| Latest Figures 06:13 - Mar 30 with 13450 views | R17ALE |
Have arrived to shareholders and they show a healthy profit from our relegation season, but scratching beneath the surface they are also alarming. We received £985,715 in transfer fees (£477,664 the previous year) and we showed a profit of £350,000.
However, the contributaries to the cause, ie the commercial department all showed a decrease in every area. Goldbond looks to be down by about £300 per week and we have got to close the shop. It is costing us a player to keep it open!
Brace yourselves....
Shop sales fell from £130,000 to £80,000. Cost of shop purchases was £58,000. You can take out £12,000 at least from the £80,000 as that is coach travel money which continues to be accounted for incorrectly. So we've basically spent £58k to produce £68k and we've paid someone £x to do it.
And the board wonder why fans are staying away, and constantly wonder "what problem?"
FFS, it's there in black and white. Again. |  |
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| Latest Figures on 10:48 - Mar 30 with 2247 views | sandylaner1 |
if the club shop sold dale beach towels tenner a pop we'd be making all kinds of financial gains |  | | |
| Latest Figures on 10:56 - Mar 30 with 2216 views | sweetcorn |
| Latest Figures on 10:48 - Mar 30 by sandylaner1 |
if the club shop sold dale beach towels tenner a pop we'd be making all kinds of financial gains |
About as much gains as you make on them chicken arms you have. |  |
| Leader of the little gang of immature cretins. |
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| Latest Figures on 10:56 - Mar 30 with 2215 views | R17ALE |
| Latest Figures on 10:48 - Mar 30 by sandylaner1 |
if the club shop sold dale beach towels tenner a pop we'd be making all kinds of financial gains |
I'd buy one of those too, but there might be minimum order restraints on a product like that.
From what I can gather, stock purchased has been too reliant on here and now sales, and is worthless after its shelf life has passed eg Coleman's mustard t-shirts.
Beach towels are safe though and will never lose their longevity in appeal, ditto mugs, glassware etc.
But tailoring a product to an individual person or event is pure madness at a club of our size, and with a revolving door spinning quicker than the shithouse door when the plague's in town!
It's all common sense really...... | |
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| Latest Figures on 11:12 - Mar 30 with 2191 views | blackpoolcol |
It is not "easy" out there for any retail side but there may be issues that we are not aware of. For example if the club shop staff want to order products for the shop, do they do it or does it go through many channels "upstairs"?
I believe that we no longer have a retail assistant in the shop with the lady being moved within the club and not replaced, dont think that will show on the figures produced so maybe that will make a difference in the next years figures.
Shop sales fell from £130,000 to £80,000 (promotion team = people buying and wearing items as they want to be associated with the badge - relegation = reduction in purchases as people do not want to be associated with 'losers'.)
I am confused by the travel money issue as surely the cost of the coaches would also need to be taken out of the cost of shop purchases as this would have been invoiced?
I do not agree with the statement on the current kit supplier - A lot of more 'mature' fans would purchase items in the nike and uhlsport days, with relatively small logos for the manufacturer and the emphasis on the Club badge. Now it seems that its all about the manufacturer brand. just look at the polo shirt as an example which fans of a certain age would wear to the pub etc - Nike had breast logo and one on the arm approx 2 inches if that - Fila have logo on right breast, 2 massive logos on the sleeves and then on the back an even bigger logo. If I was to buy one of these I want it to be a Dale polo shirt, not a Fila polo shirt with a little Dale badge on.
Just have a look at Fila's own brand polo shirts, smart with small logo http://www.jdsports.co.uk/product/fila-micci-polo-shirt/012298/
compare this to the monstrosity that we as fans are offered - which would you prefer to wear? [Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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| With my little stick of Blackpool Rock, along the promenade I'll stroll |
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| Latest Figures on 11:17 - Mar 30 with 2184 views | TalkingSutty |
Its nothing a good cup draw wont sort out  |  | | |
| Latest Figures on 11:31 - Mar 30 with 2166 views | pcolly |
| Latest Figures on 10:56 - Mar 30 by R17ALE |
I'd buy one of those too, but there might be minimum order restraints on a product like that.
