Getting rid of the $4.5 million dollar debt?

[Nasher 33,166]

How about an incentive program where people put in if the team can start winning a few games, or winning quarters, or kicking over a certain score threshold each week. Might be a way to gee up the playing group and coaching team into being more competitive.

If it takes cash incentives to motivate them then I would seriously question their professionality as football players/staff.

[deanox 8,800]

There seems to be an obsession with eradicating this debt....but all good businesses carry debt. I would have thought it's more important to achieve sustainable earnings growth rather than focussing on one-off donations to pay down debt.

i think the problem we have is 'debt means no profit to work with'. bad debt is money we owe, good debt is money we owe on assets that will increase in value, or make money for us ie property, pubs, pokies.

4.5 mil means we are also paying a large interest bill.

we need to eradicate bad debt so that we can then spend money to make money. we cant afford to go 7 mil in debt by borrowing to make money, we need to kill the bad debt first.

[The Emblem 1]

4.5 mil means we are also paying a large interest bill.

Exactly Deanox.

4.5 Million debt, say borrowed at 2% over the Cash Rate on an interest only basis, we'd be paying $34,687.50 per month [$416,250 per annum], and not reducing the debt.

Thats why we need to wipe off the debt!

[The Cold Hard Truth 0]

Love the idea of a club. Not a seperate the team, the administration and the supporters. One club.

Setting up a donation initiative would not only be great financially for the club, but great for the spirit and character for the club as a whole that would rub off on all supporters, administrators and the players.

A real sign of our love for the club and for us a real ownership of the clubs success in the future.

[Weedster 174]

i agree re extra members. i dont think fake members is the way to go...

Ask Hawthorn, or more specifically Ian Dicker, about how they kick started their membership growth..any membership is a bonus

[Supreme_Demon 3,020]

Love the idea of a club. Not a seperate the team, the administration and the supporters. One club.

Setting up a donation initiative would not only be great financially for the club, but great for the spirit and character for the club as a whole that would rub off on all supporters, administrators and the players.

A real sign of our love for the club and for us a real ownership of the clubs success in the future.

I like the idea there of a donation initiative set up by the MFC!

It could be called "the members initiative" or "Demon Debt Destroyers" (lame I know!)

Where the MFC could send out a letter in the mail each week to all our member with the right information and people can donate at minimum $20 or $25 to the Club. Perhaps a bit like a bill where you can pay it at the post office? Like we can do for MFC membership renewals?

If we have enough people donating at least $20 - $25 a week for say a year. We will EASILY pay off our debt of $4.5 million dollars.

Here's a link to some information about the Red & Blue Foundation: http://melbournefc.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=7496

And for those who wish to get in contact with the Red & Blue Foundation to tell them about your ideas.

Contact Details

Red and Blue Foundation

Trustees:

Robert Jamieson

John Lill

Anthony Starkins

MELBOURNEfc

Level Two, Great Southern Stand

Melbourne Cricket Ground

P O Box 254

EAST MELBOURNE VIC 8002

(03) 9652 1111

(03) 9650 4696

I also believe that on the MELBOURNEfc website it needs to be shown in an OBVIOUS place where people can donate money to the Red & Blue Foundation as well.

Here is a direct link to the Red & Blue Foundation donation form for those interested: http://melbournefc.com.au/Portals/0/demons...tion%20Form.pdf

I see some fantastic ideas so far! Keep up the good work!!!

[Rogue 585]

i agree re extra members. i dont think fake members is the way to go...

It's not a 'fake' membership if you give it to someone:

I think the point is that if you buy a second membership and give that to someone else, it can boost attendance to games and is an attempt to get more people into footy, building our supporter base.

A great way to introduce someone to footy, and the Dees.

