Times are hard!

[Fatty eats roadkill]

Haway everyone, just seem Lord Martin leaving reemas with a carry out in a 59 plate beemer. Let's get fundraising!

[princes town]

Moving away from this slightly, there have been some messages about fundraising given the loss if cash flow since October 2015. I'm not really sure what this entails as I thought things like this had been exhausted with the 5 year season ticket exercise. I'd be more content if there was a review of the operational costs to see if there was any efficiencies there as it nigh on difficult to produce a contingency fund at the current budgeting levels.

[lo36789]

We already know that we have £50k shortfall for this season to find + £50k of fundraising from 500 club to replenish.

The £50k shortfall is because of higher costs than revenues expected due to being in Bishop than we would get in Darlo. The £50k to replenish is the fifth of the 500 club money we had to bring forward as well.

We have the cash in the bank but clearly we are spending it without adding to the balance at the moment due to the postponements.

That said I still agree with spending review as our current shortfall (100k) is probably the total annual spend of other clubs in this league.

Nobody can cry shock about a fundraising appeal. It was warned about at the last 2 fans forums.

[micra3]

Got to be a squeeze on cash flow with little income and little chance of any home games anytime soon.
Any suggestions on what we can do ?

[Jeff Jones]

Stop moaning, start saving. It has been said that we can contribute in January. Let's just do that.

[meadowlark]

I hope the club don't set the minimum contribution too high for the average fan. Small contributions from many fans are as important as larger contributions from a few more affluent fans.

[darlo reborn]

I`m sure if everyone who normally goes to the games gave the admission fee i.e £10 then that would keep us going till next home game

[norwich darlo]

I`m sure if everyone who normally goes to the games gave the admission fee i.e £10 then that would keep us going till next home game

The Darlo Christmas raffel allowed exiles to participate can we not set up the same banking arrangements to allow all to donate to the cause.

[princes town]

I`m sure if everyone who normally goes to the games gave the admission fee i.e £10 then that would keep us going till next home game

The Darlo Christmas raffel allowed exiles to participate can we not set up the same banking arrangements to allow all to donate to the cause.

I think the "friends of hearts" scheme is one type of template that might have legs for those with monies to spare. Martin Jesper should have a handle on things like this. I'd have no problem with a scheme like this provided there is a a structure for auditing costs.

[shawry]

We already know that we have £50k shortfall for this season to find + £50k of fundraising from 500 club to replenish.

The £50k shortfall is because of higher costs than revenues expected due to being in Bishop than we would get in Darlo. The £50k to replenish is the fifth of the 500 club money we had to bring forward as well.

We have the cash in the bank but clearly we are spending it without adding to the balance at the moment due to the postponements.

That said I still agree with spending review as our current shortfall (100k) is probably the total annual spend of other clubs in this league.

Nobody can cry shock about a fundraising appeal. It was warned about at the last 2 fans forums.

Ok, I understand we have a shortfall of 50k due to the delay in getting back to Darlo, but I thought that is why we took 50k from the 500 club money.

When we had owners we kept saying we understand why they wouldn't keep pumping their own money into it and we should be self sufficient, why haven't we learnt the lessons of the past and continue to rely on fundraising to survive? Fundraising should be for growth, not survival and it worries me that we are stuck in a cycle of overspending to achieve.

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[lo36789]

Not really sure but that is what was reported. Martin Jesper is with Hearts now princes town.

[Maurice_Peddelty]

We already know that we have £50k shortfall for this season to find + £50k of fundraising from 500 club to replenish.

The £50k shortfall is because of higher costs than revenues expected due to being in Bishop than we would get in Darlo. The £50k to replenish is the fifth of the 500 club money we had to bring forward as well.

We have the cash in the bank but clearly we are spending it without adding to the balance at the moment due to the postponements.

That said I still agree with spending review as our current shortfall (100k) is probably the total annual spend of other clubs in this league.

Nobody can cry shock about a fundraising appeal. It was warned about at the last 2 fans forums.

Ok, I understand we have a shortfall of 50k due to the delay in getting back to Darlo, but I thought that is why we took 50k from the 500 club money.

When we had owners we kept saying we understand why they wouldn't keep pumping their own money into it and we should be self sufficient, why haven't we learnt the lessons of the past and continue to rely on fundraising to survive? Fundraising should be for growth, not survival and it worries me that we are stuck in a cycle of overspending to achieve.

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There are several elements to this.

