The FTF is about building the financial muscle of the Club to allow us to remove the burden of debt and invest in football. These critical objectives will be addressed concurrently, with money donated to the FTF being divided equally between the two.
Both of these aims underpin Richmond’s broader 3-0-75 vision. Increased investment will drive performance and, ultimately, finals appearances. A cash injection will help us achieve our stated ambition of zero debt and ignite on-field performance. This, in turn, will drive the economic engine to break the cycle and create revenue to sustain the Club through its next phase of sustained success.
To this stage, the Club has raised funds of $3 million - halfway to the goal we set ourselves of $6 million. It was an excellent first phase of the FTF and we were thrilled with the genuine interest and level of support shown by the Yellow and Black faithful in year one. This has allowed us to remove $1 million from the Club’s debt and provided us with the financial resources required to deliver a state-of-the-art redevelopment of the Punt Road Oval surface.
We have laid the foundation upon which to build for the future, but we still have some considerable challenges ahead:
• We need to continue to reduce the burden of debt to enable us to pay 100% of the salary cap and be favourably placed for the introduction of free agency.
• We must continue to invest in our high-performance program, which requires an investment in equipment plus coaching and development staff.
• We must continue to invest in our recruiting and list analysis structure, so we can continue to build the depth of our playing list.
• We must develop our second-tier structure to fast-track the growth of our young players.
The latest initiative of the Fighting Tiger Fund has been the launch of the FTF Patron Program and we thank our members and supporters for their backing, which so far has resulted in a contribution of $100,000. Beyond this, the Club will be holding another major fundraising function in early June, with further details to be released in due course.
The Patron Program provides a simple way for fans to support the Fighting Tiger Fund while, at the same time, delivering many great benefits, including an invitation to attend the Elite Patrons Function on April 17, along with the entire playing group, a personally signed limited edition Elite Patron certificate signed by the 2012 playing leadership group, an exclusive stick pin, and having your name on the run-through banner for this year’s Round 17 FTF game.
The Club is offering Elite or Premium Patron options. Elite Patron package costs $249 ($35.57 per month). It will raise a further $370,000 towards the FTF should it be fully subscribed to. If 5000 Tiger fans take up the Premium Patron package, at $100 ($14.28 per month), it will raise $500,000.
Our updated Fighting Tiger Fund website pages include details of the journey we have undertaken thus far, what the road ahead looks like, and the impact on the business when we achieve our ultimate goal.
For further details, or to join as a Patron, head to the new FTF website www.fightingtigerfund.com.au, or call 1300 742 466.blog comments powered by Disqus
