Voyageurs Sponsonship of Foothills PDL Kit - GFM Donations Live

[Blue and White Army]

[madmonte]

I just donated

[DigzTFC]

Great work, especially Nicky Cottee.  Are we going for round two? hahaha.  Stop giving people!

[Tuscan]

Well done everyone. Sorry Dal, looks like we hit the ceiling a bit too soon for you. Your Canadian soccer supporter cred has taken an incredible hit because of this 

On a more serious note, I'll be getting in touch with Tommy W today to go over the funds transfer and also find out what options there are to make sure The Voyageurs are recognized for this amazing effort. Alternatively, I might ensure every single dime goes towards keeping Tommy's coiffure as lavish as can be. Must take a tub of conditioner to maintain that voluminous style.

More once I have a chat with him.

 

***This is a bit embarassing but I did the math wrong regarding the overage we needed to cover GFM's % they take off the total. We actually need another $30 to make this work out to $1000 even.

[shermanator]

That $30 hit is going to bite into Tommy's conditioner budget isn't it?

Dallas, you're up son!

[madmonte]

I can put a little more down if need Jeff?

[Tuscan]

Definitely can. $30 is all that's needed for this to be good to go.

[MrsC]

I was prepared to do another $30 in donation matching but we hit the total while I was sleeping. I just donated so we should be done.

[rob.notenboom]

3 hours ago, MrsC said:

I was prepared to do another $30 in donation matching but we hit the total while I was sleeping. I just donated so we should be done.

I owe you a beer or three in Vancouver. You really kicked in a lot. 

[TRM]

Okay that was quick. Now on to the question of jersey or banner in the stadium? We'd get more exposure for the group if we had a big banner in the stadium all season with our URL on it but a jersey emblem would be so cool. Decisions, decisions.

[Unnamed Trialist]

On 13/3/2016 at 9:25 PM, MrsC said:

That's me :).  I just matched it so we are even closer.

That's amazing you offered to do that, great work on your part.

Can I just comment: will Foothills produce the logo on a shirt or a banner from our official artwork, or will the donors be asked to cover the cost of that? Just asking as it is important to ensure your identity as a sponsor is correctly presented, and fully optimized, and that could mean the need for more funds. 

[Tuscan]

Regarding how things will work for recognition, from Graham Harder, Foothills' Dir. of Marketing:

"Jeff, In terms of recognition for the group all 50Names contributors will have their name on an in-stadium board clearly recognizing their support. Please let them know. Thanks for all your help with fundraising and for organizing the logistics with Leanne.

Chat soon,

Graham"

[Unnamed Trialist]

Just now, Tuscan said:

Regarding how things will work for recognition, from Graham Harder, Foothills' Dir. of Marketing:

"Jeff, In terms of recognition for the group all 50Names contributors will have their name on an in-stadium board clearly recognizing their support. Please let them know. Thanks for all your help with fundraising and for organizing the logistics with Leanne.

Chat soon,

Graham"

Here again, I insist. Voyageurs (or any other corporate or non-profit sponsor) should not be satisfied with Foothills just putting our name on a generic board using a generic font, it should be our design, however chaotic 50 such signs might look (typical 4th division stadiums I've been).

[rob.notenboom]

34 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Here again, I insist. Voyageurs (or any other corporate or non-profit sponsor) should not be satisfied with Foothills just putting our name on a generic board using a generic font, it should be our design, however chaotic 50 such signs might look (typical 4th division stadiums I've been).

It should be pretty straightforward for @Tuscan to get The Voyageurs logo off @admin and supply it to Foothills.

 

(Just making work for other folks)

[Admin]

Yeah, that is no problem.

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

40 minutes ago, Tuscan said:

Regarding how things will work for recognition, from Graham Harder, Foothills' Dir. of Marketing:

"Jeff, In terms of recognition for the group all 50Names contributors will have their name on an in-stadium board clearly recognizing their support. Please let them know. Thanks for all your help with fundraising and for organizing the logistics with Leanne.

Chat soon,

Graham"

 

2 minutes ago, rob.notenboom said:

It should be pretty straightforward for @Tuscan to get The Voyageurs logo off @admin and supply it to Foothills.

