[Dx-qsl] Expedition Funding.
Richard J. Fiero II W5TFW
joeyw5tfw at gmail.com
Mon May 21 12:19:10 EDT 2012
I LOVE THIS TOM !
A.R.S. W5TFW
V44TFW
Richard J. Fiero II
www.w5tfw.com
www.6mt.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Wylie" <tgwylie at virginmedia.com>
To: <GMDX at yahoogroups.co.uk>; "CDXC" <CDXC at yahoogroups.com>;
<DX-QSL at mailman.qth.net>; "DX-CHAT" <dx-chat at njdxa.org>
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 3:42 AM
Subject: [Dx-qsl] Expedition Funding.
>I think some of us are getting confused over the topic of Expedition
> Funding. I'm sure
> there is much data out there concerning it.
>
> I can remember years ago when the major expeditions were expected to
> provide accounts to show
> how the money raised was spent and we (the punters) could clearly see
> the costs involved in
> running such an expedition, clearly see if a loss was made, how much the
> operators would have to contribute
> to square the books (so we could put our hands in our pockets and to
> offer to help out), or if a profit
> was made, how the excess funds were distributed.
>
> Applications for funding arrived, with some form of budget in mind and
> some idea of the overall costs of the expedition.
>
> Now it seems that we get a small paragraph telling us that a group of
> people are forming an expedition to go to a
> particular place and more or less it is our duty to provide the funds to
> enable them to go there. More often than
> not there is no financial plan nor any even rough approximation of how
> much the expedition is likely to cost.
> This leaves groups in the position of having to decide on funding based
> on the rarity of the country (and that is arguable
> depending upon which Country you actually live in) viz: what is rare to
> us in Scotland may note be rare in California
> nor Japan, and vice versa, and in the list op operators if provided, so
> that we may also take operator experience into
> account. I am not particularly happy with this as rookie operators
> have to learn, and the larger expeditions should be
> taking rookie operators so that they may gain experience of th sharp end
> and thus provide a constant source of experienced
> new operators.
>
> Being a member of the GMDX Group Committee I know the volume of requests
> for funding we receive and more particularly
> those we DO NOT receive. It's even been suggested to me that it is
> our responsibility to approach expeditions and offer
> them funding. I just wish that we had the money to do that, but in
> Scotland in particular we are a small Group and our
> funds are limited. Therefore we have to make a judgement in which
> groups we support and which groups we cannot.
> Personally, when you look at our logo on some of the QSL cards, I think
> we punch well above our weight.
>
> However, to get back to the point. There are different types of
> expeditions. (1) We have the tents and generator expeditions
> where additional arrangements must be made for travel especially if it's
> also an Island.
>
> (2) We have the fly in - fly out expeditions, where the operators live
> in a hotel or other permanent building complete
> with 24 hour electricity supply and finally we have (3) the
> "holiday" type expeditions, when someone announces they are going to
> Bora Bora for 2 weeks, and they are taking a rig with them and expect to
> be on the air for a few hours each day.
>
> (3) Is outwith the bounds of my discussion as personally I dont think I
> want to pay for someone's holidays no matter the rarity
> of the location. Most people go on holiday in the summer when
> propagation on 160/80 and 40 meters is low or non existant.
>
> Option No 2 is interesting. If someone can afford to go to a DXy
> location and pay their air fares and hotel accomodation,
> then what exactly is the funding for? Maybe its to ship a large
> antenna for the low bands or to ship a big amplifier which
> cannot be accomodated on an aircraft. Then that may be a credible
> reason to seek funding for a particular aspect of the
> expedition. I appreciate we are not all millionaires. Therefore if a
> group were to apply for funding in circumstances
> like Number 2, then in my humble opinion, they should clearly state what
> the funding is actually for and the plan of action
> to justify such a request. More often than not, we get a simple
> request, "we are going to ****** please send us money"!
>
> Scenario Number 1 is where we shopuld concentrate our refforts and
> provide the major funding as these expeditions by their nature
> require the largest amount of funds. However, I feel that it is
> incumbant upon the expedition leaders to provide a financial
> plan to prospective sponsors, much as they provide us with a frequency
> plan, propagation plan etc etc. It seems that some
> expedition surround their financial plan with much secrecy to the extent
> of (on occasion) telling me that its none of my business
> but on the other hand expecting me to send them dollars. Having been
> part of a major expedition (tents and generator) I know that
> often its difficult to assess actual expenditure but my point is that
> there should be a financial plan in place.
> _
> TO REPLY ON INCOME FROM QSL CARDS TO BALANCE THE BOOKS IS SIMPLY NOT AN
> OPTION.
>
> _What happens if the boat sinks and most of the equipment is
> destroyed? What happens if there is a lightning stike and equipment is
> taken out, what happens if there is a major fire, flood, earthquake,
> tsunami?? you get the picture. You can plan
> to make 200,000 QSOs, but what happens if propagation drops out for 3 or
> 4 days. What happens if there is a simple
> bout of dysentry? There are so many things that can go wrong.
> You cannot rely on income from QSL cards therefore, the financial plan
> must be sound and robust that the expedition is secure,
> BEFORE they set foot on the Island or where-ever. Or, am I just being
> naive?
>
> What happens to all the dollars gleened from OQRS? Are these put into
> a fund to finance the next group expedition - to provide a planning
> or operating fund? That would be an acceptable position - but should
> be clearly published. OR, are they divided up among the operators
> to reduce their actual personal contribution to the expedition? Many
> expeditions clearly state that travel
> costs are borne personally by the operators?? What happens to excess
> funds if there are any, this is never made clear by expedition
> groups and this is why I personally dislike the OQRS $5 requests for a
> direct QSL card. Personally I dont collect QSL cards any more.
> I am No 1 Honor Roll and only need a handful of cards.
>
> If an expedition makes 40,000 unique contacts and charge $5 to each for
> a QSL cards thus accumulating $200,000 dollars in many instances
> they would not have to apply for further funding. Or, does this
> $200,000 line the operator's pockets? I certainly hope not, nor do
> I believe it does, but without the provision of a financial plan or a
> financial breakdown AFTER an expedition takes place, we shall never know.
>
> Many expeditions are now planned in a professional manner, looking
> towards corporate sponsorship, club and association sponsorship, and
> finally personal contribution sponsorship, surely it is not an
> unreasonable request, for the actual subscribers to be furnished with
> a financial breakdown 6 or 9 months after an expedition hase taken
> place. This would be the professional culmination of the expedition.
>
> Feel free to discuss and to shoot down any particular points.
>
>
> Tom
>
> GM4FDM
>
>
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