Wish For Wheels Case Study
How a non-profit founder used Vannin Chief of Staff to take his vision to the next level.
Overview
In 2004, Wish for Wheels (W4W) Founder and CEO, Brad Appel, launched a mission that was near and dear to his heart: To provide every second grader in Denver’s Title I schools with a new bike and helmet through “Build/Give” events. His unique business model relied upon corporate philanthropy (instead of individual donors) to purchase bikes and helmets for qualified schools. Teams from these business partners assembled the bikes during Build/Give events managed by W4W and then, personally bestowed the new bikes and helmets directly into the hands of the school children. Appel’s vision resonated with the Denver business community and the concept took off.
In addition to cultivating sustained relationships with business partners, Appel engaged a board of directors (including world champion cyclist, Lance Armstrong and influential Denver business leaders) to help guide and grow W4W.
Over the years, W4W grew and in 2019, W4W and its partners gifted bikes to 7000 children. By this time, W4W had also attained a strong brand identity within the community and was poised for continued growth.
Situation
Then, in the spring of 2020, COVID-19 hit. Appel made the tough decision to forgo his own compensation and lay off his team with the hopes of rekindling W4W someday.
In 2021, as the world reopened post-pandemic, Appel sought counsel to rebuild W4W. After 18 years in the driver’s seat, he was also ready to transition from running W4W day-to-day operations and focus on sales and partnerships. He needed a highly skilled expert who could bring insight into the organization and quickly help him make tough decisions that would be pivotal to the future of W4W.
“We needed someone to scale us back quickly to evaluate and restructure our processes,” Appel says. “We needed someone with incredible expertise who could do in six months what would take others a year to do.”
Upon recommendation of and approved by the W4W Board, Appel tapped Vannin Chief of Staff’s Jamie Cole for the job.
Approach
First, Cole immersed herself in W4W business model and processes. She met with Board members and attended a W4W Build/Give to witness first-hand the impact W4W on both company team members who participated in the event and the students who received the bikes and helmets.
“Jamie wanted to spend time exploring the water before she started swimming,” Appel says. “Her approach taught me about patience and structure.”
Using the Traction EOS model, Cole led Appel through a Vision Traction exercise to establish W4W three-year and 10-year goals. With this road map in place, she then formed a manageable timeline to accomplish that vision. To scale W4W to ultimately attain national presence, Cole identified two areas in need of improvement: Processes and people.
“Jamie set clear goals and a path for how we would build the W4W way,” says Appel. “She brought structure and found the right people for us.”
With Cole’s guidance, Appel realized it was time to hire his successor. In August 2022 the Board unanimously approved the hire of serial entrepreneur and former Blackstone Entrepreneur Network CEO, Greg Greenwood, as W4W CEO/Executive Director to bring fresh perspective and leadership to the organization. The addition of key full- and part-time roles, including a Customer Success Manager, Operations Manager, Marketing Manager and Build/Give gig workers, also ensured that W4W functioned at a level to accommodate steady growth. Likewise, maximizing the use of automated systems, such as Salesforce, Slack, Google Docs, and Docu-Sign, streamlined processes, making W4W more operationally efficient and effective.
“Brad Appel’s three-year goal was to give a new bike and helmet to every Title I kid in Colorado. His 10-year vision, to give a new bike and helmet to every Title I kid in the US. That’s a beautiful vision that we could all align with.” -Jamie Cole, Vannin Chief of Staff
Results
More than 5000 bikes gifted through the Build/Give events in 2022
13,000 bikes projected to be given to Denver-area Title I second graders in 2023-24
Conclusion
Today, W4W is poised to meet its short- and long-range goals with the right processes and people in place. As Founder and Board Chair, Appel is now in a role he loves, focusing on fundraising, national program expansion, and partnerships.
“W4W is headed back to pre-pandemic levels and more,” Appel says. “We’re back to growth. We’re back to giving away thousands of bikes to kids.”