88 Bikes. We Can Go Anywhere.

How it works

Each year, 88bikes chooses a destination. We’ve chosen sites with great advice from friends at National Geographic, Banff Mountain film festival and MountainFilm in Telluride, and networks of past partners such as the Global Youth Partnership for Africa and Andean Outreach. While it is difficult to find a perfect fit each year, our goal is to select places where 88bikes can have the most powerful impact, and likelihood for success; where the bikes can be reasonably accommodated, safely stored and kept in good repair; and where there is strong leadership in the school or orphanage receptive to the project.

Once a location is selected, 88bikes reaches out using e-mail, social networking sites, and the personal networks of the founders, and collects donations from sponsors through its web site. Each donation is $88 dollars, the approximate cost of a bike in most developing countries. Each sponsor also provides their name (or the name of a friend, if it is a gift), along with a photo of the donor. A list of all Sponsors is posted to the web site.

After the donations are raised, 88bikes travels to the project site in person. New bikes are purchased in-country from local merchants. Any required labor for transportation, assembly, or assistance is also hired locally, so that the project funds are used to benefit the local economy. All Sponsor bicycle donations are used to purchase and assemble the bikes, and for local transportation, so that 100% of the donated money goes directly to the local economy and to the bike donation. All other costs, such as setting up on-site 88bikeshops in various countries, running bike repair workshops, orchestrating bike repair apprenticeships, IT, travel, 88bikes volunteer programs, administrative costs and overhead are paid for by the Endowment Fund. Additional costs are paid for by the founders. 88bikes is entirely volunteer-staffed; no one, including the founders, receives salary or compensation of any kind; 88bikes does not maintain an office.

Each child is given their bike in person from the founders, on behalf of the individual Sponsor who donated their bike, along with a postcard that shows the Sponsor, a world map, and the Sponsor’s hometown. Photos and film of the project are made available to the Sponsors, and each Sponsor receives a thank-you letter with a photo of the child who received their bike.

Accountability

We don't take any salaries, and we don't maintain an office or staff. Every $88 dollar donation given to purchase a bike is used to purchase bikes. If we can drive a good bargain with the local merchants, extra money is used to defray the cost of assembling the bikes, transporting the bikes locally, and for purchasing spare parts. We work hard to ensure that every penny donated is a direct contribution to the purpose of the project– buying bikes for kids in challenging places, and supporting the ongoing bike culture that we leave behind so that it can continue to be a source of joy and inspiration for the kids as they grow up. In 2008, we became a registered 501(c)3 organization and started an endowment fund to support past projects and to defray some of the expenses related to accounting and project implementation that are a part of our success. Every donation to 88bikes is fully tax deductable.

Founders

	Dan Austin is a writer and filmmaker living in Brooklyn, NY. Dan is best known for his 1999 documentary, True Fans, and for the book True Fans that chronicled his bike journey across America with his brother, Jared and his best friend Clint. A musical version of True Fans is currently in development in New York. Dan is the award-winning director of seven documentaries and author of three books (including the recent “The Road Trip Pilgrims Guide”); conversant in four languages, Dan has explored old paths and new throughout the world. His ‘universal joy principle’ was the inspiration for 88Bikes, and provides the thematic thread for his forthcoming 88bikes documentary. Dan is the inspiration, voice and leader of 88bikes, directing the project and working closely with our partners and bike sponsors to make 88bikes a huge success.
	Nick Arauz is a designer and social media entrepreneur with a broad range of creative accomplishments. He grew up on a heavy dose of creativity and technology, alternating summers between art schools, construction jobs, robotics camps and technology jobs. Trained as an architect, his career accomplishments include creating high-end retail experiences, to developing technology and youth brands, and working on social and political action programs. Nick is currently the President of Xipto, a mobile marketing company he founded in 2005 focused on peer 'micro-endorsements' and local fundraising for non-profits. Nick brought 88Bikes to life online, and has been responsible for the social fund raising and micro-philanthropy strategy that has been an integral part of 88bike’s success. He lives in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, with his twin boys.
	Dr. Jared Austin is a pediatrician at the Mayo Clinic living in Rochester, Minnesota. Jared is the medic, guide, and voice of reason on his many journeys and adventures with his brother Dan, including 88bikes in-country operations in 2007 in Cambodia, 2008 in Uganda, and 2009 in Peru. Jared plays a critical role in leading 88bikes ground operations for each project, working with the local leaders for logistics and accounting. He has also been the connector and the expert on local history and culture for all our 88bikes destinations.

Director of Social Enterprise

In August 2009, Pauline Nee visited our first Endowment at the Palm Tree Orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where she repaired bikes and trained the kids to set up '88bikeshop' as a small social enterprise at the orphanage. Pauline is from New York City, where she is an art consultant by day and a passionate believer in the power of social enterprise. Pauline's work as an arts administrator has taken her from the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston to Sotheby's in London and Temple Bar Gallery in Dublin. She has peppered her career with some interesting adventures, including a year living in a hostel in San Francisco and a summer spent pulling a rickshaw in Canada. Pauline coordinates all of 88bikes' volunteer efforts and our social enterprise programs, including our 88bikeshop projects.

The Team in action: Dan and Jared in Peru at the Coto Coto Orphanage, January 2009; Nick and Dan at the 88bikes Photo Meetup in Brooklyn, 2009; and Dan and Jared flexing at Engineer Pass during their 4800 mile bike trip across America in 1997.