It would be worth you looking up some of Robbie Painters posts regarding his summary of Martin Jesper’s financial report that was sent out to every shareholder because Robbie probably explained it better than I can. But here goes, Martin (and Robbie) explained that on the current budget the club had reported an operating loss on each of the past 3 years but overall the books were balanced by a combination of bespoke fundraising efforts and windfalls (eg Dan Burn money). At the end of last season the playing budget was maintained for a 4th year in anticipation that we would be back in Darlington at the start of this and increased revenues (gate receipts and other commercial income) were anticipated to balance the operating costs. However, as a result of having to spend a 4th year at Heritage Park these increased revenues have not materialised resulting in a need to raise £50k to balance the operating costs.

As you pointed out, the other £50k is needed to replenish the 20% that had been necessary for the Football Club to take from the escrow account due to ‘lost’ season ticket revenue this season.

All of the above was explained to shareholders by Martin Jesper at the AGM and repeated shortly after at the fans forum by Dave Mills. The point was also made by Martin and Dave that commercial revenue has been extremely hard to come by this season. I also seem to recall that either Martin or Dave had said that businesses have indicated that they would be willing to support the football club but only when the club is back in Darlington.

So since November it has been general knowledge that there will be a need to raise approximately £100k at some point this season. The level of pain could have been alleviated to some degree had we made reasonable progress in the FA Cup and FA Trophy but that wasn’t to be. As Dave Mills explained in his recent statement on the official site, the timing of the fund raising will now have to be brought forward because the Football Club has had no gate revenue since the end of October because of the postponements.

[Robbie Painter]

We already know that we have £50k shortfall for this season to find + £50k of fundraising from 500 club to replenish.

The £50k shortfall is because of higher costs than revenues expected due to being in Bishop than we would get in Darlo. The £50k to replenish is the fifth of the 500 club money we had to bring forward as well.

We have the cash in the bank but clearly we are spending it without adding to the balance at the moment due to the postponements.

That said I still agree with spending review as our current shortfall (100k) is probably the total annual spend of other clubs in this league.

Nobody can cry shock about a fundraising appeal. It was warned about at the last 2 fans forums.

Ok, I understand we have a shortfall of 50k due to the delay in getting back to Darlo, but I thought that is why we took 50k from the 500 club money.

When we had owners we kept saying we understand why they wouldn't keep pumping their own money into it and we should be self sufficient, why haven't we learnt the lessons of the past and continue to rely on fundraising to survive? Fundraising should be for growth, not survival and it worries me that we are stuck in a cycle of overspending to achieve.

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I completely agree shawry - this season is a bit of a special case though as there wouldn't have been a budget shortfall of we'd moved back to Darlo as scheduled.

What we clearly shouldn't have been doing, with hindsight, is overspending in our previous 3 seasons. We could have been more prudent, cleared the debt and had some surplus funds in the bank for a run of bad weather out to put toward capital spending. Might have meant missing out on one promotion though.

Also I think it's totally wrong that we've spent money on transfer fees whilst raising money from fans.

Not sure how much appetite there is for more fund raising from fans in January, I certainly won't be stumping up what I have previously.

[JE93]

Think it depends on the fund raising methods. I'm hoping there may be a further share issue down the line as I would love the chance to become a full shareholder in the club. I'll put money into other schemes also but I think like robbie says there will have to be lots of positive spin to ensure there is a real appetite from the fans to fund this move back to darlo.

[robsraiders]

People will pay what they can afford, but remember if you want a club and get us back into town it will be fans that will have to pay for this, for now and the foreseeable future.
If 400 new people joined the DFCSG at £25 we would immediately raise £10,000 which would be donated back to the club and increase our share holding, I just don't really understand how we have only circa 400 members, its your club so please be part of it.

[TS3]

It's two quid a month by direct debit

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[Spyman]

People will pay what they can afford, but remember if you want a club and get us back into town it will be fans that will have to pay for this, for now and the foreseeable future.
If 400 new people joined the DFCSG at £25 we would immediately raise £10,000 which would be donated back to the club and increase our share holding, I just don't really understand how we have only circa 400 members, its your club so please be part of it.

Yep, simple things like this must be affordable to most - including exiles we must have a hardcore of well over 1,000 who still follow as and when they can. Amazing that probably less than a third have joined the supporters group.

