Salem Bicycle Club Charitable Donations Policy

Every year, the Salem Bicycle Club (SBC) makes donations out of proceeds raised by the Monster Cookie Metric Century bike ride. Donations are made to non-profit organizations which promote or help bicycling in some way, for example through bicycle advocacy, safety, education, or awareness and supporting youth bicycle programs. This is consistent with club objectives as stated in Sections 3-6 in the SBC by-laws

Selecting donation recipients occurs in the late summer and fall and consists of these steps:

1. At their June board meeting the Board of Directors decides the amount of funds needed to be held in reserve and the amount available for donation.
2. From February to October non-profit organizations can start the donation process by submitting a Donation Request Form Once a donation request has been submitted the Board will work to schedule the organization or SBC members speaking on behalf of the organization to give a presentation about the organization and in support of the donation request at regularly scheduled club meeting.
3. During the general meeting in November, a proposal for allocating the funds set aside for donations in the amount set by the Board in step 1 will be prepared and voted on by the meeting attendees. A list of organizations and the amount of funding they have requested will be announced in advance of the November meeting in the club newsletter, Spokes. Voting on donation requests is limited to SBC members.
4. Urgent donation requests can be considered at any time of the year by submitting a donation request and a vote of the board. When possible, voting on urgent funding requests should be done at a monthly board meeting, but for urgent requests board members can vote on the funding request by email. The vote should be affirmed in the next board meeting after the email vote so it can be recorded in the board meeting minutes.

All donations must meet these guidelines:

1. Must be related to cycling.
2. Must be active in Polk and/or Marion Counties, or be a regional, statewide, or national organization whose activities affect Polk and/or Marion Counties.
3. Must work to provide broad and inclusive community access to the economic, environmental, and health benefits of cycling.
4. Donations must be granted to organizations, not to individuals.