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Foundation/Fan Funding


sheepslagger

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2 hours ago, RiG said:

If I mind right MacGregor has written off something like £2 million of soft loans for Ross County in the last two seasons.

"The Ross County Way".

They are very fortunate to have someone who really cares for his club but unfortunately we don't and will probably never have someone with the same deep pockets.

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The club was born from fans of either side, over time some others have come along. However the number has stagnated. There will be young fans who are pure ICT without following another other club and now hopefully they will reproduce to bring the next generation along. We can't rely on solely sperm and eggs in this situation. The club needs to batter the city with propaganda. Get the social media right, be in people's faces every day, I am in Kirkcaldy and have pals who are Raith fans and they are constantly sharing stuff from the club. I know more about what's happening at Starks park than my own team. Batter the schools and local football clubs with offers of tickets and players. Players should be out and about constantly at assemblies and gym sessions. Connect the club with the city and there will be a change. We can't just wait for fans to arrive. We need to connect with the city first. It won't require lots of money. Seats are empty, social media is a low cost way of advertising and players have plenty down time over the week. Time for excuses about merger and the city not being behind us are done. Let's get it done. Awooga

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On 2/27/2019 at 1:23 PM, MorayJaggie said:

I have to admit having lived in Aberdeen and now Angus for past two years this is similar to the aberDNA idea Aberdeen fc introduced at the start of this season. Over 11000 AFC fans signed up to a 2 year commitment and got certain benefits like season ticket discount, merchandise discount entered into a draw for hospitality chance for juniors to win a mascot package discounts to cup games and they were given different levels they could donate monthly from £10 to I believe £50 a month those on the higher donations were also given a free home shirt. 

 

Yes we are smaller, we are not going to get the 100,000 + quid this generates for Aberdeen but it has been ring fenced for the Aberdeen playing budget. If you could ask the fans what they would like the money to be contributing towards, what they would like to get back from the scheme and what level of contributions could be made, then devise a plan and present that to the fan base, hopefully It would invigorate many among the not only regular attendees but folk like myself who live large distances way to help contribute regularly towards the success of the club in the future?

So do you think that a similar idea to the aberDNA would appeal ?  Im trying to find the best way to put it forward and it would be good to try and copy the best bits of other clubs initiatives to make our as good as we can get. Attractive for our fans.  Agree that the funds should be ring fenced for what they are being put in for, be that the Youth system or directly to the players budget.  I m sure the Players budget would be the more appealing as the results of the donations would be almost immediately evident.  Hopefully !  

If anyone has knowledge of other clubs foundations etc please let me know your thoughts on them. Hit or miss.

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42 minutes ago, sheepslagger said:

So do you think that a similar idea to the aberDNA would appeal ?  Im trying to find the best way to put it forward and it would be good to try and copy the best bits of other clubs initiatives to make our as good as we can get. Attractive for our fans.  Agree that the funds should be ring fenced for what they are being put in for, be that the Youth system or directly to the players budget.  I m sure the Players budget would be the more appealing as the results of the donations would be almost immediately evident.  Hopefully !  

If anyone has knowledge of other clubs foundations etc please let me know your thoughts on them. Hit or miss.

All I know is that it was advertised well by the club on busses radio newspaper social media taxis etc and as a result had an amazing response they did it in the closed season to tempt folk to sign up before season tickets were on sale to allow them that discount.

I believe if you gave folk donating via this similar or the same privileges as season ticket holders then it will allow those not able to commit to a season ticket more chance to engage with the club and feel part of the family that is ICTFC. Also having different levels of contributions with benefits to fit that level again will hopefully entice some to contribute towards it but I suppose it needs to be open and understood firstly what the money will be used for and those contributing to be asked prior where they want the funds to go.

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2 hours ago, sheepslagger said:

So do you think that a similar idea to the aberDNA would appeal ?  Im trying to find the best way to put it forward and it would be good to try and copy the best bits of other clubs initiatives to make our as good as we can get. Attractive for our fans.  Agree that the funds should be ring fenced for what they are being put in for, be that the Youth system or directly to the players budget.  I m sure the Players budget would be the more appealing as the results of the donations would be almost immediately evident.  Hopefully !   

If anyone has knowledge of other clubs foundations etc please let me know your thoughts on them. Hit or miss.

I have always liked the idea of the killie trust.  https://killietrust.killiefc.com/

Its been very sucessful in raising much meeded funds for the club while geting a fans representative on their board.

 

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Hearts and Aberdeen have both relied on waking up a large sleeping support who had become disillusioned.

