Community share pledge

Emdubya · **Posted:** Sun Apr 23, 2017 9:20 am

Why is this not plastered over everything Darlo?.I only found it by following a link on another thread.Can we not get a dedicated link on here and also get it on the Darlo FC home page.
At the moment there are only six of us to pledge with less than three weeks to go.Come on people,let's get going with it.Dont forget,if the investors do materialise and chuck a load of money at us you could cancel your pledge,but as it stands at the moment it's down to us.

al_quaker · **Posted:** Sun Apr 23, 2017 9:33 am

MG basically torpedoed the fundraising with his speech at the fans forum. I agree it should be pushed more - I only know where it is because I've still got the webpage link on my computer. You do make a good point about how the pledge could be cancelled if we do get money put in. However, I can't see it being successful while people are waiting to see how this unfolds.

For this reason, MG's investors need to come forward with their plan ASAP. Preferably this week, but no later than the week following the Salford game. If they are football people who know about our club and the way we raise funds, they would surely know that dragging this out all summer will damage our club.

Mr_Tibbs · **Posted:** Sun Apr 23, 2017 1:03 pm

We simply don't know what might be being discussed behind the scenes but there's a lot more to it than simply letting investors in - our ownership model is what it is, and legislation dictates what we can and can't do with what we own (being for the benefit of the community), so there would need to be a whole new model thunk up... I guess.

I don't know if that's even possible or what the implications of it would be regarding existing community shareholdings. It'd be a pretty complex thing to work out, I imagine, and whatever happens there would also need to be a vote carried out amongst DFCSG members - all very time consuming.

In the meantime we need to go flat out to meet the first stage of this pitch so we can do the drainage and resurfacing works.

MG's comments clearly pulled the rug from under the launch of this fundraising effort to a certain extent and resulting discussions are no doubt taking place behind the scenes as they are on here, but we've still got to meet that first target.

Good to see a few more pledges going through today. We're 14% of the way to the amount required to carry out those essential works, with 21 days to go.

The link for anyone who doesn't know it is:

https://fundraising.darlingtonfcsupportersgroup.org/

darlo reborn · **Posted:** Sun Apr 23, 2017 4:18 pm

Thought we already had the money for the pitch last year but decided it was too late to do it ?

loan_star · **Posted:** Sun Apr 23, 2017 4:44 pm

darlo reborn wrote:

Thought we already had the money for the pitch last year but decided it was too late to do it ?

Obviously not, must have been spent elsewhere on more pressing matters.

44 years · **Posted:** Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:39 pm

It feels strange to me that people are saying they are waiting before investing in the community share scheme until they know the investors etc. especially as it is a loan rather than a gift. I believe that whoever the investors are they cant be in it for our assets as we have few (and we have debts and yearly commitments with paying the landlord) and also doubt they have millions to invest so this will need to be a co-operation between the investors (if they actually come on board) and us as fans to drive the club forward and make the experience for current and future fans exceptional. I have just put in my investment (plus an amount for the budget). Please lets not go back to expecting others to provide funds as the experience of the past (feethams and the arena) means we as a fans group will become less involved and not as united and the therefore more likely that we go belly up. Its been a great 5 years - the best continuous period I have known since following the mighty Quakers and long may it continue.

Yarblockos · **Posted:** Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:50 pm

44 years wrote:

It feels strange to me that people are saying they are waiting before investing in the community share scheme until they know the investors etc. especially as it is a loan rather than a gift. I believe that whoever the investors are they cant be in it for our assets as we have few (and we have debts and yearly commitments with paying the landlord) and also doubt they have millions to invest so this will need to be a co-operation between the investors (if they actually come on board) and us as fans to drive the club forward and make the experience for current and future fans exceptional. I have just put in my investment (plus an amount for the budget). Please lets not go back to expecting others to provide funds as the experience of the past (feethams and the arena) means we as a fans group will become less involved and not as united and the therefore more likely that we go belly up. Its been a great 5 years - the best continuous period I have known since following the mighty Quakers and long may it continue.

Well, changing the ownership of the club would change the tax relief status of investments. This might put of larger investors. The DFCSG needs to own around 90% of the club I think.

super_les_mcjannet · **Posted:** Sun Apr 23, 2017 7:00 pm

44 years wrote:

It feels strange to me that people are saying they are waiting before investing in the community share scheme until they know the investors etc. especially as it is a loan rather than a gift. I believe that whoever the investors are they cant be in it for our assets as we have few (and we have debts and yearly commitments with paying the landlord) and also doubt they have millions to invest so this will need to be a co-operation between the investors (if they actually come on board) and us as fans to drive the club forward and make the experience for current and future fans exceptional. I have just put in my investment (plus an amount for the budget). Please lets not go back to expecting others to provide funds as the experience of the past (feethams and the arena) means we as a fans group will become less involved and not as united and the therefore more likely that we go belly up. Its been a great 5 years - the best continuous period I have known since following the mighty Quakers and long may it continue.

