Case Study: Bike4Chai achieves $7.5M fundraising for kids with cancer and disabilities during COVID-19 with Neon One

How Bike4Chai Raised $7.5M for Kids with Cancer and Disabilities During COVID-19

Bike4Chai, the annual fundraising ride supporting Chai Lifeline’s Camp Simcha, faced a major COVID-19 challenge in 2020: state restrictions forced the event to be shortened from two days to one and participant caps threatened the event’s ability to cover over 50% of Camp Simcha’s operating costs. To adapt, Bike4Chai partnered with Neon One and used Neon Fundraise to preserve peer-to-peer fundraising and team-based engagement under new safety constraints.

Neon One implemented virtual tools—including Neon Fundraise features like leaderboards, team goals, a searchable rider database, website customization, and Strava integration—so riders could track performance and donors could find fundraisers easily. The campaign drove 19,422 donations and raised more than $7.5 million with 460 cyclists participating (two teams raised over $1M each), despite a 10–20% drop in participants, securing critical funding for Camp Simcha.

Bike4Chai

Yoel Margolese

Director