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Last updated on Monday, April 15, 2013
(BLOOMINGTON) - This year’s Little 500 bike race is launching an additional competition off the track.
Teams are competing with each other to raise money for scholarships online.
The Little 500 bike race, a 63-year-old Indiana University tradition, is adding what may become a new fundraising tradition this year.
Fundly, the world's largest online crowdfunding platform is partnering with the Indiana University Student Foundation to raise money for student scholarships. More than 60 cycling teams have created pages online and are competing with each other to win prizes such as tickets to an IU basketball game.
Fundly CEO Dave Boyce says the website integrates well with social media, because users can easily reach out to their family and friends for donations.
"You could say, hey, great, why don't you go door to door and collect checks, or why don't you send out e-mails and steer people to a central landing page," Boyce says. "Those are things that used to be the most efficient way but today the place where most people keep track of their friends and their networks, is on social media."
Indiana University Student Foundation Director Dana Cummings says their goal is to raise $50,000 through the new initiative.
"We're always thinking about new and innovative ways that we can reach folks to ask them to support the university," Cummings said.
The women's Little 500 race is set for Friday and the men's race is April 20 at the Bill Armstrong Stadium.
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