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[QuakerPete]

A simple way of donating would be a monthly standing order paid via DFCSG and would be effective if enough took it up. Agree with others above, employee costs have to be looked at if we're to survive and operate properly - I would hope that all employees would see the sense in that

[Mr_Tibbs]

People will pay what they can afford, but remember if you want a club and get us back into town it will be fans that will have to pay for this, for now and the foreseeable future.
If 400 new people joined the DFCSG at £25 we would immediately raise £10,000 which would be donated back to the club and increase our share holding, I just don't really understand how we have only circa 400 members, its your club so please be part of it.

You can join the DFCSG here...

http://www.darlingtonfcsupportersgroup.org/join

[jonn]

One obvious way of raising money would be to invite all those of us who have already paid for five years' season tickets to extend that period for a further year - ie, pay another year's worth now. We've made the big pay-out (not easy, but we survived), stumping up a much smaller one now must be possible. I'll do it.
Just out of interest, has anyone looked at Blackwell Meadows during these last few days of torrential rain? I'd hate to think we might move there only to face the same problems we're experiencing now with Heritage Park.

[poppyfield]

One obvious way of raising money would be to invite all those of us who have already paid for five years' season tickets to extend that period for a further year - ie, pay another year's worth now. We've made the big pay-out (not easy, but we survived), stumping up a much smaller one now must be possible. I'll do it.
Just out of interest, has anyone looked at Blackwell Meadows during these last few days of torrential rain? I'd hate to think we might move there only to face the same problems we're experiencing now with Heritage Park.

The point about the pitch is a good one, its absolutely crucial that the pitch has the best drainage system we can afford, HP looks fantastic at the start of the season but then becomes unusable after a few downpours, when we get to BM that's were the money has to be spent.
On the monies for the club we are fan owned so along with our sponcers we have to put in.

[D_F_C]

Ask the players/staff to take a 5-10% pay cut. All in this together

[D_F_C]

People will pay what they can afford, but remember if you want a club and get us back into town it will be fans that will have to pay for this, for now and the foreseeable future.
If 400 new people joined the DFCSG at £25 we would immediately raise £10,000 which would be donated back to the club and increase our share holding, I just don't really understand how we have only circa 400 members, its your club so please be part of it.

I've never really looked into this. Besides the potential fee going to the club, what do you get from membership?

[lo36789]

Good question - which was actually asked at the recent christmas draw.

http://darlingtonfootballclub.co.uk/chr ... draw-live/

Q What are the benefits of being a member of DFCSG?

A The main benefit is that members are part owners of their football club. It’s a great feeling to know that we are no longer at the mercy of egotistical owner/chairmen that have ulterior motives as to why they want to own a football club.

Every member can have a say on how we want to shape our club.

In practical terms, Full Members are able to vote at the DFCSG AGM to decide who should be on the DFCSG Board. Members also have the opportunity to decide how representatives of DFCSG will vote on matters at the Football Club’s AGM, and as the DFCSG is the Football Club’s major shareholder, this really counts.

There are fringe benefits for Full Members in that they have priority over non-members to purchase tickets for all-ticket matches, which could be a real benefit if we end the season in a play-off place.

[Beano]

Ask the players/staff to take a 5-10% pay cut. All in this together

A laughable suggestion for many, many reasons.

[darlostu]

With the benefits of Supporters Group Membership already listed, it would be great if we could gain some new members. The current total is 418, and with an average gate of around 1100, there are 6 - 700 home fans who have yet to join. As Rob said above, 400 of those at £25 per head will raise £10,000.
If you are interested, please contact me on membership@darlingtonfc.org

[princes town]

Just out of interest, has anyone looked at Blackwell Meadows during these last few days of torrential rain? I'd hate to think we might move there only to face the same problems we're experiencing now with Heritage Park.

A few of us were asking the same question last night.

[QuakerPete]

Ask the players/staff to take a 5-10% pay cut. All in this together

A laughable suggestion for many, many reasons.

Would be interested to hear those reasons

[theoriginalfatcat]

Haway everyone, just seem Lord Martin leaving reemas with a carry out in a 59 plate beemer. Let's get fundraising!

Who is "Lord Martin"?
What is "reemas"?
How old is a "59 plate beemer"?
Why shouldn't "Lord Martin" have a "59 plate beemer"?
Why is any of this relevant to fundraising?

Fatty ..................

[Spyman]

Ask the players/staff to take a 5-10% pay cut. All in this together

A laughable suggestion for many, many reasons.

Would be interested to hear those reasons

Ultimately these players/staff are employed by us (the club) to provide us with entertainment, for our own enjoyment.

I don't see why they should be asked to provide us with that entertainment at less than their market value. If we want cheaper entertainment, we should expect a lower standard of entertainment.

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