From what I can gather, stock purchased has been too reliant on here and now sales, and is worthless after its shelf life has passed eg Coleman's mustard t-shirts.
Beach towels are safe though and will never lose their longevity in appeal, ditto mugs, glassware etc.
But tailoring a product to an individual person or event is pure madness at a club of our size, and with a revolving door spinning quicker than the shithouse door when the plague's in town!
It's all common sense really...... |
Makes perfect sense. Surely these buying tactics are in place already?
The fact remains that you can only achieve a certain amount of sales whilst the core support/customer base is 1500+exiles.
The issue here is to create more demand for the match day experience which in turn creates demand in the shop.
That demand is either increased via reduction in ticket price or the quality of product ie the match day experience. As previously stated, I believe free entry wouldn't even fill half the stadium so it can't simply be the price. I believe the club should look at the day as a whole and create as much value as possible for the paying customer.
At Rochdale, what do you get for your money? Presently, 90 mins of 'rubbish' football. And the club put a price of £15-£20 on that. Value? Not for me and judging by the attendances I'm not the only one with that thought.
It's time to get the thinking cap on to enhance the match day experience and win some fans back.
It may be too late for this season but the 2013-14 campaign will soon be here and the club have time to make changes and deliver an entertaining day out that would be viewed as value for money by the floating fan whose business the club needs now more than ever. |  | | |
| Latest Figures on 11:38 - Mar 30 with 2156 views | R17ALE |
| Latest Figures on 11:12 - Mar 30 by blackpoolcol |
It is not "easy" out there for any retail side but there may be issues that we are not aware of. For example if the club shop staff want to order products for the shop, do they do it or does it go through many channels "upstairs"?
I believe that we no longer have a retail assistant in the shop with the lady being moved within the club and not replaced, dont think that will show on the figures produced so maybe that will make a difference in the next years figures.
Shop sales fell from £130,000 to £80,000 (promotion team = people buying and wearing items as they want to be associated with the badge - relegation = reduction in purchases as people do not want to be associated with 'losers'.)
I am confused by the travel money issue as surely the cost of the coaches would also need to be taken out of the cost of shop purchases as this would have been invoiced?
I do not agree with the statement on the current kit supplier - A lot of more 'mature' fans would purchase items in the nike and uhlsport days, with relatively small logos for the manufacturer and the emphasis on the Club badge. Now it seems that its all about the manufacturer brand. just look at the polo shirt as an example which fans of a certain age would wear to the pub etc - Nike had breast logo and one on the arm approx 2 inches if that - Fila have logo on right breast, 2 massive logos on the sleeves and then on the back an even bigger logo. If I was to buy one of these I want it to be a Dale polo shirt, not a Fila polo shirt with a little Dale badge on.
Just have a look at Fila's own brand polo shirts, smart with small logo http://www.jdsports.co.uk/product/fila-micci-polo-shirt/012298/
compare this to the monstrosity that we as fans are offered - which would you prefer to wear? [Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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I agree with much of that, but we aren't comparing a promotion team to a relegation team. It's a 9th in League One team to a relegation team. The accounts are from June 2011 to May 2012 and therefore began from our best ever season where optimism was high and shirt sales (the biggest earner by far) would have enjoyed healthy sales throughout the summer. Relegation was not confirmed until April 2012, by which time 11 months of the financial year had elapsed. So your point is correct, but your dates are a little out of kilter.
The travel money issue has been done to death on here (by me usually). Basically supporters who pay onto the coaches do so through the shop till and it is accounted for as shop sales. The coach bill however is accounted under the travel and accommodation of the players (£196,000 - or £8500 per away game!). I'm sure this isn't done deliberately to cover up the shop's shortcomings, but it doesn't alter the fact that it does to a degree! I arrived at my estimated £12000 by assuming 15 coaches ran, with 40 people on board paying an average £20 = £12,000.
The Uhlsport days bring back memories! It was all a bit of a con really! You'd get a kit agent offering you the same shirt and you could choose one of 3 brand names to put on the shirt. I can't remember the other brands we were offered, might have been Avis? Hummel? Errea? Someone will remember, but I do recall we plumped for Ulhsport, as we wanted to ditch the shyte Super League brand. This new arrangement gave us the freedom to source and select leisurewear from whoever else, get it embroidered in Rochdale and then into the shop.
