FOH Accounts and AGM

[Francis Albert]

3 hours ago, davemclaren said:

I’m assuming that the submitted questions and answers will be published in the next few days. 

Assume so too. But we have been told only those questions and answers deemed to be of interest to members will be reported. Pretty outrageous really.

[davemclaren]

5 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

Assume so too. But we have been told only those questions and answers deemed to be of interest to members will be reported. Pretty outrageous really.

Certainly a bit odd. 

[Francis Albert]

20 hours ago, Jambo-Fox said:

On this thread it felt like dozens would vote against the re-elections and there were only 8 against one!

 

So much talk without action!

 

Hopefully those ‘raging’ on JKB on whatever subject get therapeutic benefits!

 

♥️♥️♥️

If I had received the email inviting me to vote or a reply to my complaint that I had not received it there would have been one more vote against.

[Guest ToqueJambo]

20 hours ago, Disco Dave said:

I dont see why the club couldn’t be transparent about where the money goes but......

 

Its all smoke and mirrors because at the end of the day, lets hypothetically say it costs £1.5m to run the training ground and academy each year and members wanted all funds directed to that.... then it just frees up the money elsewhere in the budget to spunk on the likes of Damour.
 

So unless you ring fence FOH income for very specific exceptional projects, it will just be part of the budget for day to day spending as the club sees fit.

 

 

I take this point, but in terms of giving FoH members a sense of being part of something and maybe providing more accountability, I think putting it towards specific things would be better from an engagement point of view.

 

Greenpeace ran a very successful campaign about 10 years ago. They were building a new flagship and donors could chose to sponsor or donate money to every single little part of the ship. It was basically kind of a crowdfunding campaign.

 

We could do that with infrastructure or even things like buy new boots, or sponsor 10 Academy signings or something. Just think there are many creative ways to raise money these days and FoH c(and Hearts) could be missing a trick now we've proven it's possible to motivate 8000 Hearts fans to regularly give the club money in addition to Sts and so on.

[Disco Dave]

16 hours ago, ToqueJambo said:

 

 

I take this point, but in terms of giving FoH members a sense of being part of something and maybe providing more accountability, I think putting it towards specific things would be better from an engagement point of view.

 

Greenpeace ran a very successful campaign about 10 years ago. They were building a new flagship and donors could chose to sponsor or donate money to every single little part of the ship. It was basically kind of a crowdfunding campaign.

 

We could do that with infrastructure or even things like buy new boots, or sponsor 10 Academy signings or something. Just think there are many creative ways to raise money these days and FoH c(and Hearts) could be missing a trick now we've proven it's possible to motivate 8000 Hearts fans to regularly give the club money in addition to Sts and so on.

I dont disagree with your idea but if you fast forward a few years and the academy is not producing the yields that the “investors” expect........  Some folk (probably already posting on this thread) would be cancelling their direct debits, “l’m not wasting my money on that sh!te” etc etc.  
 

One idea I had was that a percentage of funds should be squirrelled away to cover us for when unexpected bills land, the roof needs repaired, the pitch is knackered, a global pandemic strikes or the likes.  It would be nice to know that we would be covered and not have to slash this/future seasons budget because we got caught out by something we didn’t plan for.

 

Also reduces the risk of having to go cap in hand to another Romanov or sell players on the cheap because we are desperate for cash.

Edited January 30, 2021 by Disco Dave

[Bull's-eye]

33 minutes ago, Disco Dave said:

I dont disagree with your idea but if you fast forward a few years and the academy is not producing the yields that the “investors” expect........  Some folk (probably already posting on this thread) would be cancelling their direct debits, “l’m not wasting my money on that sh!te” etc etc.  
 

One idea I had was that a percentage of funds should be squirrelled away to cover us for when unexpected bills land, the roof needs repaired, the pitch is knackered, a global pandemic strikes or the likes.  It would be nice to know that we would be covered and not have to slash this/future seasons budget because we got caught out by something we didn’t plan for.

 

Also reduces the risk of having to go cap in hand to another Romanov or sell players on the cheap because we are desperate for cash.

 

That idea is worse than the one your quoting judging by JKB standards. 

That's the thing though, don't judge ideas by how JKB reacts, this cesspit of negativity has no bearing on how supporters feel anymore, the man-babies and micro managers have put paid to that, the fag packet accountants on this very thread have turned most away and as you can see, hardly anybody cares or posts on threads like these anymore.

 

All ideas are decent and I'm sure the FOH will be having long conversations and dialogue moving us forward when this horrible period is over.

 

In times like this it would be very disrespectful to all supporters who are struggling or not to be asking for any money, whatever the cause. Thankfully it looks like the FOH have their finger on the pulse and are just letting things play out in a dignified way.

[Francis Albert]

1 hour ago, Bull's-eye said:

 

That idea is worse than the one your quoting judging by JKB standards. 

