Fundraising Committee

[Christopher]

Although I am not known for my skills in IT, media or marketing, I would be happy to volunteer for other non-skilled jobs, should the need arise.

[powermite]

just out of interest,how much money does the site need anually to stay alive?
PM

[termietermite]

Obviously I am not totally "in the know" about the finances but my broad understanding is that if all the pledges are met then the immediate crisis will be solved.  However, it is not going to be the last bill so what's needed is a strategy for the future, hence the idea of having members overseeing some sort of long term fundraising activity.  Smokie and the Big Cheese are both occupied with other things for the moment, hence I offered just to kick this off.  If we do a bit of "tin rattling" during the race week (not stepping on the toes of the excellent charitable efforts going on), then obviously some responsibility will need to be taken about the cash we might collect; also, this needs to be addressed if the pledges exceed the immediate necessity - that's why Smokie in particular, was keen to have this set up by the time we all get back.  Also, as set above, it's by far the busiest time for the site so we see a lot more people than usual and hopefully some will want to step up.

[Lord Steve]

This may sound like over simplification but can't we all make cash contributions during the week we are all together at Le Mans? All we will need is someone trustworthy (and I can't see that we have any trust issues with anyone on this forum!!!!) who will be responsible for collecting and holding the cash safely. Perhaps we could ask Radio Le mans who must have a secure office or safe in their set up to hold the cash for us. They may also be happy to broadcast an appeal and may accept contributions on behalf of the site.
I understand that going forward we will have to formalise a means of raising the necessary funds but, in order to get over the current crisis does my suggestion work?
I want to make a contribution during the week and I guess that many others do as well.

Steve

[Piglet]

Steve as I understand it from the other thread, there is an immediate problem in that there is a £500 server bill to be paid now.  There is enough money in donations pledged on the other thread to deal with the server bill.

The next step is what we do from here - is it right that GF funds all the running costs of the site or are there other ways of dealing with it - hence the formation of a Fundraising Committee to deal with that issue for the future once the immediate problem is dealt with. 

[termietermite]

Steve, I'm sure you're right and that we could tin rattle in race week.  Hopefully, if the timescale is met, we'll have elected members by the time the race starts who can discuss and agree something along the lines you suggest.

In the Dire Straights thread I suggested that we took Hindy up on his offer of maybe letting a member be interviewed on air.  Personally, I think this would be great for us.  Whatever we do in the future, the more members we have the better so getting the word out is the key thing (my marketing background is showing!)  If I e-mailed Hindy and offered to send somebody along to see them during the race or the preliminaries - would anybody like to do it?

But Piglet's hit the nail on the head really - some formal strategy is needed before we get too ahead of ourselves.  So, more volunteers please!!  On which subject, Nopanic has offered his services.

[Piglet]

RML used to do "out and about" on the campsites didn't they?  Any chance of getting them to the DfH party? 

[Robspot]

Replace trustworthy with sober and you're heading in the right direction 

But let's not forget that we all go to Le Mans to have a good time (and watch some race or something) and to appoint someone as on-site fundraiser would take a lot of their enjoyment away, not to say make them worry about losing everybody's cash.

Personally I think charity fundraising is fine at Le Mans but Club Arnage money would be better sorted out in Blighty (and left here!)

[termietermite]

There's no truth in the rumour that I'm just trying to hit 2000 posts today.

Rob, that's so right.  These are the kinds of problems which a committee would have to address.  I have the hab-dabs just carrying plastic and cash around with me and kipping in my tent wondering who's doing what, without loads of somebody else's money to take care off after my 3rd bottle of 'poo.  We'd definately need an AA (and I don't mean Automobile Association) member to look after wads of cash.  It's a heck of a responsibility and could ruin somebody's race if anything got nicked.

[jpchenet]

I'm happy to help form the committee. I'm currently the Chairman of a charitable trust so used to the formalities etc and I think MGMark hit the nail on the head with his post earlier about how we need to set things up.

I'm also happy to help with other fund raising ideas, and will in fact be starting the ball rolling by putting up a post advertising CA Polo Shirts like I arranged a couple of years back.

[Robspot]

I think these posts all indicate why we need a fundraising committee! 

Too true! I would suggest that we refrain from having protracted discussions on these ideas until the committee has been elected. In the meantime people can just post suggestions for the committee to look at.

And to go back over another post I made, let's not lose sight of what we're trying to achieve here. This is a forum for people of all shapes and sizes who love going to Le Mans for whatever reason and for that reason alone Le Mans week should be left to enjoyment of the event and not mass attempts at raising money (I'm not talking charity here).

We're trying to cover the costs of running the site, not raising funds to enter the race (although how cool would that be   ) and, although I don't know the actual figures, I would guess that if everyone gave £2 a year we would have more than enough.

[termietermite]

Piglet's right, it's self-evident that we need the committee to begin making these decisions and to sift through all the ideas on here.

EDIT
So far we've got : jpchenet; Ian..;BobU; mgmark; Christopher; Nopanic and Robspot.  Lorry was suggested but only if he's willing. Plus Lawnmower Man, Brian (Liverpool Boys)  and Piglet have offered other assistance when needed.  

I thought I'd leave the voting open until next Wednesday initially - certainly it needs the weekend when different people are active, but I may close it on Sunday night just to move the thing along a bit and start a vote Monday morning, as clearly some things - especially RLM and tin-rattling during the race - need to be fixed up soon.

[jpchenet]

Slight Correction!!!

So far we've got : Termietermite; jpchenet; Ian..;BobU; mgmark; Brian (Liverpool Boys); Christopher; Nopanic and Robspot.  Lorry was suggested but only if he's willing. Plus Lawnmower Man and Piglet have offered other assistance when needed.  

 

[termietermite]

I didn't notice that I'd volunteered, jpc...

A DFH representative would be really great....

[Robspot]

I have therefore volunteered - on a purely temporary basis - to begin the logistical business of setting up a fund-raising commitee.

I knew you volunteered somewhere!

I hope you will give it serious consideration, seeing as you've only been a member for just over a year and you're already the 8th most prolific poster. This means that a) you're committed to the site and b) you have the odd couple of minutes free 

Added to the obvious fact that you're permanently on site