So, I would like to bring up a helping solution/topic of discussion for ict, maybe you think it's crazy, maybe not, maybe it's not even a possibility.  I know nothing about generation of fan financial assistance, but can a fan base for a club offer support on a lump sum assisstance basis. Speaking out loud, how many fans would generate say a grand each into the kitty.

Why has this got a red dot FFS? I think a system like Mwell have which is a monthly payment scheme could work?

Hi caley girl, thank you for your positive response, much appreciated. I am very solution orientated, hence why I'm a teacher! Very useful, didn't know that existed. I would be prepared to inject a grand, but there would need to be a substantial number of others.  

Ps what does a red dot mean in a forum?

Edited May 23, 20179 yr by Elgin1

A nice idea in principle but I doubt very much whether more than a five figure sum would be raised in this way. Whilst we have a modest and very loyal fan base the wider Inverness community are hardly renowned for their enthusiasm for backing the club either financially or otherwise.

Money is useful but it's not the answer. The answer is having an able manager and a united board room, dressing room and fan base. We have shown before what we can do on the limited income we can generate when that combination comes together and, although things look grim right now, I am sure that we will do again.

Aghh thanks kingsmills for that response, much appreciated. Very good points and thank you for acknowledging my suggestion on this forum, really nice to see. 

There probably aren't a lot of fans with that sort of spare cash to throw at the club. Nice idea but I could never see it happening and it would only be a short term fix anyway i would think. As Kingsmills quite rightly says, money is not the answer. We need that stability at the club from top to bottom. No rookies - just experience 

Cancelled out the red dot with a green one.

Though a nice idea, I agree with Kingsmills on this. Even if 10% of the 2000 loyals could afford £1000 each, you're only talking £200k. That would go to the bottom line for ~6 months and we're be back where we are. If investment is coming, it needs to be several orders of magnitude above that in order to sort the infrastructure (e.g. new ground and training facilities, better engagement with the community) in order to attract on a weekly basis the latent additional support that turned up on Saturday. the matchday experience is not good even on days when the games themselves have been entertaining.

This is a dream and not reality, so in the meantime, we need to sort out the immediate problem, which is identifying a management and playing staff good enough to get us back in thee Premiership. That is also going to require backroom changes and a fresh approach to management of the business side of the club.

Hey Gringo bud, thanks for educating me and I take your point totally. I just thought from a purely naive point of view that it might be a helpful catalyst to get things going. 

Any scheme like this has to be based on fan ownership and percentage of shares, where the investment is just that money put in to buy shares and a stake in the club - not just donations on a charitable basis, but it has to be part of something sustainable. Afterall most of us pay either for season tickets or sums at the gate which given the matchday experience probably rarely equates to value for money so to fork out more just to prop up the club wont appeal.

2 minutes ago, bdu98196 said:

Any scheme like this has to be based on fan ownership and percentage of shares, where the investment is just that money put in to buy shares and a stake in the club - not just donations on a charitable basis, but it has to be part of something sustainable. Afterall most of us pay either for season tickets or sums at the gate which given the matchday experience probably rarely equates to value for money so to fork out more just to prop up the club wont appeal.

Agree. I think it would have to generate shares to work.

Yep bdu08196, sustainability and the long term plan is priority. An iniative to get the empty seats filled with eventually charging concessions with increased amounts each year could work. My gut feeling is that it just takes a new, creative way of promoting as am I right in thinking the Motherwell fan base Is not too different from ours. Can I ask you please, would it be a miracle for us to return to top floor get after a year and how can me mr foran say we could retain 10 out of 11 players on last day if go inance Is such an issue? 

 

Ps Do any caley fans here live Fochabers way for car share?

Edited May 23, 20179 yr by Elgin1

I believe an initiative similar to the Foundation of Hearts could only be a positive thing. Not that I am claiming to know all the ins and outs.

I do believe however, that it would be an issue asking fans to generate a lump sum, and believe that even a direct debit of £20 a month is not unrealistic. I acknowledge that fans do already contribute in the way of ST and so on and that the small match day attendances may perceive that getting 1000 fans to sign up could provide a stumbling block. But, I do feel there is a bigger following than matchday crowds indicate with many loyal fans living out with the area as well as having other commitments which impact this. 

As an example, 1000 fans giving £20 over a 12 month period = £240000 pa

Just a thought...

An extra £240 per year is a lot of money to many people, especially on top of season tickets or gate money. Not to mention travel costs etc.  I think the only way this idea would work is if those donating got something in return.  Shares in the club could be a possibility.

I do understand this completely.

In terms of wanting something in return, I do not really see the benefits of getting shares in return. Possibly a seat at the table with voting rights for a CJT type organisation?

I do believe a model like FOH would increase transparency between club and member fans, something that people on this forum have been bumping their gums at recently. 

Like I said earlier, I don't know the ins and out of fan investment models and what can and can't be achieved in the way of shares being issued.

1 hour ago, bwf91 said:

 

As an example, 1000 fans giving £20 over a 12 month period = £240000 pa

Just a thought...

The trouble is, that's nearly half our bedrock home support. I'm sure somebody else will confirm that FoH, though it's apparently successful, won't have anything like that level of penetration. 