Whether decisions on purchases go upstairs is irrelevant. Someone somewhere sanctions them. | |
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| Latest Figures on 12:08 - Mar 30 with 2127 views | blackpoolcol |
| Latest Figures on 11:38 - Mar 30 by R17ALE |
I agree with much of that, but we aren't comparing a promotion team to a relegation team. It's a 9th in League One team to a relegation team. The accounts are from June 2011 to May 2012 and therefore began from our best ever season where optimism was high and shirt sales (the biggest earner by far) would have enjoyed healthy sales throughout the summer. Relegation was not confirmed until April 2012, by which time 11 months of the financial year had elapsed. So your point is correct, but your dates are a little out of kilter.
The travel money issue has been done to death on here (by me usually). Basically supporters who pay onto the coaches do so through the shop till and it is accounted for as shop sales. The coach bill however is accounted under the travel and accommodation of the players (£196,000 - or £8500 per away game!). I'm sure this isn't done deliberately to cover up the shop's shortcomings, but it doesn't alter the fact that it does to a degree! I arrived at my estimated £12000 by assuming 15 coaches ran, with 40 people on board paying an average £20 = £12,000.
The Uhlsport days bring back memories! It was all a bit of a con really! You'd get a kit agent offering you the same shirt and you could choose one of 3 brand names to put on the shirt. I can't remember the other brands we were offered, might have been Avis? Hummel? Errea? Someone will remember, but I do recall we plumped for Ulhsport, as we wanted to ditch the shyte Super League brand. This new arrangement gave us the freedom to source and select leisurewear from whoever else, get it embroidered in Rochdale and then into the shop.
Whether decisions on purchases go upstairs is irrelevant. Someone somewhere sanctions them. |
the difference in sales from promotion vs relegation hits towards the Xmas "I want a Dale shirt" period to the end of the season when you shift the remaining stock.
Ordering products from main suppliers is fraught with problems with you quite often getting just one delivery per season for things like shirts - think this is why Oldham had the "dont swap shirts" vs Everton as they literally had none of the sizes needed in the shop as they had sold out.
Give me a good quality polo shirt embroidered locally (thus keeping money in the area rather than to Mr Anonymous in Pakistan / China / Vietnam or wherever the cheapest labour is at the moment), they dont have to cost the Earth and being local you can keep initial orders low but if they become a good seller you can get more in quickly.
Fair enough on the coach travel, never understood how its done but look forward to seeing the accounts when I receive them as a proud shareholder - take it they were posted out?
Guess for the kits you are talking about Mike at Branded? The kit was made up but the training gear itself came from Uhlsport so was indeed quality. | |
| With my little stick of Blackpool Rock, along the promenade I'll stroll |
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| Latest Figures on 12:23 - Mar 30 with 2108 views | Reedy |
I believe it all stems from a lack of get up and go from the board of directors, they don't seem to be bothered about the current plight the club is in. They seem to be immune from all the things that are going on off the field (The less said about on the field the better!)
The club off the field is awful and non-league standard, I bet most non-league clubs have a better structure off the field, I know many ideas have been put to the board to make things better off the field (I've done it myself) and one member of the board laughed and said it was a stupid idea, now call me silly but a rubbish idea is better than no idea.
In the promotion season, the board (and in particular Chairman) were in front of every television camera, and every media outlet imaginable, now they are nowhere to be seen. It's all well and good when the going is good, but when things are bad, that's when you realise who are leaders and who are followers, unfortunately on our board (and within our club) we have followers, and no-one who wants to grab the off field antics, rip it apart and start again.
I firmly believe that the at the end of the current season, they all need to have a good hard look at themselves and the club as a whole. I (and many others) have put so many ideas forward to the club, but am now past caring about the club in general.
As for the club shop, the last thing I bought in there in terms of clothing was the promotion season shirt, which fell apart, since then I haven't and won't buy anything that is anything to do with Carbrini or Fila. However my Nike jumper is still in superb condition, and looks exactly the same as when I bought it 7 years ago, the difference in quality means I will not part with any of my money - no wonder the club shop takings are poor. | |
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| Latest Figures on 12:34 - Mar 30 with 2092 views | olympicdale |
I'm no expert, but would it not be possible for the trust to take a more hands on approach with regards to the commercial department, not necessarily running it, the whole department has been standing still for too many years, and needs a big kick up the rear.