Personally I have other things I can spend my money on, I seen it as a sacrifice I could live with as we were fan owned. However I think MG said that investors would want more than the 15% ownership allowed and more than 51% to give them the balance of power.

If I was putting in a substantial amount then I would probably want the same so I don't blame them for that but if someone else other than the fans is the main owner who I now can't vote out at an AGM then, I would rather spend my money on something else.

I have seen this view with a few others and this is where MG announcement has now put us, some will put in which in theory is a loan and can be taken back between 5-20 years but it's not for me.

Quakerz · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 8:24 am

Come on people, lets get investing.

Regardless of whether an investor is waiting in the wings or not, if such an investor does come in you can bet it will be in a longer time frame than expected because of the club constitution, red tape etc.

This means that it's still on US to get the ground to the next level, and to boost the budget.

By achieving all of the aims during the course of the season it means that a) we can say that, yet again, we've done it all by ourselves, and b) it means that we're not in a funding shortfall situation this season whereby we become desperate for outside investment - and desperation can lead to rushed and bad decisions.

This is still on US.

I've put some money into the boost a budget - at the end of the day just £10 a month - £20 a month is £120 - £240 per annum, and soon adds up to thousands if plenty of people just put a tenner a month in.

The figures currently are £9,650 on the community share issue, which is 22%, and £1,304 on the boost a budget which is roughly 1.5%

Can we get this stickied?

poppyfield · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 11:15 am

Emdubya wrote:

Why is this not plastered over everything Darlo?.I only found it by following a link on another thread.Can we not get a dedicated link on here and also get it on the Darlo FC home page.
At the moment there are only six of us to pledge with less than three weeks to go.Come on people,let's get going with it.Dont forget,if the investors do materialise and chuck a load of money at us you could cancel your pledge,but as it stands at the moment it's down to us.

I have emailed the DFCSG, Wayne has replied and is just in the process of up dating the official DFC site.

al_quaker · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 1:05 pm

25% of the way there

Quakerz · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 1:07 pm

Also, the boost the budget has more than doubled from £1,304 to £2,704 in a matter of hours.

Mr_Tibbs · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 1:33 pm

Full details are now on the DFCSG site:

http://dfcsg.co.uk/

There's a permanent link at the top of that page to the fundraising platform.

bga · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 2:26 pm

Just received an email from DFCSG regards this very interesting last paragraph which reads.
"Regarding the external investors mentioned at the fans forum we were not made aware of this development in advance and are currently in the process of gathering facts . A further update will follow shortly."

super_les_mcjannet · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 2:29 pm

bga wrote:

Just received an email from DFCSG regards this very interesting last paragraph which reads.
"Regarding the external investors mentioned at the fans forum we were not made aware of this development in advance and are currently in the process of gathering facts . A further update will follow shortly."

Yep Gray chatted offline and announced to all the fans without speaking to those who represented the owners, I think a lot of this stemmed from him being pissed off about the seat situation but was poor on his behalf.

bga · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 2:39 pm

We are all in limbo I feel at present, so is positive that a further statement will be issued.

darlo reborn · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 3:38 pm

Just received my email today and have donated

poppyfield · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 3:43 pm

55% now

Quakerz · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 3:52 pm

The "investors" have just whacked 10 grand in, nice one.

Mr_Tibbs · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 7:12 pm

Quakerz wrote:

The "investors" have just whacked 10 grand in, nice one.

Not sure it's plural...

http://dfcsg.co.uk/?x=entry:entry170424-172623

poppyfield · **Posted:** Mon Apr 24, 2017 9:19 pm

62% now

al_quaker · **Posted:** Tue Apr 25, 2017 11:37 am

Someone's just put £4000 in the boost the budget pitch [emoji1303]

Quakerz · **Posted:** Tue Apr 25, 2017 11:40 am

And at the very same time, the pitch pledge has gone up by 1 more investor and a straight £1,000.

Same person maybe, splitting 5k between the 2?

al_quaker · **Posted:** Tue Apr 25, 2017 2:33 pm

30k in the pitch pledge now. Fantastic support, particularly as I know some people are holding off because of the potential investment.

al_quaker · **Posted:** Wed Apr 26, 2017 4:36 pm

Less than 10k to go :clap:

Hopefully with pay day approaching we can smash this ASAP, crack on with the stand fundraising, and increase the boost the budget contribution too.

I fully understand why some may be holding off, but the DFCSG initiatives are the only way we can guarantee at this stage a competitive side fighting for promotion next season.

en passant · **Posted:** Thu Apr 27, 2017 2:36 pm

The DFCSG website has two pitches running - one for bringing the pitch up to a good standard and the other for the additional seating. Having read the details of both funds I've understood that the first requires £43,000 and the second £150,000, split into 3 parts of £50,000 each with date targets set for each stage. So why does the first pitch on the DFCSG website set the first target at £42,000 and the second as £80,000. Can someone explain the difference in the figures?

lo36789 · **Posted:** Thu Apr 27, 2017 2:41 pm

en passant wrote:

So why does the first pitch on the DFCSG website set the first target at £42,000 and the second as £80,000. Can someone explain the difference in the figures?