That's the thing though, don't judge ideas by how JKB reacts, this cesspit of negativity has no bearing on how supporters feel anymore, the man-babies and micro managers have put paid to that, the fag packet accountants on this very thread have turned most away and as you can see, hardly anybody cares or posts on threads like these anymore.

 

All ideas are decent and I'm sure the FOH will be having long conversations and dialogue moving us forward when this horrible period is over.

 

In times like this it would be very disrespectful to all supporters who are struggling or not to be asking for any money, whatever the cause. Thankfully it looks like the FOH have their finger on the pulse and are just letting things play out in a dignified way.

The FOH website is mainly about asking fans for money. Are FoH disrespectful or dignified? 

[Bull's-eye]

1 hour ago, Francis Albert said:

The FOH website is mainly about asking fans for money. Are FoH disrespectful or dignified? 

 

Proving the point of my post.

 

Thankyou.

[ADAM]

3 hours ago, Bull's-eye said:

 

That idea is worse than the one your quoting judging by JKB standards. 

That's the thing though, don't judge ideas by how JKB reacts, this cesspit of negativity has no bearing on how supporters feel anymore, the man-babies and micro managers have put paid to that, the fag packet accountants on this very thread have turned most away and as you can see, hardly anybody cares or posts on threads like these anymore.

 

All ideas are decent and I'm sure the FOH will be having long conversations and dialogue moving us forward when this horrible period is over.

 

In times like this it would be very disrespectful to all supporters who are struggling or not to be asking for any money, whatever the cause. Thankfully it looks like the FOH have their finger on the pulse and are just letting things play out in a dignified way.

Spot on.

[Francis Albert]

I assume it is taking a wee time for Foh to spin the Q&As from the AGM four days ago. I will be pleasantly surprised if there were more than 20 questions. So maybe an hour to transcribe and publish by email or on the web site?

News of the vote on director elections was pretty quick though.

[Francis Albert]

Especially since FoH had at least two days notice of the questions and two days to prepare answers in advance. Covid is a great excuse for not doing things.

 

[pettigrewsstylist]

On 29/01/2021 at 17:18, Francis Albert said:

Assume so too. But we have been told only those questions and answers deemed to be of interest to members will be reported. Pretty outrageous really.

Thats simply not good enough.

[Francis Albert]

One week on from the AGM and 10 days since the deadline for questions.

 

In normal circumstances questions would be asked and answered "live" at the AGM in public without prior notice. 

 

Is the delay down to "Covid restrictions"? 

 

Or taking the piss?

 

Or maybe waiting to answer the questions at a party at Tynie?

Edited February 3, 2021 by Francis Albert

[EIEIO]

Think there is a case for FoH to employ someone in an admin role to handle communications eg twitter, email and members enquires re direct debits , loyalty points (cock ups with one off payments). Wouldn't even have to be a full time post , would solve many of the issues raised here. 

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

1 hour ago, Francis Albert said:

One week on from the AGM and 10 days since the deadline for questions.

 

In normal circumstances questions would be asked and answered "live" at the AGM in public without prior notice. 

 

Is the delay down to "Covid restrictions"? 

 

Or taking the piss?

 

Or maybe waiting to answer the questions at a party at Tynie?

I'll take 2 please Bob.

[Saint Jambo]

1 hour ago, Francis Albert said:

One week on from the AGM and 10 days since the deadline for questions.

 

In normal circumstances questions would be asked and answered "live" at the AGM in public without prior notice. 

 

Is the delay down to "Covid restrictions"? 

 

Or taking the piss?

 

Or maybe waiting to answer the questions at a party at Tynie?

 

Do we actually know that anyone submitted questions? I don't recall anyone on this thread saying they were submitting questions. That isn't to say that there weren't questions, just that it is a possible reason for not answering questions. I know other membership organisations I'm involved in have had far fewer questions submitted by email than they would normally get at an in person AGM. Obviously if that is the issue, it would have been sensible to say so in the email following the AGM. If that isn't the issue, I agree that it seems slow to issue a response.

[Boris5115]

Any news as to what the FOH handed over to the club at the end of January as this figure would include us fan’s 

who donated our cup final ticket money.

[Footballfirst]

15 minutes ago, Boris5115 said:

Any news as to what the FOH handed over to the club at the end of January as this figure would include us fan’s 

who donated our cup final ticket money.

The total amount of money pledged is usually updated around 4th/5th of the month i.e. it is still showing the amount as at the end of December at the moment (£11,264,610).

Edited February 3, 2021 by Footballfirst

[Boris5115]

3 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

The total amount of money pledged is usually updated around 4th/5th of the month i.e. it is still showing the amount as at the end of December at the moment (£11,264,610).

Where can you view this information FF. 

[Footballfirst]

3 minutes ago, Boris5115 said:

Where can you view this information FF. 

On the home page of the FOH website

 

https://www.foundationofhearts.org/

 

There is little information held about previous donations so you have to keep your own records.

