Customer Snapshot
- Events Per Year: 9
- Flagship Event: Triple Bypass (4,000+ riders — largest cycling event in Colorado)
- Years on RunSignup: 2
- Organization Type: 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting local Colorado charities
About Shift Events
Shift Events is a Colorado-based 501(c)(3) that produces nine cycling events annually across gravel, mountain, and road disciplines. Their portfolio ranges from weekday evening Enduro mountain bike series drawing around 200 riders to the Triple Bypass — a bucket-list road cycling event with over 4,000 participants and the title of Colorado’s largest cycling event. While their events aren’t exclusively fundraising-focused, Shift uses the platform’s fundraising features strategically, particularly for their Hundo mountain bike event, to raise additional funds with minimal resource overhead.
The Challenge
Before RunSignup, Shift Events was working against their platform rather than with it. Their previous registration platform lacked the flexibility needed to manage the unique demands of large cycling events. Custom workflows required constant workarounds, and the fees charged at checkout were more than the team was willing to absorb or pass on to their loyal rider base. The result was too much time spent wrestling with back-end limitations instead of focusing on producing world-class events.
The search for a new platform initially came down to cost. What they found was much more.
The Solution
A Two-Week Migration — Right Before 4,000 Registrations Opened
The stakes couldn’t have been higher. Shift Events made the move to RunSignup just two weeks before registration opened for the Triple Bypass. Despite the timing, the transition was smooth. The platform’s intuitive setup meant the team handled most of the configuration themselves, while RunSignup’s team worked alongside them to ensure everything was built to best practices — including flagging how certain configuration decisions would affect their data long-term.
Waitlist Management That Scaled When It Mattered Most
When the 2025 Hundo mountain bike event sold out in just two hours, Shift Events immediately activated a waitlist. Over time, that list grew to nearly 300 people. What was once an unmanageable manual task became entirely automated — every single person on the waitlist was eventually invited to register as spots opened up through cancellations. Riders who couldn’t attend were no longer forced to forfeit their registration fees to a no-refund policy, and those who waited were ultimately rewarded with a spot.
A Lottery That Did More Than Manage Demand
For high-demand events, Shift Events implemented the lottery registration system — not because their events required it, but because it offered a fairer, more controlled experience for participants. What they didn’t anticipate was what would happen when riders were given the option to bypass the lottery through a fundraising commitment.
Fundraising entries quadrupled. Participants who wanted to guarantee their spot channeled that motivation directly into charitable giving, turning a registration management tool into a meaningful fundraising driver — with virtually no additional lift from the team.
Reserved Entries: Structure Without the Manual Work
Reserved entries was another feature whose value revealed itself in practice. Whether holding spots for VIP participants, sponsors, charity partners, or staff, the reserved entries feature eliminated a process that had previously required manual coordination and careful tracking. The system simply handled it — freeing the team to focus on what they do best.
Merchandise Fulfillment — and Sales Tax — Without the Stress
Shift Events sells a wide range of branded merchandise — jerseys, socks, and posters — through RunSignup’s integrated store, offering both shipping and on-site will call pickup. Pulling order data for their apparel vendor became significantly simpler and more reliable. Given the size and custom nature of their orders, data accuracy was critical. The built-in sales tax collection feature was an unexpected but welcomed bonus, removing what the team described as a significant ongoing burden.
Participant Communications That Actually Land
Shift Events uses Email V2 for regular rider communication and to fulfill sponsor requirements. List-building tools have saved meaningful time, and deliverability has been consistently strong. Their RunSignup event pages have become the go-to destination for participant information — even alongside a separate secondary website — thanks to a clean, professional, and easy-to-navigate design.
Rider Self-Service That Reduces Organizer Inbox Volume
One of the most impactful shifts has been in participant self-service. Entry transfers, deferrals, account management, and even basic tasks like password resets — all things that previously required intervention from the Shift Events team — are now handled by riders themselves or by RunSignup’s support staff directly. The team no longer receives emails from participants who can’t figure out how to complete basic registration tasks.
Membership in the Same System — Cost Savings and a Unified Team
In 2024, Shift Events took their consolidation a step further by migrating their membership platform to RunSignup as well. The move delivered immediate cost savings and, perhaps more importantly, gave the entire team a single system to work from. With events, registrations, and memberships all under one roof, the team spends less time context-switching between tools and more time focused on producing great experiences for their riders.
The Results
Since moving to RunSignup, Shift Events has:
- Migrated a 4,000+ person event in under two weeks with minimal friction
- Converted every single waitlisted rider (up to ~300) for the sold-out 2025 Hundo, compared to previously having no viable waitlist management at all
- Streamlined merchandise order fulfillment with higher data confidence and automated sales tax collection
- Reduced time spent on participant support through self-service transfers, deferrals, and waivers
- Eliminated back-end workarounds that were pulling the team away from event production
- Maintained full ownership of their participant data and email lists — a deliberate and important decision for the team
Why It Worked
1. The Platform Fit the Event — Not the Other Way Around After years of forcing their cycling events into a system that wasn’t built for them, Shift Events found a platform flexible enough to handle their exact needs without compromise. Features like event transfers, self-service deferrals, and automated waitlists solved real problems from day one.
2. They Switched for Cost and Stayed for Everything Else The initial motivation was pricing transparency. What kept them was a system that was simply better on every level — modern, intuitive, and more capable than they expected.
3. Data Integrity Was Non-Negotiable Shift Events deliberately ruled out platforms owned by large corporations due to concerns about rider data privacy and email list ownership. RunSignup’s approach to data ownership and transparency was a deciding factor — and remains an important part of why they’re not going anywhere.