However didn't someone once state on here that some members of the board would gladly pay the trust off, to stop them intruding, sums up the club in some aspects that. [Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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| Latest Figures on 12:34 - Mar 30 with 2092 views | R17ALE |
| Latest Figures on 12:08 - Mar 30 by blackpoolcol |
the difference in sales from promotion vs relegation hits towards the Xmas "I want a Dale shirt" period to the end of the season when you shift the remaining stock.
Ordering products from main suppliers is fraught with problems with you quite often getting just one delivery per season for things like shirts - think this is why Oldham had the "dont swap shirts" vs Everton as they literally had none of the sizes needed in the shop as they had sold out.
Give me a good quality polo shirt embroidered locally (thus keeping money in the area rather than to Mr Anonymous in Pakistan / China / Vietnam or wherever the cheapest labour is at the moment), they dont have to cost the Earth and being local you can keep initial orders low but if they become a good seller you can get more in quickly.
Fair enough on the coach travel, never understood how its done but look forward to seeing the accounts when I receive them as a proud shareholder - take it they were posted out?
Guess for the kits you are talking about Mike at Branded? The kit was made up but the training gear itself came from Uhlsport so was indeed quality. |
Can't remember who the agent was....might have been called Colin. He was based in Macclesfield I think.
Accounts were emailed out yesterday morning. Might take a bit longer to reach Blackpool. | |
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| Latest Figures on 12:35 - Mar 30 with 2086 views | R17ALE |
| Latest Figures on 12:34 - Mar 30 by olympicdale |
I'm no expert, but would it not be possible for the trust to take a more hands on approach with regards to the commercial department, not necessarily running it, the whole department has been standing still for too many years, and needs a big kick up the rear.
However didn't someone once state on here that some members of the board would gladly pay the trust off, to stop them intruding, sums up the club in some aspects that. [Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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No. Believe it or not, we all have full time jobs to do! | |
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| Latest Figures on 12:45 - Mar 30 with 2061 views | olympicdale |
| Latest Figures on 12:35 - Mar 30 by R17ALE |
No. Believe it or not, we all have full time jobs to do! |
Fans input doesn't necessarily need to be a full time position, the little things, such as a simple questionnaire on what fans would like to see sold in the shop, handed out before a home game is just one idea, and one that would tell the fans we're looking to improve. At the moment no where near enough is being done to solve things, instead just standing still, there will be teams in non league with a better run commercial department than us.
There are too many people at the commercial side not pulling their weight, or certainly the impression it gives, the amount of untapped revenue from the centenary/promotion season still irks me, unforgivable that more was not done in two of the most successful seasons in the clubs history.
[Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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| Latest Figures on 14:10 - Mar 30 with 1993 views | TVOS1907 |
| Latest Figures on 12:34 - Mar 30 by olympicdale |
I'm no expert, but would it not be possible for the trust to take a more hands on approach with regards to the commercial department, not necessarily running it, the whole department has been standing still for too many years, and needs a big kick up the rear.
However didn't someone once state on here that some members of the board would gladly pay the trust off, to stop them intruding, sums up the club in some aspects that. [Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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How many more hours of free time do you think the Trust board, other volunteers and pseudo employees have to give above what they already give when they get home from their day jobs? |  |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| Latest Figures on 14:12 - Mar 30 with 1985 views | olympicdale |
| Latest Figures on 14:10 - Mar 30 by TVOS1907 |
How many more hours of free time do you think the Trust board, other volunteers and pseudo employees have to give above what they already give when they get home from their day jobs? |
see my other post. | |
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| Latest Figures on 14:14 - Mar 30 with 1920 views | TVOS1907 |
| Latest Figures on 12:34 - Mar 30 by R17ALE |
Can't remember who the agent was....might have been called Colin. He was based in Macclesfield I think.
