If transparency is difficult, why not outsource it?
The courtroom battles between FKF and KPL have taken a brief reprieve at least for now. This means teams can now get back to the business of playing and addressing other important issues. For Gor Mahia, this means they need to figure out who to meet their payroll.
Avoiding Financial Instability
Before the Bandari match, there were reports of a go-slow by some players with other reports suggesting that some players were ready to break their contract due to unpaid salaries. Happily for Gor Mahia fans, the club chairman has miraculously found a way to pay salary arrears. In fact Chairman Rachier deserves praise for keeping the club afloat for an entire year in which Gor Mahia has not had a sponsor. Vice Chairman David Kilo recently indicated that there are times when Rachier has to dig into his own pocket to bail out the club. Whereas this is commendable, the club must start finding ways to attain measure of financial stability. You never now the next time players will go on strike again. It could be at a critical point of the season.
Officials find it difficult to be transparent
Last year the club engaged in a number of initiatives to try and finance the team. These include the 350100 initiative, the membership drive and the much vaunted fund raiser. All these failed to meet their objectives due to a number of reasons. Chief among these is the perceived lack of transparency. When some fans think of contributing to the club they hesitate. After all we live in a country of impunity and corruption
I have had discussions with various sports officials about this subject and some say that the time and effort needed to put in place the structures required for transparency are too effort and time intensive. Last year Gor Mahia took some tentative steps towards transparency and accountability: But those efforts have since been abandoned. Perhaps the treasurer ran out of time.
Partner with an external Company
Since providing any transparency is too difficult, the club should partner with an external company. Just like last year, Gor Mahia announced a partnership with Diamond Trust for ticketing, why not create a similar partnership with an auditing company like Price Waterhouse or even with Diamond Trust.
This company would be responsible for soliciting funds from fans on behalf of the club. The company would take charge of initiatives like the membership drive which flopped and is now in limbo.
The auditing company would also reach out to Gor Mahia fans who are based in the diaspora, many of whom have been looking for a way to contribute to the club. Note that Moneygram has recently partnered with Safaricom to make it easy for diaspora based Kenyans to send money to M-Pesa accounts.
A major fault of the clubs recent fund raising activities is that it is limited in scope. For example, when the club conducted a fund raiser last year, contributors were limited only to those who could attend the fundraiser event at Shauri Moyo hall. It comes as no surprise therefore that the fundraiser failed.
Performance based payments
The company chosen would keep an agreed upon percentage of the proceeds as pay. Because their pay is based on how much they collect, the company will be motivated to raise funds. Fans are more likely to trust an external company like Diamond Trust. But the company can generate even more confidence by creating a website that details how much money has been collected on a month by month basis.
Aside from engaging in a transparent effort, the auditing company would be responsible for creating a sustained effort by constantly reaching out to fans and encouraging them to renew their membership. The ability to sustain an initiative is something that our current club officials are unable to do. They typically start an initiative then it fizzles out. You cannot blame them however as they have full time jobs to attend to.
Evidence suggests that by engaging in this level of a sustained effort with transparency, the club can attain 30,000 paying members within 2 or 3 years. if you have 30,000 fans paying Ksh 100 per month, the club can raise Ksh 3 million each month which is Ksh 36 million a year. This is an amount far higher than what the club was getting from Tuzo. In fact it is twice as high.
The club can also create various levels of membership. For example gold membership with increased benefits can be Ksh 500 per month while platinum members. Lets say for arguments sake that 1000 of the members are gold members and 500 are platinum members, then the club can raise Ksh 4 million each month.
Fans have to be the sponsors.
The rumours that the club was going to get a a sponsorship deal with Molo milk are unlikely to pan out anytime soon. Fans who have been going on social media claiming that the deal is imminent pending a few details are doing the club a disservice. If fans actually think a sponsorship deal is imminent, they are less likely to contribute. And since sponsorship is difficult to come by, it is the fans who are going to have to sponsor the team.
This is the Barcelona model.
