 #capnetwork #CanadaAfricaPartnership. We will be sharing information about all of our partners on our Facebook and Instagram accounts.

As we unite in a common effort to ensure the safety of our communities, we invite you to stand in solidarity with our African partner communities that continue to do incredible work in challenging circumstances. 

 

EVENT DETAILS

Ride week will take place this year from Thursday, June 1 - Sunday, June 4, 2023, with our live celebration at High Park on Sunday June 4 beginning at 12pm

We will launch online with a Zoom call at 7pm EDT on Thursday, June 1st, where we will hear from CAP Network and team captains about the causes they are supporting. Participants will then complete a 10km ride, or the equivalent in any form of movement they choose. Following the opening ceremony, folks will receive a list of clues for the Scavenger Hunt Challenge, to find and photograph on their ride.

You'll have until Sunday, June 4th at 1pm EDT to complete your ride, run, walk or roll, etc. and for the scavenger hunt. You’ll write in to ride@capnetwork.ca with pictures of the items for the scavenger hunt. We will host our hybrid closing ceremony on Sunday, June 4th at 3pm EDT, where winners and prizes will be announced. 

This format is intended to give riders plenty of flexibility to complete their desired form of movement according to their schedule and local conditions, while creating additional fundraising momentum throughout the week. Event details will be provided following registration. 

 

WHO CAN REGISTER A TEAM?

As always, we are inviting like-minded organizations to join us in support of your African projects. All Canadian projects and organizations which are working to support grassroots and locally-led development efforts in Africa are welcome to register a team for the ride. If you're ready to register a team, go ahead and hit register.

 

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE? 

Anyone and everyone is welcome and encouraged to join! When you register, you can choose to fundraise for any of our participating African projects and organizations! Once you're set up in our online fundraising platform, you will have your own personal fundraising page connected to your team's page, and you'll be able to invite your family and friends to join in and sponsor your fundraising journey! You will be given the option either to join the project/organization's existing team, or form your own team under the umbrella of the project and then invite your family and friends to ride with you.

Since this year's event will be a hybrid ride, you can join us from anywhere in the world! Please keep in mind that CAP Network is only able to provide tax receipts for Canadian donors. 

Join us - together, we can help ensure a healthy and sustainable future for children, families, and whole communities.

 

HOW DO I FUNDRAISE?

Once you're set up in our online fundraising platform, you will have your own personal fundraising page connected to your team's page, and you'll be able to invite your family and friends to sponsor you directly from there! Reaching out to your network about a cause close to your heart is a great way to support an organization while connecting with your family and friends in meaningful ways.

You can also set up a fundraiser through Facebook, selecting "CAP Network Inc." as the charity, and specify the project or organization you're fundraising for through the CAP Ride in the fundraising event description. The CAP Network will receive and channel those funds to your chosen project/organization. Facebook fundraisers are great engagement and effective fundraising tools. 

 

ABOUT THE HOST - CAP NETWORK

The Canada Africa Partnership Network connects Canadians and African communities, providing capacity building and resources to support locally developed, community-driven projects. Our partners are focused on meeting the most pressing needs of their communities, advancing education, investing in livelihoods and promoting health. Since 2003, the CAP Network (formerly CAP/AIDS) has supported 22 grassroots community-based organizations (CBOs) across nine African countries. The CAP Network is a registered Canadian charity - #88898 7500 RR0001. For more information, please visit CAP Network's website.

 

About the Organizer

The Canada Africa Partnership (CAP) Network facilitates partnerships between Canadian and African communities, providing resources and capacity building towards locally-driven development projects.

Learn more at: www.capnetwork.ca

Register Your Project

Are you affiliated with a community development in Africa? Are you looking for a turn key event to raise funds for this work?

Learn more about how it works here>>

Register your project here>>

Quick Links

Riders: Log in to your campaign page here>>

Do you have a question or concern?
Contact the organizer here>>

Download the pledge form here>>