Just a thought....................don't shoot me, and i don't even know why i'm suggesting it considering i've recently become un-employed!

Anyways, here goes:-.......................My Idea!

Everybody seems to hope and pray that one day a white knight will appear out of nowhere and solve all our problems overnight! - It ain't gonna happen.

My biggest problem with the club at the moment (besides Denis) is that whilst it appears that the current board has a goal - we aren't so certain what that is!
Yeah - i know, i know. They have some three year goal to get back to breaking even, blah blah blah. But isn't that a given anyway? Like do you really need to make that a goal?

Goals that should be set are (from what i think anyway)..................

Sponsership Deals
More media attention
Putting some character back into the club.

As much as i hate him (well, kinda) Elliot was right - Collins has no Charisma. No style! He's got the personality of a wet mop.

Look at Eddie @ Collingwood. Look at Jeff @ Hawthorn. Collins is by far and away the most un-interesting President in the AFL - which does not bode well for sponsership.

But, with that said, i believe his greatest problem ATM is to get us out of debt. And that's where we come in.

I know that we Carlton fans have put up with a hole lot of shit for the past couple of years and we HAVE NOT DESERVED THIS PUNISHMENT!

But....................................

The white knight is not coming..................but why can't we form our own white night.

Think about this.....................

If we could get say 50,000 people from Australia wide (and that's a number i fully see as a possibility) to donate say for arguments sake, $200 each - that's a $1 million dollar donation to the club we love so much.
or, think of it this way, which i believe to be much more marketable and attractive.
A direct deposit of $10 for each round of the home & away season. = $220 donation!

hows that for a white night?

AND THERE WOULD OF COURSE BE CONDITIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We would have to be promised that the money would be used in the right way - ie, paying of debts. And we would want proof of that.

We would also like to know just where the hell the club is gonna be in 5 years time. Because right now, i would take another 10 wooden spoons as a preference over seeing us merge or worse, becoming the West Sydney Blues.

In other words, we want a little assurance! I think thats worth $10 a week! Don't you?

Just a thought...............................so please don't yell!

Oh, and i would want an autograph from kouta too!

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

What a great suggestion!!! I'm in on it but it's got to be a full on community effort and people would have to pledge the amount first and all that adminsitative stuff etc. etc.

This is kind of what the Carlton Heroes project was all about, although "entry" into that group was about $1000 IIRC.

Apart from that, if we had 50,000 members our revenue would be through the roof (comparatively speaking). So the ways and means to help the club already exist.

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$200 donation = membership.

50000 is 50% up on last year. If we could match it for last year we will have done exceedingly well.

ahem... 50,000 x $200 is 10 Million.

I think that is the idea the club was going for with the $300 raffles... With the thinking being that 1500 tickets at $300 each is nearly half a million for a relatively low outlay...

Personally - I can't stretch to the $300 raffle anymore, so I was glad they put the $50 version into effect.... but they've gone back to the $300 version

They used to have the $100 one to win a Saab Convertible. I thought it was a good "number" and I always bought a ticket. (Just got pissed off when a certain Doc who really needs money (not) was drawn as a winner some years ago....)

I think $300 is too much for many people for a raffle ticket.

I mentioned this in an email to the club. 33000 members ( last years) @ $30 surcharge for one year on their membership is close enough to 1 mill. Not sure how many would jump on , but i would think the majoirty would. Sureits expensive enough to go to the footy as it is, but finances permitted, it is acheivalbe. I have been a member since 95 adnd for the last 3 years have bough a memebrship, albeit a basic package, whilst hardly going to a game ( work and family conmmitments). I would be more than happy to part with an extra 30

I was about to type that.

The raffles are a good idea but they don't promote them enough. I get a call from the club saying this is a very exclusive raffle for social members with limited ticket sales.
How about a mega raffle sponsored by Dan Murphys with their name everywhere. It could be called Dan Murphy's Beer for Life raffle. A hundred bucks a ticket, one winner gets a lifetime supply of Carlton draught. Forget cars and holidays, beer sells and every male supporter would buy a ticket (Dannyboy would buy 6).

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"We used to sit around and talk about how bad the game plan was." Anthony Koutoufides

A cash injection of 1 million is great in theory... but it will dry out quickly.. what we need is to have a brand that can attract money in on an ongoing basis.
It wont happen with Collo cos he doesnt have a face that a sponsor wants .
The board is not capable of capturing the corporate market.
Its as simple as that.
Theyre out of ideas and are now going to the AFL.. then saying we arent going to the AFL.

The PP AFL take over will happen.. you can bet your bottom dollar.

But i want to know how it costs us close to 2 million a year to maintain as the figure that was mentioned?