[deanox 8,800]

It's not a 'fake' membership if you give it to someone:

A great way to introduce someone to footy, and the Dees.

no thats fair enough. i happy for people to buy memberships for family and friends, or the disadvantaged with the aim of taking them along to the footy every year. but i cant see the point in everyone buying memberships in their dogs name, or doubles in their own name, and not use them.

bump the membership to 35k is great, but if we're still only getting 20k to games it doesnt help.

and what we want to do is make the new members sustainable. are we going to boost our membership numbers for a single year before dropping back down? i think that could cause pain in the medium term when they drop.

[Redleg 38,092]

. but i cant see the point in everyone buying memberships in their dogs name,

bump the membership to 35k is great, but if we're still only getting 20k to games it doesnt help.

Then take the dog along to the game.

[deestroyers 0]

Have you all bought your tickets in the $200 Raffle yet?!

[52k2 0]

i dont know if this is possible, how about on your membership form a box to tick if you wanted to donate $1 a week direct debit every week all year. 10000 yeses a cool 1/2 mil.

[The Emblem 1]

i dont know if this is possible, how about on your membership form a box to tick if you wanted to donate $1 a week direct debit every week all year. 10000 yeses a cool 1/2 mil.

Thats also a good idea 849dennisj [have you been in a lot of institutions?]...and could be extended to Non-MFC members who signed up for the Red & Blue Army

[Rogue 585]

^ What would be the cost of using direct debit to the MFC, if anything? Not trying to knock the idea, but it's lots of transactions for not much coin.

[Jaded No More 59,177]

I understand why some MCC members don't buy full MFC membership, they get nothing from it.

So how about, creating a duel membership, where MCC members pay a little more and this entitles them free entry into Telstra Dome, similar to what you get as a 17-game member. This will at least give MCC members some sort of an incentive to buy a Melbourne membership.

Reserved seats at Telstra Dome can cost as much as $40 each. If we play there 3 times a season (like this year), that's potentially $120. By paying maybe $100 towards a duel membership with this benefit, you get to both save money and help the club.

There needs to be incentives like these to ensure that MCC members convert into MFC members. There is a big supporter group to capture here, and if we get them on board it will not only help our finances it will also solidify our relationship with the MCC.

[beelzebub 22,373]

I admire your fire BB. But there are certain realities that have to be faced.

Firstly, whether people like it or not, this club IS the MCC. It was born of it and has found itself in a de facto relationship for several decades. It is a massive problem the club faces. MCC members pay money that really they are forced to keep paying otherwise risking waiting another decade to regain membership.

.........

Its a vexed siutation at best, and a murky water otherwise. There is undoubtedly a symbiosis of sorts between teh two ( MCC & MFC ) and quite a deal of this football club indeed came out of the MCC. But we are no longer the MCC. The minute teh MCC started favouring others to our detriment the writing was on the wall. Ought their be a better , for want of a better word, harmony between the two? Possibly...and hopefully. Is is the precinct of the MCC to fix us ? No !!

I have no issue with MCC members. I dont expect them to double dip. If they do, great...and thanks but again its no solution.

The Club needs to be able to exist in its own right. If it doesnt then its on a timetable to disaster. You get the impression as the howling hyhenas circle that there with be no second chance after whatever we mount this time.

We need more members. No argument. They need to be actual people and individual. Here many divert into prosaic testimony to the idera that it really doesnt matter as long as there are numbers, ...on the books

Well misguided folks. It matters a lot.This is why. If the people represented on teh mumber count arent seperate and individually accountable then its only a matter of time until the novelty or goodwill , or indeed ability of these effecive benfactors will expire. Its a bit like propping dead bodies on the parapets with a rifle hoping the enemy doesnt notice.

A fake membership may show on the ledger once..even twice but it has no sustainability in the long run. Its a ruse. Nothing more, nothing less. Do the real power clubs rely on ghosting ? No.

Ive been wondering why the last years numbers failed to churn to the extent of 18% I think part of trhge equation here is the direct resullt of when "false" memberships arent rebought. What hapens when in the effort of generosity a lot of memberships are bought for those that only have half an inclination to carrry it on. You get a possible result as we have.

I have no issue with people trying this. Shove someone in red and blue..give them a ticket..and they might justget the bug.; ..or they might not , such is life. How many times do peopel as a collective try this method ?

