Get started

1. Get set up and run a ride challenge (about 30 minutes)

1. Tell us about your chapter. Email hello@getkickstand.app your chapter name and number, your sponsoring dealer, and the email address you'll sign in with. Get your dealer's OK first; your chapter is part of the dealership. We create the chapter and make you its first admin.
2. Sign in at ride.getkickstand.app with that email (we send a code; there's no password) or Google. Then tap Continue setup on your Home screen. The setup guide asks one question at a time, finishes each step by itself when the work is done, and lets you stop and pick it up later.
3. Your chapter. Chapter name and number, your sponsoring dealer, and a pin on the map where rides start. Distances and the ride planner start at that pin.
4. How people join and who approves photos. Join right away with a code, or ask and wait for an officer. Any officer reviews photos, or only the people you assign.
5. Your board. Invite each officer by email. It's a one-time link that works only for that address.
6. Your first challenge. A title, start and end dates, and a bingo card size (or a plain list). Add stops: search for any place, or tap Browse suggestions to start from stops other chapters have ridden, nearest your dealer first and tagged (food, museum, mural, landmark). Add photo instructions so riders know how to get the shot.
7. Open it. The challenge opens and closes on its own dates. Photos arrive in your review queue with a GPS hint; approve in a tap.

Every challenge can have a public page to share on social media, at ride.getkickstand.app/s/…. If you only want the game and not a chapter website, that page and the app are all you need: nothing to set up on a domain.

2. Bring in your members

• Share your invite link or code (Chapter console, then Members) in your newsletter, your Facebook group, or at the next meeting. A QR code on a poster works well.
• Already have a member list? Import it as a CSV (H.O.G.'s chapter membership report, a HOG[SCAN] export, or a spreadsheet), see a preview, and invite everyone at once. Anyone who already has an account is asked before they're added. If you ran a past season in Word, load riders' cards so their stops are already there.
• Members add their H.O.G. ID so their stops count toward National records. Officers can fill it in too.
• Emergency contacts are optional, and only officers can look them up. Every lookup is logged.
• Everyone is automatically in H.O.G.'s national challenges and Dealer Visits. The ride planner points out national stops and dealers near each ride.

3. Thank your dealer and sponsors

Your sponsoring dealer and local sponsors can run ads in the app and get their own sponsor page with views and clicks. Dealers also see how often riders were pointed their way by the ride planner. Set them up under Sponsors, or ask us and we'll help.

4. Where your chapter lives online

Option A: use ours (works today)

Your challenge and its public page live at ride.getkickstand.app. Nothing to buy or set up. This is the easy choice if your chapter already has a website, or doesn't want one.

Option B: your own domain (with chapter websites, coming)

When chapter websites launch, you'll be able to put your site on a domain your chapter owns, like ride.yourchapter.org. You'll add one DNS record (a CNAME) where your domain is registered, and we take care of the security certificate.

One-click setup (Domain Connect). Some registrars let you approve the record with one click instead of typing it. Domain Connect is supported by Cloudflare, GoDaddy, IONOS, NameSilo, Vercel, WordPress.com and a few others (official list). We'll offer one-click setup for each registrar as it approves us; until then, the steps below take about five minutes.

Another registrar? Look for "DNS records" or "DNS management" and add the same CNAME. If you get stuck, email us a screenshot and we'll walk you through it.

5. Dues through Stripe (coming)

Dues will be paid by card or bank transfer straight into your chapter's own Stripe account. Kickstand takes nothing; Stripe's standard fees apply (2.9% + 30¢ per US card payment, or 0.8% capped at $5 for bank transfers; Stripe pricing).

Talk to your dealer first. H.O.G.'s Chapter Handbook says chapters are part of the sponsoring dealership, the dealer must be an owner on the chapter's bank account, a chapter keeps only one account, and dues can't be more than $36 a year. So before you open a Stripe account, agree with your dealer and your H.O.G. Manager on:

• whose name and tax ID (EIN) the Stripe account uses (likely the dealership's; H.O.G. chapters can't use Stripe's nonprofit option),
• that payouts go to the chapter's one bank account, and
• who at the chapter will manage it.

When dues launch, you'll connect that Stripe account from Chapter settings in a couple of minutes. Charity fundraising money should never go into the chapter account, and we'll keep it separate.

6. The rest of the platform

The ride challenge is where most chapters start. The events calendar is live: add rides and meetings, members RSVP, and anyone in the chapter can put it on their phone. You decide how members' names show on RSVP lists (full name, initials, or just a count), each rider can choose their own, and officers always see who answered. If your chapter website already has a calendar, paste its subscribe link in the calendar's settings and we'll copy it every hour. Photo galleries are live too: every event gets an album members add to. Next come newsletters to current members, a chapter website, and dues. See what's live and what's coming, or compare plans.

Set up your chapter Talk with us