Edit - I'm one of those who bought shares back in the early days when the club was an exciting place to be. It was only £250 but the great Inverness public didn't really take to it like a duck to water.

Edited May 23, 20179 yr by TheMantis

As Mantis suggest the shares thing has been done before. I know quite a few people who purchased £1000 worth of shares, as I did, in fact I bought the same for my wife and kids. That was in the early days when we were full of pride in our new club and got carried along on a wave of optimism. Move forward 20+ years and we have achieved more than I could ever have imagined but now is not the right time to ask fans to donate large sums.

Season tickets, that's the way forward at the moment in my opinion. Get out early and buy a couple of tickets and take a friend along each week. In that way you contribute much needed early season cash and perhaps encourage others to follow the club in years to come.

Elgin1 you clearly have more money than sense.  Lots of ways the club is already willing to take your grand.  Sponsor player, matches, hospitality, buy all the halftime draw ticks etc. IMO something has just not been quite right in terms of the club marketing / experience to make the best of this.  I'd be more inclined to sign up to something like you suggest if it was financing support services at club. Or here's a novel idea why not just cut the playing side wage bill to align with normal jobs and save us all some money. (Really not keen on putting my handing my pocket to pay off failure at the moment.).

If you want to inject money into the club buy a season ticket and a strip.  You can't have the situation where fans 'give' money to their clubs, they need to be a going concern, to be sustainable. 

Yep, all very interesting slants on the thread. Ownership, stakeholders is a huge issue across the board in working life. With fans having shares, surely it can only stimulate interest and pride for both parties. Being a teacher, going back to grass roots could be beneficial. I teach in a secondary school of nearly 1000 in Elgin, Inverness must have about three or four secondaries, add all the feeder primaries, wow that's a whopper of a lot of future, loyal cash injecting fans! I think you got to hook those 14/15 year old bracket and concentrate the passion. Is the creator of this amazing forum on any ict groups at the club?

Edited May 23, 20179 yr by Elgin1

I would like to see them sell more of those seats for life, a brick with your name, or do online raffles over Facebook for signed merch or something.

Some still available. Never done that well Im told 

Are the prices out yet for season tickets? Can't see it on the official site but I never visit there so not familiar with it. I haven't had a ST for years as I wouldn't use it much but certainly thinking about it next season.

How much do we presently reach out to schools? Maybe we already do this but seems to me that next season in the championship we just saturate the schools with tickets and try and build a support  for the future and try and stop the kids moving over to County. 

17 minutes ago, TheMantis said:

Are the prices out yet for season tickets? Can't see it on the official site but I never visit there so not familiar with it. I haven't had a ST for years as I wouldn't use it much but certainly thinking about it next season.

How much do we presently reach out to schools? Maybe we already do this but seems to me that next season in the championship we just saturate the schools with tickets and try and build a support  for the future and try and stop the kids moving over to County. 

School get free tickets. A lot were distributed for last Sat for instance. 

25 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

School get free tickets. A lot were distributed for last Sat for instance. 

Yeah I'm not sure how much schools do, I do know we grt lots of free tickets for international rugby matches but never heard for football. Guess even if free, the money for merchandise will follow. I could easily get 50 kids from my classes to go to a game. Why doesn't caley have an electronic score board? Additional revenue through pulse advertising I've seen, read can be quite lucrative. Nobody from Fochabers way? Free tickets throughout year would be better, like late rooms, why have empties making no money. I'm not a season ticket holder, but after pay for ten games, free entry for a mate? Think website needs a huge overhaul. Are fans on a group at the club for relaying ideas?

Edited May 23, 20179 yr by Elgin1

I wouldn't trust fans donating £200k to the club given the state of decline and management.

If I did donate it would be good to address:

An ineffective youth system

Relying on journeyman footballers 

The puddle in the pie queue

The embarrassing portakabin shop 

The embarrassing scaffold towers

A review of hospitality

More pleasant shop staff

Better parking

Community facilities to generate revenue, such as a pay to play Astro, indoor recreational area, restaurant or accommodation 

Better transport links to the stadium 

Paint for the orange stadium stanchions 

Automated turnstiles to save on staff costs and make entry easier

Better pre match entertainment

If we knew exactly what we were getting in something tangible then it would probably help greatly. 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, rebelwithoutaclue said:

Elgin1 you clearly have more money than sense.  Lots of ways the club is already willing to take your grand.  Sponsor player, matches, hospitality, buy all the halftime draw ticks etc. IMO something has just not been quite right in terms of the club marketing / experience to make the best of this.  I'd be more inclined to sign up to something like you suggest if it was financing support services at club. Or here's a novel idea why not just cut the playing side wage bill to align with normal jobs and save us all some money. (Really not keen on putting my handing my pocket to pay off failure at the moment.).

Lol, yes my wife would definately agree with you on the sense bit! I see a working philosophy everyday in my job which is humbling and satisfying. Make pupils feel important, hard wire into the parental community and make people feel included and important and results/change follow. This is a whole new generation coming through, but the fan voice at some level needs to echo to the  ears of those higher up at ict. Does anybody know what percentage of total funds for the club is generated through the fan base? Sorry for my ignorance. Also, with a multitude of posh car garages just next door in the long man, I can't remember seeing any of them advertising?

Edited May 23, 20179 yr by Elgin1