| Raising Money and Valuation 13:21 - Jun 11 with 3428 views | southealingdale |
AFC wimbledon have raised £2M through crowdfunding.
https://www.seedrs.com/afcwimbledon
Valuation circa £19M - makes me wonder what our valuation is considering we own the ground (I know shares are only worth what people are willing to pay)
Dale should consider a similar route for fundraising perhaps.
Target could match cost of training ground.
I know I would be happy to put a few quid in, in return for some shares.
[Post edited 11 Jun 2020 13:23]
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| Raising Money and Valuation on 14:48 - Jun 11 with 3303 views | Dalenet |
Nice idea but sadly I can't see it working for us. Wimbledon have raised £2.3m from just over 5,000 investors. Not bad when their gates suggest they have 4,500 active fans. Average investment must be c£500. Of course there will be a skew with a few bigger investors in there.
Why not at Dale? Because we are much poorer town. Fundraising events over the past 10 years have never reached more than £50k. We have been asking people to fund raise through Easyfundraising at no cost to themselves and after 5 long years we have raised £4k. A training ground isn't as exciting as a new stadium. People can't feel the investment in training facilities or use it. Just been announced that over 30,000 people in the borough have been furloughed or had to use the self employed assistance scheme. The town has been hard hit yet again in a way that the wealthier London boroughs have not (not a dig). Getting enough people to buy season tickets next season will be a big enough challenge.
I know it all sounds a big negative but I can't imagine more than a few dozen would buy into it. About as many as bought shares when the club offered them to fans about 10 years ago. | | | |
| Raising Money and Valuation on 15:26 - Jun 11 with 3234 views | fermin |
They raised £2m from crowdfunding which were effectively donations in return for shares in the club. Another single investor, Nick Robinson, who lives locally has just put in £2.5m for 10% of shares to help them be able to sign the contract to finish their new ground (though they still need another loan). The Dons Trust still owns at least 75% of the club - the Dons Trust is the equivalent of the Dale Trust obviously - and they run the club.
As this crowdfunding (pre-Nick Robinson) was not enough to fund the ground, the Dons Trust Board's original intention was to sell a large % of the club to three anonymous investors for £7.5m, a step which could have in time led to the Trust losing control of the club. This caused such a furore that a group of fans set up the Plough Lane Bond to try and bridge the gap. The difference between this and Seedrs was that investors were lending the club money and would get it back (unless the club went bust) plus an interest rate of their choosing (up to a limit) so fans investing would generally go for a lower if not zero interest rate to help the club. Investors in this came from outside the fanbase as well. Currently this has raised £5.2m. https://ploughlanebond.com/
As an aside, because the pandemic struck soon after this initiative some of the fans involved in setting up the Bond went into action and set up the Dons Local Action Group to help vulnerable locals with food etc. They now have about 1000 volunteers based on this https://www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/news/2020/june/1000-and-counting-for-a-squad-that
As Dalenet says I can't see us being able to generate anywhere near as much. |  | | |
| Raising Money and Valuation on 18:11 - Jun 11 with 3017 views | James1980 |
You've inspired me | |
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| Raising Money and Valuation on 21:06 - Jun 11 with 2921 views | blackdogblue |
Ahem.. didn’t some other club who’s name escapes me now try the bucket shaking route 😀 |  |
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