Before fans dismiss membership as an archaic way of funding a club, they should know that this method is commonly used by European teams, most notably Barcelona. A glance at their history page suggests that by 1924, Barcelona already had over 12,000 members. By 1970 they had over 65,000 members and todaay they have over 105,000 members paying an annual subscription of €177 per year. No wonder Barcelona did not have a short sponsorship until recently. They never needed it. In Africa, teams like Zamalek and Al Ahly have the highest subscriber bases
Good article but who will implement it in this office?
i wish something concrete could come out of this it is the best way of raising funds without depending on anyone.
Just get 3000 members paying kshs.1000 a month then Kogalo is home and dry!
Sincerely speaking, I think mobilization skills could be lacking from our Gor Mahia leadership.
Leadership is usually associated with follower-ship.
Any good idea that comes out fails at implementation stage ideally because leadership is people and if you don’t have majority behind you as a leader then how do you implement the good ideas you have? However, let no one think Am attacking the EC…I’m just addressing the current situation, disregarding the potential that each of them (leaders) have.
When you come to sponsorship table, no deal is going through due to political interference. Way forward is to get a serious mobilizer (a true leader) to run the club. If leadership cannot even mobilize 50,000 people to pay 1,000 then what next?
If professionalism and accountability is embraced then this club can go far. Mobilization can happen at branch levels and accountability also needs to increase. I’m sure if we are serious then one home match can raise a net of 2m and if we have 2 then that is 4m. By now the club should be having very serious assets…
Leadership is lacking. Without attacking the current Chair and his team, they may have done well but its only as far as keeping the team afloat.
The Harambee model he has been using is practically a fire fighting management technique. It keeps me wondering how branches blossom during ‘elections’ some ‘sponsored’ only to go silent soon after.
Is it a question of members or no members in this club?
Forget Barcelona model if It was that easy to implement the whole world would have adopted. We still vote people into leadership based on political patronage and vested interests not growth agendas. What benefits would a gor mahia member get ? We don’t even have our own stadium ….. We need to look at our unique environment ………….For me a sponsor is what we need in the short term and in the long term we can hire a fund manager who will run and manage a model equivalent to SACCO
Jakoyo do you really think getting a sponsor is easier than implementing the Barcelona model? You are mistaken. The club has been seeking a sponsor since December of 2013 when they found out that Tuzo would not be renewing sponsorship. Former CEO Aduda says politics is the reason club cannot get sponsors.
WE ARE IN THE DIASPORA. WE ADORE OUR BELOVED CLUB AND WE ARE DYING TO HELP IT.
WE HAVE MONEY TO CONTRIBUTE.
WE HAVE DONE THIS IN THE PAST.
A PROPER ACCOUNTABLE CHANNEL IS THE ONLY THING WE ARE WAITING FOR.
IN TRIUMPH AND GLORY, IN DEFEAT AND SADNESS K’OGALO FOR EVER !!
Our mashemeji ingwe are in real trouble,mumias is pulling out,fans are not turning up for matches,opwora is running a parallel team,they collected 158,000 from yesterdays game.
Here’s the breakdown
Total collection: Kshs 158,100
Deductions
Stadium booking: 15% – Kshs 23,715
Ticketing agent: 10% – Kshs 15,810
Security (Police): Kshs 10,000
Ball boys: Kshs 5,000
Ambulance: Kshs 12,000
Floodlights: Kshs 40,000
Ticket printing: Kshs 10,000
Total deductions: Kshs 116,525
Net Balance: Kshs 41,575.
Clubs’ earnings:
AFC Leopards: 75% – Kshs 31,181
Mathare United: 25% – Kshs 10,393
@ Opwora this is total collection from Opwora’s AFC ama actual AFC?
I mean @ Ombeng Ombeng…
As we streamline our beloved team let’s spare a moment to pray for our shemejis. As Mumias exits they are only able to get a net of 41000 from a Gross of 158000 from their midweek match. What a pity. The players in the end got peanuts and Loga is not one to keep his mouth shut when such things happen. Where is @Ingo to help the team.
