Rangers First Vote

[quinty 1,445]

Admin please move/merge if required.

I've voted No !

s a member of Rangers First you are part of the largest Fan ownership group in the UK and the 10th largest shareholder in RIFC plc.

Following the incredible growth in our membership over the past few months we are now halfway towards our first target of a 5% shareholding. Your monthly contributions will continue to be used for further share purchases and for investment at any new share issues, ensuring that your money goes directly into the Club.

The future is bright but we still strongly need fan engagement at the heart of the boards agenda. We can ensure this is the case through continually growing our shareholding and other initiatives with the Club.

To increase our membership further we plan to reach out to all Rangers fans worldwide and spread our message through the press, radio, TV and any other medium available. Our massively successful radio advertising campaign in mid-January saw 4000 new members sign up to Rangers First during the 2 weeks it aired. This effectively trebled our membership in a very short period of time. The board of Rangers First would like to invest in similar advertising campaigns again to get our message out to the international community of Rangers fans.

This advertising campaign was funded by generous one-off donations from our members. However, we would like to change the way these kind of activities are funded going forward.

We are therefore asking members to vote on whether up to 5p of every pound they donate to Rangers First be used towards promotional, operational and infrastructure activities. We believe that further investment in these areas will help move Rangers First to the next level and lay the foundations for a membership of 50,000.

We estimate that achieving membership numbers of that level could generate around £6m per year for Rangers. This will make a massive difference towards returning the club we all love to greatness once more.

We would also like to invest in vital infrastructure changes and upgrades to our current website. This project will also include investment in a new back office management system to more adequately serve the needs of our members. We presently have more members than most Scottish Football Clubs have season ticket holders. It is therefore essential that we invest in and develop an appropriate infrastructure to support such high membership numbers.

We therefore want to put a vote to our membership that would allow the board of RF to spend up to a maximum of 5p in every pound of your monthly contributions towards building and developing Rangers First so that we can continue our remarkable growth in membership and make a real contribution to the Club that we all place First. This amount will be capped initially at £5,000 per month. It is anticipated that this cap will more than cover RF's monthly costs and the level of the cap will be kept under on-going review by the RF Board.

The Board of Rangers First would recommend you vote in favour of this proposal.

As ever the Board and working groups of Rangers First will continue to work on a voluntary basis without remuneration or expenses.

Voting closes at noon on Friday the 15th of May 2015

[Jocky72 1]

why would you vote no?

[quinty 1,445]

why would you vote no?

Because it starts out asking for approval for an advertising campaign, which quickly moves to promotional, operational and infrastructure activities. Also the use of 'initially' worries me. IMHO Rangers First was set up to buy shares - end of. Can you imagine if the fat fuck over at FF tried to do this?

[SoldierBlue1 499]

How much are the shares worth? How much dialogue do we get with the board ?

[superally07 387]

Because it starts out asking for approval for an advertising campaign, which quickly moves to promotional, operational and infrastructure activities. Also the use of 'initially' worries me. IMHO Rangers First was set up to buy shares - end of. Can you imagine if the fat fuck over at FF tried to do this?

The bit at the end is what should stand out from FF, nobody's making a penny , and it is all about trying to get more members. I'll be voting yes.

[quinty 1,445]

The bit at the end is what should stand out from FF, nobody's making a penny , and it is all about trying to get more members. I'll be voting yes.

Fair enough mate it's your vote, but under RF's figures your voting for an initial, £60,0000 a year (capped) a year, to be spent administering, a £6 million fund. You're also voting to let the Board increase that amount in the future.

[one55 1,510]

i voted yes. if it helps them get more members then good

[RFC55 110,550]

I've went yes

[Jocky72 1]

Fair enough quinty, I see your point.

But surely the more members the better?

I don't think that the radio ads or advertising played a big part in increased membership last time out, it was more about people wanting share to vote in the egm.

This time round though it may help boost numbers a wee bit. How many people have joined since the EGM vote?

They have to try something to boost momentum.

[kaiser1041 9,104]

I've asked to see the deeds first.

