See how a bike-obsessed nonprofit is picking up speed in 2017
There are a lot of exciting companies that work out of the CIC — the coworking space our agency calls home — and being around them every day made us curious: What were these companies doing to spur such impressive growth?
So far, we’ve focused on for-profit companies. In this installment of our CIC Growth Series, we wanted to feature a great nonprofit working to make the roads of Massachusetts safer for cyclists. In this post, you’ll learn the tactics MassBike is using to grow its membership and its influence in state and local governments.
This is part 3 of 5 of our CIC Growth Series, featuring Richard Fries, Executive Director at MassBike. Check out part 1, part 2, part 4, and part 5 of the series.
Give us the elevator pitch for MassBike.
We’re a 40-year-old bicycle advocacy nonprofit. We boil it down to: We advocate, we educate, we connect. It’s all about bicycles and how they improve the world by making us happier, healthier, and more prosperous.
What did you do in 2016 to drive growth?
We increased business memberships 400% from the year before. It’s amazing how many executives bike to work, and who are just passionate about cycling. When we can get them to donate and be involved, I’ve noticed that it becomes part of the company culture to bike to work. Having great companies on board also helps when we reach out to local government leaders. That sort of backing makes them take notice.
We also did a lot of event outreach — hosting and attending events to talk about our mission. It’s really just about staying in the picture and making sure people understand exactly what it is we’re trying to accomplish. This is an overall part of developing our brand. People always tell me we need a different logo, but I don’t care nearly as much about the logo as I do about making sure people know what we represent.
What will you do in 2017 to continue growing?
We’re opening six new chapters across Massachusetts in 2017. In Massachusetts, things can be very Boston-centric. When people in the rest of the state feel left out, it’s hard to make changes on the local and state levels in terms of policy and overall awareness. These new chapters will get people from the Berkshires to the Cape involved.
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Want to learn how other CIC members are growing their businesses? Check out the rest of our CIC Growth Series here:
- Part 1: Emily Leinbach, Head of Marketing at Progress Partners
- Part 2: Lauren Abda, Founder at Branchfood
- Part 4: Haowei Zhang, CEO and cofounder at Waylens
- Part 5: Shayna Wilczynski, Senior Marketing Specialist at BookingBug
Ideometry is a full-service marketing agency located in Boston helping awesome companies and organizations amplify their growth strategies.
