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Tasmania United Fc Forum
DISCUSSIONS > Foundation membership
Chuq Date posted Replies

There has been some discussion about foundation membership in another thread, but I thought it deserved its own one.

It looks like foundation membership is more than just "$100 a pop" - it seems like several thousand - but I thought - if we all pool our resources, can we raise a fair chunk ourselves?

There are nearly 400 people on this site, and 1600 people in the "Tasmania in the A-League" facebook group.

1600 people putting in $10 each is $16 000!

Even 400 people putting in $50 each is $20 000!

I'll try to get more information about what is required, but do people see potential in this idea?

 

 

 

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30th Sept. 2009 25
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ntguy

posted at 1:54PM on 10th Jul, 2009

At $200 a pop in Canberra they got over $40,000.  There you can buy one foundation membership as an individual or multiple membership if you are a small business.  I would favour that.  If we were going to pool our money and raise a nice little kitty I think we would need to be better in the loop than we have been.

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Chuq

posted at 11:06PM on 10th Jul, 2009

I think the Canberra one is different - they have only taken pledges so far and the funding is only accepted if and when they are accepted.  They get their first years membership included, so it is really no risk to anyone.                

This is different as it is assisting to pay for the bid submission so it is still a cost even if we are unsuccessful.

TUFC have said in the past that they would prefer not to accept government money, perhaps they want to be seen as fully self sufficient and don't want to get the "waste of taxpayers money that should be spent on hospitals" tag that Hawthorn gets.

 

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ntguy

posted at 1:40AM on 11th Jul, 2009

Why haven't they asked us on here if we want to be foundation members or are they keeping it close to the chosen few who are in the know?

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admin

posted at 11:18AM on 11th Jul, 2009

I know the community involvement angle is one the taskforce have considered at length. I will be watching the development of this thread carefully to see what kind of response it draws from other users, but I will also speak to the board to see if I can get an official response regarding what details of foundation membership can be released and if it is possible to consider a supporters foundation membership if there is enough demand for it.

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Chuq

posted at 11:33PM on 11th Jul, 2009

Thanks admin,

Since the number of active participants on this forum is small I don't know how long it will take the get the desired response.  I will send a message to the 1600 people in the facebook group, but only after I have the ok from you that this will be accepted!

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admin

posted at 11:53PM on 12th Jul, 2009

Ok. Have managed to get an official statement from the executive:

----------------------

Thanks everybody for your interest and enthusiasm.  Foundation Membership is predominantly geared towards corporations, businesses and the like, however any interested group is welcome to take a Foundation Membership.

Foundation Membership is primarily a revenue raiser to fund the Business study. Foundation Membership commitment is similar to purchasing shares in a stock market float.  The biggest difference is that members here have a strong chance of a positive out come i.e. business case and subsequent granting of licence is a distinct possibility, ALTHOUGH THIS NOT GUARANTEED. For a company/corporation this is part and parcel of daily business, for a group of enthusiastic supporters it is something which should be given serious thought and discussion.

So what do you get for your money?

* A corporate box for season one (both venues) for all regular A -League games, for ten people;

* Invitations to all promotional events for a couple of group representatives for each function;

* Logo used in all subsequent advertising and promotional displays (including website links).

As you can see this is primarily directed to large or medium businesses.

What will it cost ? $10, 000.00 (ten thousand dollars).

TUFC looks forward to your response.

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Chuq

posted at 1:49AM on 13th Jul, 2009

Thanks admin!  TassieRed, I wrote most of this before seeing your comment so it may be doubled up - reproduced here in its entirety:

 

 

Ok.. very interesting!

A corporate box for 10 people would be interesting to split up :P

If we assume 13 games (like the feasibility study) then that is 130 people who can attend one match.

Divide that into $10k and it is just under $80 each.

To allow for a few extras, we could also do 100 people x $100 - only slightly more, and a bit more flexibility.  If someone can't attend their "allocated" game there will be a couple of spare spots in each game.  (It also means we don't have to worry about having exactly 70 people from the north and 60 people from south, or whatever the split ends up being.)

Considering we have 390 people registered on this site, and 1650 in the Facebook group, is 100 people @ $100ea a fair target?  (Also considering the fact that it is a risk/investment, as mentioned by admin?)

The other issue is that who looks after it, I am willing to set up a separate account, but despite all my frequent emails and facebook notes, many people would no doubt be hesitant about sending me money.

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ntguy

posted at 3:12AM on 13th Jul, 2009

Count me in Chuq... 

 

I have been wondering if this is the time to start an unofficial supporters club that can buy a foundation membership or two or three.

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Chuq

posted at 3:30AM on 13th Jul, 2009

That's one thing that concerns me, someone not understanding the "it's a donation" part of it and wanting their money back... and then lots of people wanting the same.. and then being sued.

Setting up an incorporate body is a fair bit of paperwork and something I don't have the experience with.  It also requires elections, membership fees, constitution etc. and all that.

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TassieRed

posted at 4:54AM on 13th Jul, 2009

I agree that things like this can prove complicated however I would recommend crossing that bridge when we come to it. The most urgent thing is that we see how many people are interested in chipping in. If it happens to close in on 100, then I'm sure between some of the people on here we can work out how best to organise things.

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ntguy

posted at 8:22AM on 13th Jul, 2009

I agree with TassieRed that we can look at it later.

