FUNDRAISING IDEAS

[Grand_Fromage]

Sponsorship of any kind is a double-edged blade. It is both a blessing and a curse in pretty much equal measure. The ACO watch what we do (yes it surprised me too) and they actually like to read our discussions and are supportive of what we are trying to do. We get away with all kinds of things that a commercial site would not, and if the ACO see *any* sponsorship on CA we will get 'lumped in' with all the other Le Mans commercial sites and we would lose that priviledged status and the latitude that it gives us to speak our minds freely.

Over the years I've seen other fan sites come and go. CA remains because we keep it strictly an enthusiast's site run by folks who just love Le Mans. As soon as we take a penny of sponsors money, we start on the slippery slope.

I am very pleased to read all the good ideas in this thread. We don't need a fortune to keep CA going just enough to pay our bills. There is so much goodwill out there for CA (not JUST the forum regulars)  I'm sure we will quickly put ourselves into a financially secure state and ensure out long term future.

You're getting into very dangerous territory there as the guide contains a lot of official ACO info and there's no way they would let us sell advertising on the back of their event without them being involved in it.

As for what are we trying to promote, we have many good ideas about raising money to run the site, mainly from merchandising, and surely the more people that know about the site the more sales we are likely to achieve.

It's only a web forum at the moment but if we raise enough money then maybe the front end of the site can be developed more.

[mal]

I must admit whilst fundraising is admirable and can help, what is needed is a regular source of income that will continue year on year. I think this should be done from within the site and its members.

I belong to another non profit car based web forum where most of the forum content is available FOC and anyone can contribute, but there is also a 'club lounge'  where subscribed members can enjoy more personal and private chat. The subscrition is just £10.00 per year.

I would suspect that you would find more than enough people to contribute £10 pa to enable the site to continue. This would be simple to run and not very time consuming. This could be set up as a club and a small committee appointed. This would enable a clubs and societies bank account to be set up which would be free of bank charges. The Flying Baguettes actually has its own account on this basis to fund the trip to le mans

Events and initiatives could be run to provide funding extras or enhancements.

[Steve Pyro]

Righty ho, I'm going to have a go at splitting and trimming the "Fundraising Commitee" to move and add the 'ideas' threads to this topic.

He goes ......


update - done

[Werner]

Hi all

without knowing the exact figures: my best guess is that we need around 600 - 700 £ per year to rent a webserver strong enough to run the forum and a contract with unlimited traffic.
As far as I know our current problem will be solved by donations, for the future I suggest the following:

- £ 2.00 surcharge on the annual CA T-Shirt Sale
- £ 0.50 surcharge on stickers and lanyards
- £ 2.00 download fee for the CA guide
- £ 1.00 for successful sales in the "Sell or Swap" forum
- similar surcharges for other CA merchandise, e.g. Polo's, hats, underwear

I think all of the above combined should raise enough money to pay the server bills and keep the site ad-free

[Werner]

... and what about selling CA BBQ accessories

[Pieter]

I agree with Werner and others here: keep it simple. There's cash coming in and cash going out. If you can't pay the bills with your sales, you can either try to increase sales by extending your reach, but it's much easier to raise the price of the items you sell. No one will have a problem with that. This way Club Arnage can remain what it is and leave it to the fan to discover it.

[Barry]

IMHO

I would agree with Werner and Pieter's comments, and nopanic's K.I.S.S theory.

This would keep the site within GF's preferences, it would be nice to keep the relaxed atmosphere of the site as it is.

It does not surprise me that the ACO keep an eye on this site, and you do not want to piss them off. Nothing would finish this site off quicker than a copyright case in the courts.

We are just trying to find ways to pay the server costs, let's keep things in perspective.

As for new members, they have found the site before, I estimate that over 50% of the regular posters today, were not members when the site changed it's format, let alone before that.

But I do agree that business cards would be an excellent idea, I'm asked several times each LM about the site, and I bet most of the people you tell the address to forget it by the time they get back to Blighty.

[nickliv]

Could we not produce a calendar, using photos taken by some of the more photographically talented members, again with a surcharge for the CA coffers? Unlike baseball caps, and T shirts etc. It can only really be used for a single year, thereby giving the opportunity for annual cash injections?

[Werner]

Could we not produce a calendar, using photos taken by some of the more photographically talented members, again with a surcharge for the CA coffers? Unlike baseball caps, and T shirts etc. It can only really be used for a single year, thereby giving the opportunity for annual cash injections?

Cool idea, I would buy one. 

[Piglet]

Could we not produce a calendar, using photos taken by some of the more photographically talented members, again with a surcharge for the CA coffers? Unlike baseball caps, and T shirts etc. It can only really be used for a single year, thereby giving the opportunity for annual cash injections?

KK and I were talking about this and I think he may have mentioned it to GF.

There is a slight difficulty in using the pro's photos in that they get accreditation for media purposes only and using the pics for a commercial calender (even one for a good cause) is outside of that purpose.

Punters can of course take photos but their tickets restricts them to taking images for personal use....

KK's suggestion is that we could run a motorsport photo competiton with him and GF (and others perhaps?) as judges and the winning entries could then be used as fodder for the calender.  It doesn't overcome the copyright problems but hopefully there wouldn't be too many issues generated.

[termietermite]

Well, CA's personal to me!!  I think a competition is a great idea myself.  And - with all due respect to KK - would be nicer if it was a place for amateurs to strut their stuff, rather than professionals. For the lads, how about a 12 *rs*s of LM callendar?

[mgmark]

A grand idea - not an expert, but if we are to use personal photos taken by individuals, presumably copyright isn't so much of an issue, provided that the photo(s) is credited to them, together with a statement on the calendar somewhere that unauthorised reproduction is not permiited without the permission of the owner, and providing a contact address if people wish to seek such permission?

MG Mark

[LangTall]

Well, CA's personal to me!!  I think a competition is a great idea myself.  And - with all due respect to KK - would be nicer if it was a place for amateurs to strut their stuff, rather than professionals. For the lads, how about a 12 *rs*s of LM callendar?

I can be misunderstanding, but Anita mentioned KK as a juror, not a contester. Or do you mean by strutting the stuff we all judge the taken photo's?

[nickliv]

I've had a quick google,

A3 printed colour calendars to hang on a wall cost some pounds to make. IF we got 100 made, and sold them for £10, even after postage there would still be some pounds for CA :- we should be looking at a server fund contribution similar to that from the T shirts and stickers.

Not that I'm volunteering, well, not yet.

A sample of what is available can be seen below.

http://www.thedigitalprinters.com/calendars/images/a4_port_style3_large.jpg

[termietermite]

Well, CA's personal to me!!  I think a competition is a great idea myself.  And - with all due respect to KK - would be nicer if it was a place for amateurs to strut their stuff, rather than professionals. For the lads, how about a 12 *rs*s of LM callendar?

I can be misunderstanding, but Anita mentioned KK as a juror, not a contester. Or do you mean by strutting the stuff we all judge the taken photo's?

No, I understood her pefectly well!  I was agreeing that it would be better to keep professional pics out of a calendar.  I think KK as a judge is a great idea.  Whether the Big Cheese would have the time, I don't know...

Nick, I think this is precisely the kind of thing the Fundraising Committee would look into - the logistics and costs of following up all the ideas.  Back in the days when I did this sort of thing for a living, that's the nightmare with callendars - they have a very short shelf-life and can be a loser if you're not careful.  Still could be fun though!