Financial Planning and Fundraising
For the 17/18 season the playing budget was supplemented by around £40,000 from fan donations however player sales in excess of £50,000 also contributed to us being able to support the wage budget that was set. It would not be prudent to base the 18/19 playing budget on receiving these revenues next season or any revenue generated from cup runs.
Should any unexpected revenue be received during the season this would be used as critical headroom to support periods of the season where cash flow is impacted or where unforeseen circumstances cause a gap between the forecast and actual revenues which can fluctuate much more than costs which are generally pretty fixed. To give some context around this situation if our average attendance was just 100 lower than forecast we’d be looking at a revenue gap of around £20,000 over the course of the season. On the flip side an increase of 100 would see a similar revenue boost which is why it’s so important that we must work on the matchday experience in order to re-engage lapsed fans and engage new fans.
Many clubs have a benefactor who can bridge this gap when necessary and subsequently withdraw funds at times of surplus however choosing to have a fan owned football club presents unique financial challenges – the hand to mouth nature of the business means any headroom we can built into the finances is both prudent and essential.It is also critical that all revenue streams are forensically examined and forecast to a high degree of detail when creating the annual budget - this level of financial planning is a clear step change to recent seasons.
Additional revenue streams are being investigated but unfortunately take time to come to fruition so in the short term if we want a team capable of challenging for promotion we as owners will have to find it. Ultimately the long term aim for the club has to be to reduce reliance on fan owners by establishing non-football related income streams.