Anyone else seen this, i think its a great idea!

https://www.squareknot.co.uk/pitch/east-fife-fc-s-three-projects/165/pitch-details

you will have to register to the website(free) before you can view it.

I seened it too.

Any idea what the investor rewards were?

you have to click on the 'funder rewards' section. you get certain rewards depending on how much money you invest. I think it was something like signed EF shirts, hospitaly tickets etc.

at 00:33
Share this page

Email
Print

Share
Facebook
Twitter

East Fife football club asks crowd for funds
David Muir goal East Fife said fans who invest will get special privileges like access to players

East Fife Football Club has become the first club in Scotland to turn to crowdfunding to raise finance.

The club hopes to attract small sums from a large number of people to raise up to £100,000.

It will be used to develop a new shop, a cafe bar and a 750-seater stand.

Fans who invest will receive one ordinary share in the club and get a range of benefits including season tickets, hospitality packages, access to players and club merchandise.

Lee Murray, a local businessman who took over chairmanship of the club last June, said crowdfunding would allow the club to develop commercially without taking on debt.

He added: "Although the club is operating within its financial means, there is little scope within the budget for capital spend on stadium enhancements and the directors do not believe that incurring significant levels of debt to fund capital projects is the correct approach for the club to take."

East Fife is using a scheme devised and managed by Squareknot, a Glasgow-based crowdfunding company.
Individual projects

Derek Bond, managing director of Squareknot, said: "This is a novel approach to football finance which gives clubs and fans the best of both worlds, first class facilities and financial stability.

"It is designed specifically to allow fans to invest in individual projects rather than in the club as a whole.

"As well as giving them an opportunity improve facilities and their own match experience, it also gives them a say in how their club is run and other tangible benefits including tickets, hospitality and signed kit."

Fans can invest in one or more of the three individual development projects.

The shop will cost £25,000 to build, a further £50,000 is needed for a new cafe bar and £100,000 will result in all three facilities completed.

Two lower league clubs south of the border, Darlington and Kettering Town, have used crowdfunding to stave off bankruptcy but Squareknot says this is a different model designed to "help financially stable clubs to improve facilities and attract new fans".

The company said it was in discussions with other clubs about running
similar schemes.

From BBC website

PLEDGE £1000+ 1 Ordinary Share in East Fife FC Limited + East Fife football top signed by a player + 4 match hospitality tickets for a home match + A season ticket for the 2014/15 season
In addition, the first 10 people to pledge £250 or more will have the opportunity to meet the players before a match, enjoy pre-match refreshments, and watch the game from the comfort of the Directors Box.
There are limited numbers of each reward available and match ticket and hospitality rewards are subject to availability.
The Ordinary Share gifted to those who pledge money to the funding projects will entitle the shareholder to attend and vote at the club’s Annual General Meeting. The share should not be viewed as a tangible investment either in terms of its resale value or the entitlement of the shareholder to receive dividends.

PLEDGE £500+ 1 Ordinary Share in East Fife FC Limited + East Fife football top signed by a player + 4 match hospitality tickets for a home match
In addition, the first 10 people to pledge £250 or more will have the opportunity to meet the players before a match, enjoy pre-match refreshments, and watch the game from the comfort of the Directors Box.
There are limited numbers of each reward available and match ticket and hospitality rewards are subject to availability.
The Ordinary Share gifted to those who pledge money to the funding projects will entitle the shareholder to attend and vote at the club’s Annual General Meeting. The share should not be viewed as a tangible investment either in terms of its resale value or the entitlement of the shareholder to receive dividends.

PLEDGE £250+ 1 Ordinary Share in East Fife FC Limited + East Fife football top signed by a player + 4 match tickets for a home match
In addition, the first 10 people to pledge £250 or more will have the opportunity to meet the players before a match, enjoy pre-match refreshments, and watch the game from the comfort of the Directors Box.
There are limited numbers of each reward available and match ticket and hospitality rewards are subject to availability.
The Ordinary Share gifted to those who pledge money to the funding projects will entitle the shareholder to attend and vote at the club’s Annual General Meeting. The share should not be viewed as a tangible investment either in terms of its resale value or the entitlement of the shareholder to receive dividends.

PLEDGE £100+ 1 Ordinary Share in East Fife FC Limited + East Fife football top signed by a player
There are limited numbers of each reward available and match ticket and hospitality rewards are subject to availability.
The Ordinary Share gifted to those who pledge money to the funding projects will entitle the shareholder to attend and vote at the club’s Annual General Meeting. The share should not be viewed as a tangible investment either in terms of its resale value or the entitlement of the shareholder to receive dividends.

The pledged money will only be taken from your account if the goal is reached. Im going to pledge a £100 towards it now and more later if all goes well,

Me too JMJ.

Great idea and we get something back AND the facilities. I hope and pray we can make it to the full 100k.

I'd like to invest. How do we pledge? Thanks.