All this means that the two BIG teams need to cast their nets further as they are able to ride on the big fan base. What is lacking is someone to do this for them. They can actually pull resources and get one PR company to help them harness this goodwill. That is if they have the will
Nothing new, these are stories we’ve had time and again. Be rest assured that the clubs managemennt wouldn’t adopt an elaborate measure to raise funds, they like money that comes easy like going round soliciting funds from politicians after winning atrophy, harambes etc.
If we can may be get someone or a group of people who can organise our branches then these proposals would be realised.
As much as we empathize with mashemeji, the priority is our house, What I find contradictory is that one on one side The Char is portrayed as a man who is doing everything possible to keep K’Ogalo afloat. This means he is always looking for ways which can enable the Team to thrive. These include sourcing for Sponsorship, bright ideas and good players. But on the other hand the office which he chairs is accused of not being transparent which is detrimental to the Club. The logical question then is would Mr. Rachier, lead a team that does not support his efforts and be digging into his pocket to save situations I am therefor caught in between. Can somebody help me bridge the gap. On matters of out sourcing I think it is a bright Idea especially to tap in from the diaspora. This is what I would suggest for them since they are saying that they have the money. Why don’t they set up a coffer into which they will sending their contributions which only them can access. In this way they can therefore choose the vote-head such as player salaries, medical etc. to handle. En mana ka chiwo paro.
I think we need to give the EC led by Rachier thumps up,lets give credit where its due.Running a club like Gor with a monthly wage bill of over 3 million is no easy thing bearing in mind that we dont have sponsors.
look at our neighbours AFC who still with mumias sponsorship are finding it hard to pay players.Gor have made one continental trip,another one is about .A few elememts within the EC may be corupt but that does not make the entire EC look bad,As for me,i think Rachier is doing a good job and i would give him an A-.
i also remain optimistic that a shirt sponsor will come on board soon.We need to support and his team by going to the stadium.
We read good proposals here everyday. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that the current EC led by the Chairman has the capacity to implement these good proposals. But they lack the will power to do it. I have waited for many years. Children have been born and grown into adolescents while we discuss. Let us walk the walk and talk the talk. It is time for the EC to go. The bulk stops with the chairman.
Just read that the team is sourcing for 5.2m to make the Congo trip. As a Gor fan let’s use our PayBill No. 350100 to assist the team. It’s good to ask those tough questions to the EC but let’s all remember that this team belongs to all of us. We still have a good number of fans who think that paying at the gate is a waste of moey
@dan original..as much as i agree with you that the team belongs to all of us,its annoying that the EC does not want or won’t implement all the good suggestions that have been floated in this forum over the year.
it is with that reason that many have given up to the point of not responding to the financial needs of the team..hence this begging culture will never end as long as the EC stays as rigid as it is!!
Good article, however outsourcing will mean that Gor Mahia will be paying a certain percentage to the fundraiser. These will be substantial payments that could very well be put into good use by the club.
Again I throw my little weight behind the Sacco which has enough legally enforceable safeguards to deal with errant officials.
AND MAY I ALSO BOLDLY STATE THAT ITS TIME JAKOM EXITED IF HE CAN’T PUT IN PLACE STRUCTURES THAT WILL GET GMFC OUT OF THIS FINANCIAL QUAGMIRE.
In my humble view, and I’ve said this before, there is no difference between a Gor Mahia fan and a Gor Mahia member at the most crucial event.
Yes the most important Gor Mahia event(s) is its matches, and here both members and fans are treated/mistreated the same way.
Very few potential fans are going to pay membership and still have to fight it out with fans who bribe their way into the matches for a mere 50bob, not to mention the uncouth/criminal behaviour of some of these fan group.
Introduce discounted tickets, vantage/secure sitting areas and privileged entry available only to members and see the difference.
From the statistics of the AFC match and as suggested here a monthly membership of between 300-500 in exchange for terrace/VIP fees of shs.100/300 will generate income directly to the club’s coffers which would have been paid out as stadium booking 15% and ticketing agent 10%, A total of 25% of the gross gate collections.