The Fighting Tiger Fund - "Giving 110%" [merged]

[taztiger4]

Not sure how long this will run for & I assume they have put an end date on it so why not have a rolling option whereby you can contribute from your credit card an amount per week or month , similar to Rolling Tiger option on memberships

I just put in $100 & saw they do have a rolling option for up to 6 months
I assume August will be the end date
I wonder if we will see a running total anywhere ?

[one-eyed]

Everyone's a comedian 

"Richmond CEO Brendon Gale said if the club could eliminate its debt of $4.5 million, the money it saved on interest payments would be rechannelled into its football department, with one of the major goals being to field a stand-alone VFL club. No doubt, some wags, not us, will suggest entering the VFL would be the perfect way for the Tigers to become a powerhouse again."

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/107573/default.aspx

[cub]

Doesn't Russell Crowe say he follows the tigers? Anyone have his email?
We need to make sure this information is disseminated so as all these big knobs get the message.

Also need to make it clear if we have 500,000 supporters out there it only takes 10 bucks each and there's 5 mill. Then people maybe more motivated as it will show them they can make the difference.

Maybe some other initatives chucked in, another round of team photos.
Get the before and after match functions at the ground (Open to all) happening again, advertise it and make it a staple and the tigers will come. Maybe each week they can raffle off a match jumper.

Happy to give straight up myself along with the rest but some may need a gentle push, can't just sit back and expect it to come.

[Penelope]

A real call to arms from Benny Gale in that video. Basically we need to generate $$$ now or we can forget ever seeing another flag when we are 14th when it comes to dollars invested in football. That also means we are currently at least one below a Bulldogs, Melbourne or North  which is just embarrassing although they are also on the AFL drip  .

Interesting that we should promote wanting our own reserves side before we have even started collecting the funds towards it. Selfishly it would be great to have curtainraisers back at Punt Rd but it also tells Coburg that the affiliation is temporary at best. They wouldn't survive without us either.

Not sure why the reconfiguration of the Punt Rd oval surface is part of this. I would've thought that was included in the $20m redevelopment monies?

When Adam potter was announced as coburg coach i got the feeling that there was a step away from richmond and their goals in favour of coburgs aspirations, while last year it seemed that coburg were fully onboard in terms of the working relationship with RFC. This perhaps explains why. THey may have already known of RFC's desire to field a stand alone side.




[/quote]

[10 FLAGS]

Last night when I logged on here, OE had put up the links to the new fund...wanted to donate but couldnt as I dont use credit cards. Hopefully the club can work something out.

[one-eyed]

We can be the best: Gale
richmondfc.com.au
By Luke Holmesby
2:18 PM Thu 10 Feb, 2011

RICHMOND could become the best club in the AFL if it can reduce its debt, according to CEO Brendon Gale.

Speaking at the launch of the Fighting Tiger Fund on Thursday afternoon, Gale said Richmond had forfeited its status as one of Melbourne's 'big four' AFL clubs along with Essendon, Collingwood and Carlton, but it could rise again to become a powerhouse.

"I think we certainly have the capacity to be a big club," Gale said.

"We've been the biggest club, on and off the field in any measure. But the facts are, we are not now. We have surrendered that.

"But that is in the past. It's about the future and what that tells us is we have the capacity to get there again if we make the get the right people, make the right decisions at the right times and we have the money to invest at the right time.

"I'm confident if we get those things in place and we tick those boxes, we can be the best. After all, that's what we're all about, but it's going to take time."

The fund was introduced with the aim of wiping off Richmond's $4.5 million debt and raising $1.5 million to develop an under-resourced football department.

"There is a clear correlation between the amount you are prepared to invest in your football department and your likelihood of success on field. We are at a stage now where we need to invest in our football club and we need to grow our football club," Gale said.

"If we invest and we are intelligent and rational we will get the results we are looking for. I am absolutely confident in that."

Gale said the fundraising initiative was different to the Save Our Skins campaign in 1990.

That campaign was introduced to prevent the club from extinction, whereas the Fighting Tiger Fund was designed largely to bring the football department up to speed with the best-resourced clubs in the AFLq.