Accounts were emailed out yesterday morning. Might take a bit longer to reach Blackpool. |
Col moves about a lot, they could be anywhere! | |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| Latest Figures on 14:17 - Mar 30 with 1916 views | TVOS1907 |
| Latest Figures on 14:12 - Mar 30 by olympicdale |
see my other post. |
I have done; the same question remains. | |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| Latest Figures on 14:22 - Mar 30 with 1905 views | 442Dale |
| Latest Figures on 14:10 - Mar 30 by TVOS1907 |
How many more hours of free time do you think the Trust board, other volunteers and pseudo employees have to give above what they already give when they get home from their day jobs? |
Is the answer not enough or too much?
If these threads are seen as a negative, and there have been loads over the years, then it's too much. If anyone at the club believes that or ignores the constructive criticism contained time and again on this forum, then we've little hope. |  |
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| Latest Figures on 14:22 - Mar 30 with 1904 views | Dalenet |
| Latest Figures on 12:45 - Mar 30 by olympicdale |
Fans input doesn't necessarily need to be a full time position, the little things, such as a simple questionnaire on what fans would like to see sold in the shop, handed out before a home game is just one idea, and one that would tell the fans we're looking to improve. At the moment no where near enough is being done to solve things, instead just standing still, there will be teams in non league with a better run commercial department than us.
There are too many people at the commercial side not pulling their weight, or certainly the impression it gives, the amount of untapped revenue from the centenary/promotion season still irks me, unforgivable that more was not done in two of the most successful seasons in the clubs history.
[Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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I think the trouble OD is that effort is mostly ignored. The Trust team and many other fans have spent a lot of time, a very lot of time, working on proposals and initiatives to help the club and 9 times out of 10 they are ignored - even when they have been asked for by the club!!! People will find time to do more if they think it is worthwhile, but when the effort isn't appreciated or the work is ignored why should people spend yet more time? It is quite sad really | | | |
| Latest Figures on 14:27 - Mar 30 with 1896 views | 49thseason |
The Board needs to make decisions, right or wrong, anything would be better than the unacceptable situation we are in at the moment with de-motivated staff, shoddy merchandise and dissatisfied customers.
SHOP:
1. Shut the shop and shift everything online, make existing staff redundant and appoint a manager to develop online sales. Open the online shop as a wholly owned subsidiary of the club to prevent future contamination.
2. Consider using empty shops in town as short term pop-up shops just prior to the season starting and at Christmas.
3. Collect email addresses and USE THEM!- Newsletters, discounts, vouchers etc. etc. At least once a week.
4. Write off the crap - stock what sells.
GOLDBOND:
1. Introduce more interest via scratch cards, raffles etc. Open a a membership van to get new members in the town centre (and Heywood and Middleton and Littleborough), do monthly direct debits to save collecting. Make sure winners are shown in the press.
All the decline was foreseeable and has been ignored. My worry is the board have reached the end of their enthusiasm and have adopted a defeated mindset. I think Keith has as much on his plate with the board as he does with the team. Honestly I fear the worst.
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| Latest Figures on 14:44 - Mar 30 with 1874 views | olympicdale |
| Latest Figures on 14:22 - Mar 30 by Dalenet |
I think the trouble OD is that effort is mostly ignored. The Trust team and many other fans have spent a lot of time, a very lot of time, working on proposals and initiatives to help the club and 9 times out of 10 they are ignored - even when they have been asked for by the club!!! People will find time to do more if they think it is worthwhile, but when the effort isn't appreciated or the work is ignored why should people spend yet more time? It is quite sad really |
I'm not on the trust so I'm not informed to how much stuff goes on behind the scenes, but to hear that their efforts are just being ignored, that is a sad, almost criminal indictment of the way the club is being run in certain areas. For a club our size, the commercial side should be one of the most important areas, but the bottom line is they just cba, they don't want to make the effort, the apathy around that dept is staggering. | |
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| Latest Figures on 14:51 - Mar 30 with 1866 views | olympicdale |
| Latest Figures on 14:17 - Mar 30 by TVOS1907 |
I have done; the same question remains. |
I agree that it can be very dis-heartening that any effort, into trying to get things moving are so easily cast aside, people wont keep trying and getting ignored, but if we don't keep nagging and pushing them things wont change. This, however isn't the fans job, who at the club is cracking the whip with regards to the commercial department, they've been allowed to coast for much too long. | |
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| Latest Figures on 15:51 - Mar 30 with 1820 views | bilbobaggins |
fashionable items if your going to have a club shop and i wonder how much the chippy makes across the road each game maybe someone in the club should of asked them to do the catering inside the club and not across the road |  | | |
| Latest Figures on 17:56 - Mar 30 with 1750 views | blackpoolcol |
| Latest Figures on 14:27 - Mar 30 by 49thseason |
The Board needs to make decisions, right or wrong, anything would be better than the unacceptable situation we are in at the moment with de-motivated staff, shoddy merchandise and dissatisfied customers.