Hearts foundation are not funding the team or youth...they are paying back Ann Budge and will ultimately have majority ownership in return.  The club itself is currently running within it's means without that funding going to it.

Aberdeen have the carrot of a new stadium/facilities to get people interested and involved.

Motherwell and St Mirren situations are more on a parallel with ours...but both plans to move towards fan funding involve fan ownership.

All if the above 4 scenarios have relied upon an element of cash up front and/or assistance from a wealthy benefactor to become a reality before any additional fan funding is/will kick in.

Setting aside my own personal views (which you are aware of), I don't think there's any route towards the kind of community funding you're talking about without a move towards fan ownership...and I don't mean the half baked community ownership model that the Chairman talked about at the last AGM which seemed little more than an attempt to cap everyone elses voting right, whilst maintaining their own.

Perhaps Muirfield Mills could make a gesture of goodwill, and demonstrate their involvment is not about ego and power, by passing back the 700,000+ shares they got control of for £1 (and which were previously tied up with the stadium ownership) to the club.  I think that could/would prove every bit as vital to securing future investment as Tullochs gifting back the stadium itself.

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Id be keen on putting some cash in on the premise;

I can get it back within say 2 years of requesting it

There is a small incentive to me to invest

I don't care about fans having a say on the board if I can get my money back.  This is to keep it simple and trust those in charge.  If I don't like what I see being done with my money, I can pull it.  The business idea is that ICT generate relative surplus income from fans investment i.e. finish one place higher in the league than had the money not been available.  

Money is money is money so a donation is something I think a lot of people wouldn't do in Inverness.  My donation is attending games.  Like someone above said, ICT is a business at the end of the day not a charity.  

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  • 6 months later...

Request urgently that the fan base make a (substantial) donation to the club with a specified minimum amount and a specified minimum number of donators. Then also quote the total target sum required which, if not reached, can trigger a return of all monies donated and received to that date. WITH INTEREST.

Why? Because as soon as the target is reached they can work out a deal with an insurance company with terms that  the company will refund all requested returns of money donated to the club  to each applicant, if the club cannot pay them back, if requested to do so  within a specified number of years.--say 2-3 years.  The premium might be fairly high but if it  was sufficient to cover the returns then it would probably be worth the club's taking on the responsibility of returning the individual donation as and when requested AFTER  the specified number of years has been reached. By then the donator may not need or want a return of their donation so …. that's just human nature, especially if they have not missed the money going out of their pocket anyway.

Sounds corny? Then firstly ask the club to consult with an insurance company before putting the final touches on the deal to show the fans that they mean business as an alternative to going bust. Then, if all requested returns are repaid as agreed upon within the specific 2-3 year timeframe,  the club are left with the remainder of the donations in hand and at that point they are no longer under any obligation to return any of them.

Everybody benefits:- The loving Fan base gets an emotional charge from helping ICT over an emergency situation. The club works hard to make changes for the better and sets up a joint once per month club and fan discussion event and works hard on encouraging the youngsters to take an active interest in the club  with the club working hard itself to make direct contact with the local schools on ventures that can hardly be turned down because they make common sense .

Or they can fail...…?

 

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6 hours ago, Scarlet Pimple said:

Request urgently that the fan base make a (substantial) donation to the club with a specified minimum amount

Not really a fan of that. Get them to donate what they can, not a "Donate this or don't even bother" kind of donation. Having it set up like that makes the less wealthy fans feel terrible cos their club is in dire financial need, but they can't spare enough to donate.

Just have it set up that all donations are completely welcome, and after reading further on, it appears to be almost entirely localised based, setting up a GoFundMe, would allow not only our fans, but football fans around the world to chip in in an attempt to keep us afloat...it would not only potentially give us more exposure to potential investors, but the football community would likely band together to do what they can.

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I can't see any (responsible) insurance company wanting to go near that.  Or the premium would be so high that they would effectively be saying to ICT "For 2-3 years we will take care of that money that you have raised".

I reckon that an extra 1,000 fans through the gates would bring in maybe £400,000 per season, based on the current price of a season ticket plus profits on whatever else they buy during a season.  That's about half the current annual loss.  So while it would make the loss more manageable, it's still not the answer, and wouldn't be sustainable in the long term.

Yes we need more fans, but that can only be a long-term project achieved by improving our place in the community.  We clearly need to look at expenses and running costs, and make cuts as necessary.  And a good fairy with oodles of cash would be welcome too, but must not be relied upon for the long term.

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