Sustainable existence in the current AFL climate requires real people , holding real memeberships with real bums on real seats.

...and people wonder why there arent so many at games ?? Think....Think hard or indeed you dont have to think much at all. The answer is here on this page.There wil always be a percentage proabably of clubs such as ourselves; struglling year in year out at present that is more grey than substance but we must not rely on it.

The impassioned imploring by such as Stynes and Co for anyone with a morsel of red and blue blood to sign up is something without doubt. But that too can only last so long.. The counter to this is that it will probably HAVE to last just long enough until new fervour kicks in.

This is the only thing that will work going forward. New fervour. New members. New people coming into the fold. I have no dount that is much of the rationale of Casey. In a Cecil B de Milles fashion ..Casey is probably the promised land ( of sorts )

Im not sure if im the only one who sees an irony in that with approx 25000 members youre going down theh gurgler..and apparently with 30000 you're afloat 35000 youre kicking ass and with 40000 and above you gain teh ascendency to allow you 'emporor" like rights to allow clubs to live or die.

Getting a new and sustainable crop of followers cant by any stretch of the imaginatin occur overnight. it must be nurtured.

5000 members equates to approx 725-H to 3/4 M usable dollars. So i will cede to the view that getting it any which way has some merit. Whether this be by ghosting and cooking the books , or by extra sponsorship, the equalisation funds etc. But his only gives breathig space in the short term. They are no solution. They attend the sympton without curing the malaise.

From 2009 teh Melbourne Football Club must repsent itslef as something youd want to be associated with. its not all about winnig , but more the idea that thats what you endeavour, not just to participate. The cluib needs to be passionate about its identity and convey that to al lthat it interacts with at all opportunites. Essentially it must be fair dinkum. All the while it carries on like a basket case ( or even appears like one ) then a lot of people wil lbe put off from coming on board.

I still like the long term aspects of foreign places but there are more than sufficient people currently in Melb with ambiguous intent to convert first. Melbourne is a city touted to reach 5 million in 10 or a bit more years. Apparently halfa million of our new brethren will locate to eh developing areas just east and south east to Dandenong etc. If only a 1/4 of those wil be under 10 thats 125,000 souls ripe for instilling a Demon spirit.

You want to wipe 4.5 million of nasty red ink ?? Fine. Lets get some benefactors on board. Lets sell a membership to aunty Joan's dog and give a ticket or two under the xmas tree to some kids ( actually I do like that ). But be warned. No sooner than you wipe one 4.5 million debt than another will rise in its place' for you have bandaided not cured.

(Sorry Bob )

The answer my friends is blowing in the winds... They are the winds of change. A change of demeanor about the club , a change in the way we allow ourselves to be treated by others and a demostrated change in what we expect the team to accomplish.

well much is changing/has changed this year. New faces ( and some old ) More new combatants to be acquired. Really all the seeds are there. Its purpose that will see us sink or swim.

We need to have purpose...not just exist, or as another so rightly put it... there is only DO, there is no try !!

[deefuture 1]

How much would it be worth to stop the membership packs. I would be happy to miss the scarfs/mags etc. I understand that kids may still get such items. What about doing a reality "the club" show or "the rookie" which could bring support from those freaks who watch reality tv. I think most of the money is made by people sms ing and ringing in to vote. People want to see what the clubs are like behind the scenes. This could be our chance to jump the others and do it?

[Keepin up with the Joneses 48]

Bubs

I agree and it pissing me off that people think it is...

I will give my case as an example and hope that some non MCC may start to understand that we are not the problem.

I have been a member on and off for the last 19 years... I'm only 28 now so the 'off' years were through the late teenage years.

I have been a member of the MCC for seven years as well as the club for about eight.

I purchase a MFC/MCC full membership and a social club membership... it costs me $250. I have never used the ticket to go in to a match as I go to the members, I have never attended any social functions... In fact I get no benefits from the membership at all besides and email and that I want to donate my money to the MFC as I love the club... how is me paying $250 any different from any of these ideas to pay $200 to the club 18.58 per fortnight, $150 for another 150....