SHOP:
1. Shut the shop and shift everything online, make existing staff redundant and appoint a manager to develop online sales. Open the online shop as a wholly owned subsidiary of the club to prevent future contamination.
2. Consider using empty shops in town as short term pop-up shops just prior to the season starting and at Christmas.
3. Collect email addresses and USE THEM!- Newsletters, discounts, vouchers etc. etc. At least once a week.
4. Write off the crap - stock what sells.
GOLDBOND:
1. Introduce more interest via scratch cards, raffles etc. Open a a membership van to get new members in the town centre (and Heywood and Middleton and Littleborough), do monthly direct debits to save collecting. Make sure winners are shown in the press.
All the decline was foreseeable and has been ignored. My worry is the board have reached the end of their enthusiasm and have adopted a defeated mindset. I think Keith has as much on his plate with the board as he does with the team. Honestly I fear the worst.
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as someone who deals with weekly draws at other clubs if I may:
"GOLDBOND:
1. Introduce more interest via scratch cards, raffles etc. Open a a membership van to get new members in the town centre (and Heywood and Middleton and Littleborough), do monthly direct debits to save collecting. Make sure winners are shown in the press."
The winners used to be published in the Observer, if they are not I would guess that the Ob are now charging but, lets be honest, not as many people buy the "local" paper anymore as most go online nowadays. The main point is to be putting out the winners on the official website (which they do) as well as over facebook / twitter. One idea I have used elsewhere is to have a results email. The full list of winners is emailed to all who have supplied - this means that standing order members and those who are collected say fortnightly or monthly always get the result sheets. This also gives you more marketing options as well. For an example of the facebook page at Morecambe for their lottery see https://www.facebook.com/#!/morecambe.goaldengatesuperdraw?fref=ts
Monthly dds - not easy to set up in the first instance as you have many extras like having to get a "remote licence" from the Gambling Commission if you are going to collect the details online or over the phone. Even for paper details the charges that most banks charge IF you can obtain an originators number can be crazy. With the account being linked to a football club and all the problems over the last decade with football banks are reluctant to do this. For standing orders less people are willing to join if it is by standing order / card payers than the door to door option.
Overall memberships of local weekly draws are down nationwide. The national lottery was the first to attack the local lottery and through a hell of a lot of hard work Dale came back stronger and built up, now though you have a lot less civic pride in joining local draws and gambling is avaliable 24/7.
The likes of the "postcode lottery" and "health lottery" who have multi millionaires behind them setting up competiton with the national lottery aiming for the "local market". When was the last time a single penny from the Health Lottery went into the area? Try March LAST YEAR! http://www.healthsustaincic.org.uk/ I had quite a debate at a Lotteries Council meeting with some of the management of the health lottery as they said they did not effect lotteries(!) The fact that they are in many local shops and supermarkets and able to advertise on tv makes a hell of a difference - and yet they only 'give' the minimum of 20p in each £1 to good causes.
Another reason for falling membership is that you have to keep canvassing on an ongoing basis but for that you need to have staff to do it. If you do not have enough collectors for your existing membership you need to cover them yourselves, thus reducing the canvassing time avaliable which will as sure as eggs are eggs mean you lose members. I would expect the likes of Dale to lose an average of 40 £1 members each week through people cancelling / moving away / dying so first things first is to recruit to replace them first.
The decline in pubs also cost members, I browsed through facebook on some of the pubs now closed in Dale and a hell of a lot of them used to be collectors for the club but as they close the members disappear - same with newsagents, the number of newsagents who used to do deliveries is declining thus meaning less members through the other old staple of paying via your newsagent.