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TassieRed

posted at 1:22AM on 13th Jul, 2009

Simplest equation for mine is 100 people @ $100 ea. Could be a big ask, but not entirely without possibility I would think. A few points though:

1.         Co-ordination of the receipt of monies could be a logistical nightmare. Even if 100 people pledge, there will always be a percentage that do not cough up at crunch time.

2.         No money should be collected until such time as the taskforce can guarantee the entire funding for the business case is in place.

3.         It must be guaranteed that every cent of the money raised goes to the business case and there be no discretionary expenses taken.

4.         In the event that the full $10k is raised and the business case undertaken, members must be fully aware that there is no scope for a refund and if an A-League licence is not forthcoming then they will have lost their $100.

I’d be up for $100, knowing I’m doing my bit to help and that, should we ultimately get a team then I will be guaranteed a spot in at least one corporate box every year. Perhaps we could also try to negotiate free membership of the club for the first year for all foundation members?

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TassieRed

posted at 1:25AM on 13th Jul, 2009

Not every year obviously, just the first year. Although of course there may be nothing stopping the group from contributing $10k a year in return for a box...

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tufc

posted at 8:19AM on 13th Jul, 2009

I'm not sure that this is a suitable and/or workable option for individual fans like ourselves. As per the comment from the committee, it's really geared towards corporate entities, and trying to make it work for a supporters' group might be too problematic.

Given that there appears to be a willingness among a number of fans (including myself!) to contribute financially in some way to the bid process, perhaps the committee might consider a "Foundation Fans" package? People have already said they'd be happy to fork out somewhere between $50 to $100, so there is definitely the potential to raise a significant amount of money to put towards the bid. Once the team is accepted, benefits to Foundation Fans might include things like:

  • Preferred seating for those who buy season tickets
  • A limited edition patch or badge that identifies us as "Foundation Fans"
  • A small discount on club merchandise (let's face, we're all gonna buy a sh#t load of guernseys, scarves, flags, caps, etc)
  • An invitation to attend a "meet the players" function
  • Etc, etc - I'm sure others can think of more...

None of these benefits would need to cost the club much, but I'm sure they would be highly valued among those of us who are passionate enough about this bid to put our hard-earned up!

Thoughts?

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Chuq

posted at 9:55AM on 13th Jul, 2009

Hmm interesting.. I think TUFC's plan was to keep the overheads minimal, they are doing this in their own free time (they all have day jobs) so they probably don't have time to keep track of hundreds of individuals and their payments, etc.

I'm sure if anyone wants to exchange their corp box position for a season ticket - well it would unlikely they would oppose from a crowd point of view!  Maybe financially ($100 would be less than the value of a season ticket).

Up to TUFC I suppose?

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Chuq

posted at 12:37AM on 14th Jul, 2009

I created a form here -

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dFIzUVktTlZ4cW5PZkMwbC05cjZTMEE6MA..

What do people think?

I kind of made up the "10 spots for $900" deal, perhaps people might get a few mates together, or people might be willing to pay more for less people to use the box exclusively.  I can get rid of it if people think it's a bad idea.

I don't want to publish this unless there is a general consensus here that it is ok to do so?  But feel free to test it!

 

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Chuq

posted at 3:17AM on 16th Jul, 2009

Should I be taking silence as a sign of approval or disapproval? :-/

 

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ntguy

posted at 6:34AM on 16th Jul, 2009

The form looks fine to me

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tassihatter

posted at 11:52AM on 16th Jul, 2009

Yes looks OK to me too, silence is golden well done Chuq.

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Chuq

posted at 4:35AM on 30th Jul, 2009

Just a reminder - pledges have been slow - can anyone who is willing and able, who hasn't gotten around to it yet, please register your pledge!   At the moment we only have $1200 worth (of a target of $10000).  Does anyone know a better way of publicising it?

 

 

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Chuq

posted at 6:20AM on 30th Jul, 2009

Perhaps providing the right link might help!  Try this one instead!

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TassieRed

posted at 1:36AM on 31st Jul, 2009

There aren't many ways to publicise for free, unless you can get one of the news teams to run a story about it. I hear that the Facebook group set up to lobby for the ONE channel got over 10,000 members. Maybe that group could be given a nudge as that would seem to be a potential target market (ie Tassie sports fans).

Very disappointing though - with 1,600 facebook members and 400 TUFC users, you would have thought more than 12 would take a punt.

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galactica

posted at 11:28AM on 31st Jul, 2009

Hello everyone. I think I might be speaking in part for a percentage of the "silent ones" on this subject. Whilst we all commend your process and efforts relating to memberships for myself I accept the TUFC consortium concept on membership at present. I have a wait and see approach currently because I may go for a season style or pick out preferred games depending on how rosters pan out. I would of course like to see most games but realistically I foresee attending all local games and a couple at the other end of the state in any one season at this stage due to other committments, etc. I can envisage down the track club transport that may well increase attendance opportunities. For me though at the moment I simply want to get along to every game near me, sing the club song, buy the club raffles and attend the club functions from time to time.

 

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Clint

posted at 11:18AM on 30th Sep, 2009

Any progress on this?

How many pledges so far?

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Foxhawk

posted at 11:54PM on 30th Sep, 2009

Just on the transport issue.

I would imagine on home matchdays a bus will go from both the east and west coasts. More buses would travel from the northwest and either Launceston or Hobart depending on location.

This would probably be all handled by the bookings office. Would be a boon for Tasmanian bus charters.

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