I pay $400 for the MCC and I am not a well off toff as I had a normal job so really I just donated some money because I felt like it...

Besides the benefit of knowing you support the club what incentive is there to buy a membership.... there has been other discussions on this.... but as I mentioned last time something as simple as a ticket to a MFC function with all players attending for MFC/MCC full members only that cost $50 (cover costs) at crown (I know its $120 a ticket but some of that can be taken from the membership) would see members upgrade there tickets from $40 and the club could make an extra $40.

Sorry about the RANT...

No, you didn't donate your money.

You have JOINED a club. A GREAT club.

You are a MEMBER of the Melbourne football club.

If you didn't pay your extra money, you wouldn't be a member of our great club.

Due to work, I struggle to get to games.

I don't try to financially justify my purchase any other way than saying 5 bucks a week.

Proudly tell your friends you are a MEMBER of the Melbourne football club. Something you couldn't say if you were only a member of the Melbourne Cricket Club.

[deanox 8,800]

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/Portals/0/de...;200SCflyer.pdf

$200 donation just follow the link. go for it everyone!

chance to win a volvo or cash prizes.

[Rogue 585]

Ive been wondering why the last years numbers failed to churn to the extent of 18% I think part of trhge equation here is the direct resullt of when "false" memberships arent rebought. What hapens when in the effort of generosity a lot of memberships are bought for those that only have half an inclination to carrry it on. You get a possible result as we have.

I've heard from someone close to our membership efforts that we have the lowest churn rate in the AFL. The 18% figure was mentioned on the forums by someone once, and you've now run with it a fair few times. Anyone know if this is legit, what the figure was in previous years, and how they compare to other Clubs?

You want to wipe 4.5 million of nasty red ink ?? Fine. Lets get some benefactors on board. Lets sell a membership to aunty Joan's dog and give a ticket or two under the xmas tree to some kids ( actually I do like that ). But be warned. No sooner than you wipe one 4.5 million debt than another will rise in its place' for you have bandaided not cured.

You're right, but I think everyone's aware of this. As has been stated, clearing the debt will allow the Club to move forward more easily.

I have no issue with people trying this. Shove someone in red and blue..give them a ticket..and they might justget the bug.; ..or they might not , such is life. How many times do peopel as a collective try this method ?

IMHO it's better than donating the Club, providing you have a willing 'target'. Donating, while marginally better for the Club in direct financial terms (due to less in admin), has no other benefits. Donate the money and it's gone.

Buy a membership for someone and we can make an attempt to convert some people into the AFL and the Demons, making some effort to get more people involved with the Club, rather than waiting the many years until we can see if Casey (or Canberra ) bear fruit.

From 2009 teh Melbourne Football Club must repsent itslef as something youd want to be associated with. its not all about winnig , but more the idea that thats what you endeavour, not just to participate. The cluib needs to be passionate about its identity and convey that to al lthat it interacts with at all opportunites. Essentially it must be fair dinkum. All the while it carries on like a basket case ( or even appears like one ) then a lot of people wil lbe put off from coming on board.

0 souls ripe for instilling a Demon spirit.

Pertinent point - image is important. I cringe every time someone goes on about how we have the most fickle fans, yada yada. Attendance and membership figures indicate that virtually all AFL clubs, and sporting clubs in general, have peaks and troughs that tend to correlate with performance. Why would an outsider want to be associated with a Club that it's own members constantly deride and degrade?

[Harcourt 146]

from latest email:

The dawn of a new era

Supporters far and wide have thrown their support behind new Club President, Jim Stynes. Over 600 memberships have been sold since last Thursday, bringing our membership tally very close to last year's record of 28,077 - a mark that we expect to pass in the coming days.

Every membership sold adds vital revenue to our Club. If you know anyone who barracks for MELBOURNEfc but is not a member, we ask you to encourage them to pledge their commitment by joining before the AFL's membership cut-off date on 30 June.