The only solution is more collectors coming forward - and for that they need the supporters to help. Also to have collectors taking pride and calling back at the non payers. This then frees up the likes of Pete to concentrate on the recruitment of new members instead of fire fighting by having to collect rounds instead.
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| With my little stick of Blackpool Rock, along the promenade I'll stroll |
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| Latest Figures on 19:01 - Mar 30 with 1699 views | 49thseason |
| Latest Figures on 17:56 - Mar 30 by blackpoolcol |
as someone who deals with weekly draws at other clubs if I may:
"GOLDBOND:
1. Introduce more interest via scratch cards, raffles etc. Open a a membership van to get new members in the town centre (and Heywood and Middleton and Littleborough), do monthly direct debits to save collecting. Make sure winners are shown in the press."
The winners used to be published in the Observer, if they are not I would guess that the Ob are now charging but, lets be honest, not as many people buy the "local" paper anymore as most go online nowadays. The main point is to be putting out the winners on the official website (which they do) as well as over facebook / twitter. One idea I have used elsewhere is to have a results email. The full list of winners is emailed to all who have supplied - this means that standing order members and those who are collected say fortnightly or monthly always get the result sheets. This also gives you more marketing options as well. For an example of the facebook page at Morecambe for their lottery see https://www.facebook.com/#!/morecambe.goaldengatesuperdraw?fref=ts
Monthly dds - not easy to set up in the first instance as you have many extras like having to get a "remote licence" from the Gambling Commission if you are going to collect the details online or over the phone. Even for paper details the charges that most banks charge IF you can obtain an originators number can be crazy. With the account being linked to a football club and all the problems over the last decade with football banks are reluctant to do this. For standing orders less people are willing to join if it is by standing order / card payers than the door to door option.
Overall memberships of local weekly draws are down nationwide. The national lottery was the first to attack the local lottery and through a hell of a lot of hard work Dale came back stronger and built up, now though you have a lot less civic pride in joining local draws and gambling is avaliable 24/7.
The likes of the "postcode lottery" and "health lottery" who have multi millionaires behind them setting up competiton with the national lottery aiming for the "local market". When was the last time a single penny from the Health Lottery went into the area? Try March LAST YEAR! http://www.healthsustaincic.org.uk/ I had quite a debate at a Lotteries Council meeting with some of the management of the health lottery as they said they did not effect lotteries(!) The fact that they are in many local shops and supermarkets and able to advertise on tv makes a hell of a difference - and yet they only 'give' the minimum of 20p in each £1 to good causes.
Another reason for falling membership is that you have to keep canvassing on an ongoing basis but for that you need to have staff to do it. If you do not have enough collectors for your existing membership you need to cover them yourselves, thus reducing the canvassing time avaliable which will as sure as eggs are eggs mean you lose members. I would expect the likes of Dale to lose an average of 40 £1 members each week through people cancelling / moving away / dying so first things first is to recruit to replace them first.
The decline in pubs also cost members, I browsed through facebook on some of the pubs now closed in Dale and a hell of a lot of them used to be collectors for the club but as they close the members disappear - same with newsagents, the number of newsagents who used to do deliveries is declining thus meaning less members through the other old staple of paying via your newsagent.
The only solution is more collectors coming forward - and for that they need the supporters to help. Also to have collectors taking pride and calling back at the non payers. This then frees up the likes of Pete to concentrate on the recruitment of new members instead of fire fighting by having to collect rounds instead.
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Col,
Thank you for taking time to answer so fully. Your comments need forwarding to Mr Dunphy. Its very clear that many of the obvious things have been tried but in the end I feel its a combination of doing simple, obvious things well and applying the lessons learned elsewhere that will lead to greater success.
As far as recruiting new members is concerned, perhaps the club could take on teams of students over their summer holidays to a) go over existing rounds to garner new members and b) blitz areas with few members to create new rounds or part rounds which could then be taken up by interested collectors. If the problem is getting enough collectors then perhaps the club ought to look at the rewards on offer for the first year or two of new rounds until they become established.
As far as pubs are concerned, I would have thought that a simple scratch card operation with a decent profit split would be even more attractive given the reduction in trade?
In any case thank you, your sharing of expertise is appreciated.
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