If you go to www.squareknot.co.uk and register ...all info is on there. Easy to do

I think this is a fantastic idea. I will defo make a donation of £250 but that will have to wait until after Xmas.

One question and not a dig but did mr Murry and co pay £100 for a share some how i think not.
I seem to recall shares were on sale for £5 each under the last board.

More than happy to do this but would much rather have shares than a signed top.

What will the shop sell? How will this shop be different from the other shops in Leven High Street? Why can't the shop be a ten pin bowling alley?

What will the cafe bar sell? How will this cafe be different from Sainsburys or a refrigerated treat from the Shell garage? Why can't this cafe be an ice cream parlour?

Should either of these ventures be successful how will I be able to drag my customers away from their shopping spree/three course meal on a Saturday afternoon to fill my 750 seater stand?

These projects need to show more divergence.

Firstly I'd like to point out that i have pledged funds. However, i do have a couple of thoughts / questions. Are projected costs realistic? Does it really only cost £50k to put up a stand roughly the third of the size of Bayview? I would have thought it materials alone would be rather more than this figure. Also, why start with the club shop? I totally agree that the current shop isn't great but at least we have a shop that is there and hopefully makes a few quid. Why it start with the cafe bar?
Ultimately I'm all for this and think it's great, that's why I've pledged. Hope the figures are correct and more people get onboard!

Anyone else having problems registering? When i try to become a member i complete the application and then i'm told an email verification has been sent to my email address, but no email verification has been received. Strange one.

Cancel my last, won't allow me to delete on phone. I have pledged.

I'm already a shareholder, and proud to be so. I'm also a season ticket holder and have been for a number of years. This year season ticket holders were promised a number of add-on's, to date I've heard nothing of these add on's and here we are being promised add-on's once again, is this every likely to happen?

I think fans have got to decide if they are wanting to invest in this scheme solely for themselves, or also for the club. It looks like to me, that this scheme is giving both the club and the supporters something in return for the investments, so it is a win-win situation I reckon?

It certainly looks like an innovative idea and full marks to the club for getting the publicity on it. I hope we can raise money through a variety of means for the vision the current board have for the club.

Personally I would like to know a bit more about what the commission rate is for the Squareknot company before committing funds. I'm cautious anyway about providing bank details on line and would prefer to donate via a constituted body or trust (E.G EFST/Supporters Club).

Not making any comparisons at all but remember we got a great sponsorship opportunity from the Largo Trust a few years back.

Squareknot looks like a relatively new company (August 2013) with a connection to Kession Capital investment fund management company so would probably research it a bit more myself before using that route to donate.

Id also like to hear if there is still a goal a supporter owned club through the East Fife Supporters Trust. Dunfermline have show it can be done albeit in response to a financial meltdown which thankfully is not the situation we are in.
Anyway well done to the board for their efforts and looking forward to standing at that sea end terrace in my lifetime.

Agree totally with your comments Sparky . I like this model but cannot understand why we cannot use this model without going through Squareknot with the obvious commission. That way all the money raised will go direct to the club. My concern is also that they are an unknown company with unknown credentials.

Guys I have negotiated the best deal possible for the club, it is normally 5% commission on these deals I have got us to 3% and nothing will be paid until we actually achieve our goals/targets.

There is a few other questions and Squareknot are willing to have an open meeting with fans if required. Please let me know if you what this?

This has only been done with the best intentions more shop space will bring in more money, a cafe/coffee shop will bring in money all day every day in a now very busy industrial estate in which the club is sited. With all the money raised we will look to build another stand onto the ground, if we get to the championship sorry when we get to the championship we will get good use of it.

I have said this a few times and I say it again we need to think like a Championship club because we belong there! Don't let the no-Sayers drag us down. It will take time but we are building a real community focused football club.

EF need all your support.

Lee

With ref to the cafe/coffee shop.

Why dedicate money to this when you have a bar and kitchens up the stairs already
The club used to have thr bayview cafe before just revamp this idea, and instead
Of putting in new money for a coffee shop install a disabled lift for the use of
Our supporters. Again this is only an idea

for those worried about invest money direct with squareknot, why don't the supporters club / trust collect the money then pledge on the fans behalf? Only downside would be that individuals would not benefit from the deals I suppose!

good item online here...

http://fcbusiness.co.uk/news/article/newsitem=2833/title=east+fife+draw+on+power+of+the+crowd

I hope the squareknot scheme is successful but it's not for me. What happens if the middle man were to go into administration between taking funds and giving them to the club?

I'd prefer a share issue.

But I admire the novel and bold thinking behind it.

What about issuing a plaque/small sign as per Arsenals North Bank Initiative? http://www.arsenal.com/the-club/the-north-bank-terrace/what-will-you-say-on-the-steps-of-the-north-bank-terrace-
Rather than get a signed shirt I would rather have a block engraved to stand for evermore!