We must have a curator on more money than Kouta and Pagan put together.. cos i can guarantee you we have dont zilch obvious maintenance to the ground as from when we stopped playing.

Even the TV at the front has gone...

TWO million dollars???Pigs arse!!!!

Theyre just playing with numbers and our cocks!!!

Its getting rather insulting now...

Id love to see that figure itemised...!!!

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Of course they are playing with it. There has been no real maintenance done at the place in the last 10 years, let alone now when we don't even play there. It's the same splintered seats that have been there since I was 13.

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"We used to sit around and talk about how bad the game plan was." Anthony Koutoufides

I dunno, I could drink a lot of beer. If I send Dan Murphys broke in the first half of the season we wouldn't have a major sponsor anymore

But the ideas in this thread are good. People should keep throwing them out there. They really should have some sort of structured debt erradication program ie give people the opportunity to make a donation along with their membership if they had the means. Say we make 30,000 members (perhaps optimistic at this point). If even ten percent of members made a $50 donation along with their membership, then that's $150,000. Not much, but it'll cover the interest on our debt for a few months. Every bit helps.

Yes extra members help, but to not have a capacity for existing members to donate funds to help pay of the club's debt (if they have the means/inclination), seems a bit silly.

My simple view on is that Memberships do two things:

1.The higher the number of members the more attractive to sponsors becomes the club(and I reckon 40,000 is the magic number to raise eyebrows).

2. Raises money for the club

Question?

My son Carlton is a Baby Blue Member; cost of $50 or less. Is he recognised as a member in our membership count ?, and does $50 really help given that when you subtract costs associated with this membership, the club is left with buggerall?

He also buys raffle tickets through his old man.

I think the original suggestion is as good as any to raise money to pay for the INTEREST of $500K, and it must be accountable. I am happy to donate more for this Carlton cause, as I did for Richmond and others when they were shaking cans years ago....and I would be happy to hassle others around the country to donate more, just as I encourage them to be members.

Something has to happen and I'm sure old supporters will rise from the dead....to support the club. I too think $300 for a raffle is way too much. $100 should be the absolute limit...in my situation, married with a Kid and a Mortgage, and the investment in Carlton merchandising I indulge myself, family and friends, with I was taken back when I was called to buy $300 raffle that I had not budgeted for....albeit I did it...the wife, who is not a football fan and Sydney girl, couldn't comprehend the amount of money I spend with the club. She at least knows she barracks for Carlton one way or another.

PS: Collo is not the bloke who will wake them from the dead...we need celebrity supporters, past players, people with charisma....bring back a volunteer version of the bluebirds and have them dance with cans in front of them....or maybe I should have said donation hats and even better get them a sponsor too...it nay be easier to find a sponsor for them than it is for the coach.

THE EMPIRE WILL STRIKE BACK...one way or another

One million, two million..aint enough we need big dollar sponsorship...the game has evolved...raffles and bingo nights dont work anymore....either does tin rattling...save your money for the Royal kids hospital appeal...the powers at be at Carlton have to land some major sponsors to the degree that Collingwood have..thats what it takes now to make a football club run and pay the bills....do any of you see where the game is going....look at sport anywhere in the world..its sponsorships that pay the big bills not members...

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

Look we had the heros thinggy..
The foundation fund..

Record memebership.. to me the supporters have been right behind the club but the board is not capable in its currnet form to really make the difference and that is in capturing sponsors.

Thats where the real money comes in!!!!

Theyre out of ideas ts as simple as that...

I know this cos they havent delivered in the past and its not going to change unless there is a change.

_________________
Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

No ones arguing that we don't need more sponsorship. Of course we do. If anyone is in a position to organise some for the club, knock yourself out, I'm sure everyone on this site will buy you a beer.

But anything supporters can do to knock the edge of that 7m debt has got to help. Especially if we can't secure some more sponsorship in the short term and/or Collo can't offload PP on the AFL.

If having a president with glamour and corporate appeal makes all the difference to getting sponsors, can someone tell me who the president of Essendon* is?

We agree...new board required with skills to match the modern era of running a business not just a club....

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

I thought this one intimated that they've put the debt facilities under the banner of maintaining PP.....

http://carltonfc.com.au/default.asp?pg= ... eid=249603

OK Synbad, I'll bite, you've made it clear to all of us dimwits, change is needed, we are a rabble;

WHO IS YOUR MAN?

WHO WILL SOLVE ALL OF THE PROBLEMS WE ARE FACED WITH?

SYNBAD, IT'S TIME TO UNMASK YOURSELF & DECLARE YOUR HAND.

WHO CAN REMEDY OUR SITUATION!

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A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.