In the coming weeks, Stynes and his board will be announcing a number of ways that you can help, but if you have any ideas that you would like to share with our new directors, please email them to [email protected]

I have emailed a link to this thread and highlighted the double membership / give to someone less fortunate idea which I believe is the best one on here.

If you have any other ideas send them to [email protected] - lets try and flood them with great ideas that provoke a bit of thought.

[deefuture 1]

How much would it be worth to stop the membership packs. I would be happy to miss the scarfs/mags etc. I understand that kids may still get such items. What about doing a reality "the club" show or "the rookie" which could bring support from those freaks who watch reality tv. I think most of the money is made by people sms ing and ringing in to vote. People want to see what the clubs are like behind the scenes. This could be our chance to jump the others and do it?

Another idea. Players attend schools in the casey area for PE. There has been a real issue in primary schools about the lack of male teachers to promote sports like footy and cricket. The players could adopt a school each!

[beelzebub 22,373]

Another idea. Players attend schools in the casey area for PE. There has been a real issue in primary schools about the lack of male teachers to promote sports like footy and cricket. The players could adopt a school each!

That wins my prize for todays effort at attainable lateral ideas.

its plausible.. it could be done

And like the pied piper we lead them to Hell !! ) ( well our version )

[Rogue 585]

Players attending schools in the Casey area is a no-brainer.

There's something seriously wrong if we're not doing things like that when we make our big Casey push.

The adopting a school angle is an interesting one, but I think we need to push the team aspect.

[occo 2]

G'day fellow Demons Supporters!

I know this sounds crazy..but I think we should set up a fund to help get rid of the debt that the Melbourne Football Club has by ourselves. If enough people donate we can get rid of the debt of $4.5 million in a year or so.

I know some people have talked about the $2 facebook initiative. And I support that idea.

But I think there are other ways we can also send money to the Red & Blue Foundation.

Remember it is tax deductable!!!

Technically if 20,000 members saved up $500 each and donated it to the Red & Blue Foundation that would be in total $10 million dollars! That would pay off the MFC debt and leave plenty left over! The Raffle of $200 for a ticket will also help the MFC out a lot and I encourage people to be part of that.

There are probably heaps of ways that we can raise money for the Melbourne Football Club and not rely on the kindness of millionaires all the time (that doesn't mean we would refuse their generosity either though!). Hey! If somebody really wanted to we could ask Matt Damon for a donation seeing as he's a very well paid Hollywood actor and we gave him Melbourne Demons jumper a few years ago! "C'mon Matt! You've got money to burn!"

What about a "help save the MFC" telephone appeal? A bit like the Good Friday appeal where people call in and donate money? We could have this done in conjuction with The Footy Show perhaps? Have anybody who wants to keep the Melbourne Football Club alive donate money to us. It would save having to go around rattling tins at least. I also agree that the AFL should not have to support us forever but it is a disgrace if they plan to basically "kill us off" by prematurely taking away our funding at the end of this year before we are ready to fend for ourselves. Besides taking away the funding would basically destroy, not just the Melbourne Demons but the Kangaroos and the Bulldogs too! The AFL are greedy and have 100's of millions of dollars from their TV rights deal to use at their disposal.

Nevertheless, there are probably HEAPS of other ideas we could have a look at too! I just wanted to get the ball rolling and I hope others will add to this thread.

AS MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS OF THE MELBOURNE DEMONS (THE OLDEST FOOTBALL CLUB IN THE WORLD!!!) WE SHOULD DO OUR BIT TO KEEP OUR CLUB ALIVE!

its a fantastic idea but i dont know if $500 could be donated by every supporter. I would be happy to donate some numbers like that.

[occo 2]

Another innitative:

Players go away on trips yes like preseason ones...well why dont we sell tickets for supporters to tag along with players. I know it sounds a bit weird but it could generate a fair amount of $ as i would be prepared giving $5000 just to spend a few days with the boys