While admitting it was ambitious to aim for $6 million in 12 months, Gale said that figure was achievable and it was crucial that the club moved as quickly as it could to develop its football department.

"One thing has become apparent over the last six to 12 months and that is that we're at a critical juncture in our football club," he said.

"Unless we take very significant steps right now to build our financial strength, we are unlikely to deliver our football club with critical resources that they need to build a side and a program that can go on to win premierships."

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/107587/default.aspx

[Hard Roar Tiger]

I am against the principle of the club using supporters yet again to raise revenue without articulating a plan on how they plan to raise that revenue into the future without this style of  fundraising

This would give supporters the confidence that this type of fund raising is really only a one off.

People forget that Collingwood was on its knees 15 years ago, Hawthorn was almost broke 10 years ago and they have re-invented their corporate revenue departments to build sustainable revenue streams.  While membership is critical to that revenue, they have multiple options that make their revenue incredibly high compared to ourselves.

 I am very confident that this "initiative" will work - after all the single biggest strength our club has is its supporters - they need to demonstrate some leading edge thinking in generating revenue in other ways.

We remain at the bottom end of Revenue when compared to other clubs.

The sponsorships announced this month have been a very good start - it would be nice to keep 2 or 3 big ones for the long term but it is up to the commercial team led by Benny Gale to deliver revenue strategies that get us much closer to the Essendons, Hawthorns and Collingwoods annual revenue numbers.

I am disappointed that the club announced something at the AGM regarding revenue and it has ended up being this - honestly RFC, it took 3 months to tell us that you need more money from supporters?

BTW, I will stump up and contribute because in the end I just want success for the club - but it would be nice to see them generate something different or announce it in conjunction with this one.

[Oiafi]

We are quite capable of raising revenue through normal operations. The issue is that the debt we currently carry is draining profits and not allowing us to spend as much as others on the football department. To pay off $4 mil at $200K a year will take far too long and means we can't increase investment in our football.

On top of this we want to build up a fighting fund that will allow us to maximise our chances of keeping players when free agency arrives and also attract players to the club as free agents.

This is not a tin rattling exercise. It is strategic fund raising.

[Infamy]

I'm a bit disappointed that the only thing that's been announced is that the club is holding out their hand to the supporters again
I was under the impression that there was meant to be far more to this plan than just asking for donations

[Hes My Hero]

I'm a bit disappointed that the only thing that's been announced is that the club is holding out their hand to the supporters again
I was under the impression that there was meant to be far more to this plan than just asking for donations

That is 100% true Infamy. Benny wil go through the specifics of it soon. What we have heard through the media is only the crux of it.l

[Oiafi]

I would think the ma and pa supporter part of the drive would be quite inconseqential.

[bojangles17]

Can I say I am a little disappointed with how this has been launched

To me this should come out to the memebers first or at least at the same time it appears in the newspapers and on the web-site whether this is via an email or a letter.

If we (members & supporters) come first as we keep being told then IMHO we should have been told first

Just my take

Fire away 

having just returned from the fan night, that was the original plan however they weren't assured of the front and back page on Herald Sun had they waitied...easy choice huh

[RedanTiger]

I'm a bit disappointed that the only thing that's been announced is that the club is holding out their hand to the supporters again
I was under the impression that there was meant to be far more to this plan than just asking for donations

Two questions:

How did the $4million debt happen?
What safeguards are in place to prevent a recurrence?

[tony_montana]

funny how some supporters were calling for debt removal to be number 1 on the agenda several years ago but were told by and large "big deal, its serviceable, every big business carries debt" yet lo and behold 4 years later we come full circle and are told by the club that whilst the debt is easily serviceable, its holding us back from becoming competitive onfield - WOW foresight!

well said HRT

[tony_montana]

I'm a bit disappointed that the only thing that's been announced is that the club is holding out their hand to the supporters again
I was under the impression that there was meant to be far more to this plan than just asking for donations

Two questions:

How did the $4million debt happen?
What safeguards are in place to prevent a recurrence?

this happened in the final 2-3 years of Casey's tenure when he increased expenditure without income increasing - i recall in one year we were about 2.5 in the red