The first pitch is the pitch for the pitch. The second is the boost the budget.

the first of the three separate £50k pitches won't come until the pitch pitch is closed.

Mr_Tibbs · **Posted:** Thu Apr 27, 2017 3:03 pm

en passant wrote:

The DFCSG website has two pitches running - one for bringing the pitch up to a good standard and the other for the additional seating. Having read the details of both funds I've understood that the first requires £43,000 and the second £150,000, split into 3 parts of £50,000 each with date targets set for each stage. So why does the first pitch on the DFCSG website set the first target at £42,000 and the second as £80,000. Can someone explain the difference in the figures?

They are two separate things.

One is for people to raise £80k to boost the playing budget. The other is the Community Share Offer to raise funds to upgrade Blackwell Meadows to the required level to allow us to take part in the play-offs next season.

There's a prospectus you can download from this pitch explaining the financial aspects of the share offer in detail.

The Community Share Offer is split into 4 stages, the first of which is the most urgent and will raise funds to match an FSIF grant to do the drainage and pitch resurfacing works. The other stages are to provide the additional seating we require.

Anyone can put money in the "Boost the Budget" pitch, and you can pay a lump sum, or a monthly or weekly amount for 12 months.

For the Community Share Offer you need to be a member of (or be prepared to join) the DFC Supporters Group. Currently that costs £13 to cover membership until the end of the current membership year (31st August 2017) but, from the 1st May, it will revert to the regular price of £25 (including a £5 joining fee) but this will cover membership for a further 12 months (to 31st August 2018). Anyone joining in the next few days for £13 (membership fee is waived, currently) will then be able to renew their membership for £20 on or around the 1st September.

If you want to put into the Community Share Offer you can either join the DFCSG straight away using the separate online form, or you can make arrangements to join directly by email with the person who is running the Community Share Offer. You'll receive an email once you put into that scheme which you can replay to with any questions about what to do.

It's pretty flexible so don't let not being a current member of the DFCSG stop you from taking part in the pitch to improve the facilities at BM.

en passant · **Posted:** Thu Apr 27, 2017 4:32 pm

Mr_Tibbs wrote:

en passant wrote:

The DFCSG website has two pitches running - one for bringing the pitch up to a good standard and the other for the additional seating. Having read the details of both funds I've understood that the first requires £43,000 and the second £150,000, split into 3 parts of £50,000 each with date targets set for each stage. So why does the first pitch on the DFCSG website set the first target at £42,000 and the second as £80,000. Can someone explain the difference in the figures?

They are two separate things.

One is for people to raise £80k to boost the playing budget. The other is the Community Share Offer to raise funds to upgrade Blackwell Meadows to the required level to allow us to take part in the play-offs next season.

There's a prospectus you can download from this pitch explaining the financial aspects of the share offer in detail.

The Community Share Offer is split into 4 stages, the first of which is the most urgent and will raise funds to match an FSIF grant to do the drainage and pitch resurfacing works. The other stages are to provide the additional seating we require.

Anyone can put money in the "Boost the Budget" pitch, and you can pay a lump sum, or a monthly or weekly amount for 12 months.

For the Community Share Offer you need to be a member of (or be prepared to join) the DFC Supporters Group. Currently that costs £13 to cover membership until the end of the current membership year (31st August 2017) but, from the 1st May, it will revert to the regular price of £25 (including a £5 joining fee) but this will cover membership for a further 12 months (to 31st August 2018). Anyone joining in the next few days for £13 (membership fee is waived, currently) will then be able to renew their membership for £20 on or around the 1st September.

If you want to put into the Community Share Offer you can either join the DFCSG straight away using the separate online form, or you can make arrangements to join directly by email with the person who is running the Community Share Offer. You'll receive an email once you put into that scheme which you can replay to with any questions about what to do.

It's pretty flexible so don't let not being a current member of the DFCSG stop you from taking part in the pitch to improve the facilities at BM.

OK, I see how the split works now, but I still don't see why the first part of the Community share Offer is said to be £43,000 in one place and £42,000 in another.

Mr_Tibbs · **Posted:** Thu Apr 27, 2017 8:36 pm

en passant wrote:

OK, I see how the split works now, but I still don't see why the first part of the Community share Offer is said to be £43,000 in one place and £42,000 in another.

Good grief, you're right. There's a typo somewhere - the prospectus says £43k and the fundraising website says £42k. The total suggests that £43k is the correct figure for stage 1.

I'm sure someone's going to correct that soon!

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