[smartypants 4,485]

All the chaps at RF have been working hard lately and deserve a wee turn out of it IMO.

Vote yes!

[bluenosebrad 452]

Personally speaking I dont see how £5000 a month will help anything and by the looks of it if membership increases so does the £5000 a month.

[onefootwillie 1,519]

I voted yes to see if we could increase the number of fans involved. It's important that no matter who is in charge at board level the fans have influence with their shareholding and for me this is the best way.

[bluenosebrad 452]

I voted yes to see if we could increase the number of fans involved. It's important that no matter who is in charge at board level the fans have influence with their shareholding and for me this is the best way.

I could be wrong its nothing to do with shares it to do with taking 5p from every pound you give RF to give to Rangers.

[BlueBeard 241]

The way I read the article, was that the cap of £5,000 was more than enough for the secondary advertising/promotional campaign and infrastructure etc and the cap could be lowered in the future.

Don't see anywhere that if members increase so does the cap, is that not why there is a cap and not a flat 5% levy?

[KingKirk 25,884]

The way I read the article, was that the cap of £5,000 was more than enough for the secondary advertising/promotional campaign and infrastructure etc and the cap could be lowered in the future.

Don't see anywhere that if members increase so does the cap, is that not why there is a cap and not a flat 5% levy?

initially is the important word mate.

[ianferguson 2,619]

EASY YES FOR ME, IF I DIDN'T TRUST RF I WOULDN'T HAVE JOINED. SAD THAT OUR CLUB IS FULL OF DOUBTERS AND RF MIGHT SUFFER AS A RESULT DESPITE BEING THE ONE OF THE MOST POSITIVE THINGS TO HAPPEN IN YEARS.

[BigJig 76]

I could be wrong its nothing to do with shares it to do with taking 5p from every pound you give RF to give to Rangers.

I read it as taking 5p from every pound donated to Rangers First to be used towards promotional & operational activities of Rangers First, not Rangers.

Personally I'll vote yes.

[onefootwillie 1,519]

I note the word initially but if they wanted to increase the sum they would have to come back to the members for a vote

[bump 168]

i voted yes,membership has stalled lately and spending 5k a month on getting the word out is worth it in my opinion,hopefully this will boost numbers up to 20k by the summer, sitting at 13,550 just now

[KingKirk 25,884]

I wonder if MA asked for 5p of every pound spent at Rangers to help him promote our brand throughout the world. What would the reaction be.

[Guest]

I wonder if MA asked for 5p of every pound spent at Rangers to help him promote our brand throughout the world. What would the reaction be.

Probably the same as the reaction to the RFFF who robbed fans of their money then lied about what theyd do with it - little to no reaction.

[The Louden Tavern 1,765]

Because it starts out asking for approval for an advertising campaign, which quickly moves to promotional, operational and infrastructure activities. Also the use of 'initially' worries me. IMHO Rangers First was set up to buy shares - end of. Can you imagine if the fat fuck over at FF tried to do this?

Actually RF is set up to get the fans a bigger say in the Rangers (ACT) - shares is the primary mechanism through which we can do that but RF has never just been about buying shares and buying shares alone.

RF has been created through the work of volunteers and is a bit piecemeal in some of the facilities so I think some infrastructural costs were always going to come into play when RF hit a certain size - there is only so much people can do in their spare time.

So as long as the funds are spent appropriately and the money trail is transparent then I have no issues.

Though I think RF have been a bit quiet for a while now and could be doing more to interact with the membears.

GM

[KingKirk 25,884]

Probably the same as the reaction to the RFFF who robbed fans of their money then lied about what theyd do with it - little to no reaction.

Am no saying anyone is lying just think is a bit of a brass neck especially when they have constantly said every penny will be used to buy shares.. Not the case anymore

[The Louden Tavern 1,765]

Personally speaking I dont see how £5000 a month will help anything and by the looks of it if membership increases so does the £5000 a month.

I think Up to £5k a month would make a big difference to the smooth running of the org - would allow professional support for things like the website.

GM