 

(Just making work for other folks)

Know I am doing the same, and haven't donated as things are tight this month though hope to (just bought plane tix back to Van for the summer), but perhaps it would be worth it for the Vs to continue to raise the money to pay for the cost of a proper banner or board. 

I understand that Foothills may be reticent to spend half of what they have raised just to produce the sponsor's names, that is fair. Though if they coordinate it the unit cost would drop.

[shermanator]

I think we should try to make the Voyageurs logo visible on our "section of the in-stadium board" if we can. That being said, in my view the purpose of this effort was not to push our brand like a typical sponson would, it was to support a local program that is developing Canadian talent. The club already knows who the Voyageurs are and what we're about. If the Voyageurs name happens to be on a list of sponsons located somewhere in the stadium, so be it.

[Unnamed Trialist]

On 16/3/2016 at 3:28 AM, shermanator said:

I think we should try to make the Voyageurs logo visible on our "section of the in-stadium board" if we can. That being said, in my view the purpose of this effort was not to push our brand like a typical sponson would, it was to support a local program that is developing Canadian talent. The club already knows who the Voyageurs are and what we're about. If the Voyageurs name happens to be on a list of sponsons located somewhere in the stadium, so be it.

I argue there is a slight difference. Any company in Calgary, a hardware store, or private philanthropist, a soccer mome, takes money that is theirs and puts it into a cause. Like this. There is probably even a tax break for this (has this been checked?). Having their name on a list is their small reward, for most the money represents a tiny % of total value.

Voyageurs are different, at least from the majority and likely the vast majority of donors (though I imagine there have been a few clubs or other non-profits who've also raised money for this). 

We do not use our own privately held money as an organization for such causes. We channel it. And we represent values that should be more widely known and spread and are worth insisting upon, so that Canadians everywhere might be encouraged to support Canadian soccer in any form. The benefits of a name printed somewhere do not come back to us, they go back into Canadian soccer.

Having our logo present is ensuring the presence of a set of values that are worth advancing, it is not a question of ego or profit-driven marketing or even less any sort of whitewashing a corporate image.

 

[madmonte]

I agree that I'd probably rather see the Vs represented as a whole than see my name on a board.  That said, let's not get away from the fact that it isn't really about us.  Recognition is fine, but I can do without it, I don't really care.  It was more about helping a canadian club so Canadian kids have opportunities.

That said, is promoting ourselves important?  Yes it is, because the larger we are, the more able we are to help.  So I understand what trialist is saying in trying to ensure we are represented the right way, as beneficial to us.

I'm 50/50 on it.  Anything is fine.

[ESG Shawn]

Here's the finished product, from tonight's FC Edmonton academy vs. Foothills match in Calgary. 

 

 

[Blue and White Army]

Curious why they used red.

[MrsC]

On 5/8/2016 at 9:54 PM, ESG Shawn said:

Here's the finished product, from tonight's FC Edmonton academy vs. Foothills match in Calgary. 

 

 

I was hoping to be able to buy one of these, but they said they aren't selling to the general public this year.  Too bad.  It looks really nice.

[shermanator]

If Foothills refuses to sell #50Names jerseys than I think that's poor, especially given that people donated their money to sponsor them on the shirt.

Foothills has never been good in terms of having merchandise available, outside of their club scarves. Last year they had jerseys available for purchase only at the last home game of the year, and the quality of the jersey was incredibly poor for the price they wanted for it (ie. the three stripes were screened on which is different than every Adidas jersey I've ever come across). Went to the "official supplier" of the club last night and there was nothing at the store for the PDL club.

Meanwhile you contrast that with what's available on the Lane United club shop

https://squareup.com/store/LaneUnitedFC

[Blue and White Army]

I see a similar issue in Victoria, with the new owners (who are soccer guys, rather than business guys) having no interest in using supporter-ownership to increase revenue, despite the club being tight for cash.

It's definitely worth hiring professional sports club administrators. Foothills are traditionally a youth-player club, and I assume are relying on staff from that side of the club to also run their PDL team. Perhaps they'll learn this lesson in the first few years of running their PDL side.