 

Apr-20	10,122,599	120,214
May-20	10,244,072	121,473
Jun-20	10,382,057	137,985
Jul-20	10,537,301	155,244
Aug-20	10,681,578	144,277
Sep-20	10,826,380	144,802
Oct-20	10,968,978	142,598
Nov-20	11,112,411	143,433
Dec-20	11,264,610	152,199

[Boris5115]

7 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

On the home page of the FOH website

 

https://www.foundationofhearts.org/

 

There is little information held about previous donations so you have to keep your own records.

 

Apr-20	10,122,599	120,214
May-20	10,244,072	121,473
Jun-20	10,382,057	137,985
Jul-20	10,537,301	155,244
Aug-20	10,681,578	144,277
Sep-20	10,826,380	144,802
Oct-20	10,968,978	142,598
Nov-20	11,112,411	143,433
Dec-20	11,264,610	152,199

Cheers 👍

[Baxfee]

26 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

On the home page of the FOH website

 

https://www.foundationofhearts.org/

 

There is little information held about previous donations so you have to keep your own records.

 

Apr-20	10,122,599	120,214
May-20	10,244,072	121,473
Jun-20	10,382,057	137,985
Jul-20	10,537,301	155,244
Aug-20	10,681,578	144,277
Sep-20	10,826,380	144,802
Oct-20	10,968,978	142,598
Nov-20	11,112,411	143,433
Dec-20	11,264,610	152,199

That’s so impressive -go jambos 👏👏👏

[Francis Albert]

On 03/02/2021 at 13:13, Saint Jambo said:

 

Do we actually know that anyone submitted questions? I don't recall anyone on this thread saying they were submitting questions. That isn't to say that there weren't questions, just that it is a possible reason for not answering questions. I know other membership organisations I'm involved in have had far fewer questions submitted by email than they would normally get at an in person AGM. Obviously if that is the issue, it would have been sensible to say so in the email following the AGM. If that isn't the issue, I agree that it seems slow to issue a response.

I guess we have to assume you are right and that no questions were submitted. And that the other motions at the AGM apart from director elections  were passed. It would be nice to be told though.

[ford donald]

26 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

I guess we have to assume you are right and that no questions were submitted. And that the other motions at the AGM apart from director elections  were passed. It would be nice to be told though.

 Everything should be showing in the minutes,thats standard for a AGM.

[Footballfirst]

1 hour ago, ford donald said:

 Everything should be showing in the minutes,thats standard for a AGM.

Communication isn't their forte.

 

Remember the monthly blog, sorry quarterly blog, or maybe it's a biannual blog, or perhaps even an annual blog?

 

Nah! It's heading towards a biennial blog as it hasn't been produced since September 2019.

Edited February 8, 2021 by Footballfirst

[Francis Albert]

2 hours ago, ford donald said:

 Everything should be showing in the minutes,thats standard for a AGM.

And It was a closed AGM with the questions posted 4 days in advance. The minutes could have been written days in advance. Yet 10 days later ... It is bizarre. 

One news item on the website in over 6 months. 

[iainmac]

On 03/02/2021 at 12:19, EIEIO said:

Think there is a case for FoH to employ someone in an admin role to handle communications eg twitter, email and members enquires re direct debits , loyalty points (cock ups with one off payments). Wouldn't even have to be a full time post , would solve many of the issues raised here. 

 

This needs to happen at some point, especially when FoH actually becomes the majority shareholder. The ”no remuneration”  paradigm was fine in it's infancy (and should remain for Directors) but it takes a lot of resource to run the operation on a daily basis.

[davemclaren]

8 hours ago, iainmac said:

 

This needs to happen at some point, especially when FoH actually becomes the majority shareholder. The ”no remuneration”  paradigm was fine in it's infancy (and should remain for Directors) but it takes a lot of resource to run the operation on a daily basis.

Presumably most of the regular admin is around DD and Loyalty Point queries?

[iainmac]

32 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

Presumably most of the regular admin is around DD and Loyalty Point queries?

 

One aspect of it but also arranging plot ceremonies whenever we come out of lockdown and also general queries from members.

[EIEIO]

9 hours ago, iainmac said:

 

This needs to happen at some point, especially when FoH actually becomes the majority shareholder. The ”no remuneration”  paradigm was fine in it's infancy (and should remain for Directors) but it takes a lot of resource to run the operation on a daily basis.

Agree about the Directors.  Administration of 8,000 "members" and arranging plot ceremonies and events for the other reward certificates is a fair amount of work and post pandemic quite a daunting amount of work.

[ford donald]

11 hours ago, Francis Albert said:

And It was a closed AGM with the questions posted 4 days in advance. The minutes could have been written days in advance. Yet 10 days later ... It is bizarre. 

One news item on the website in over 6 months. 

Ask them for a copy of the minutes from the AGM,you are entitled to this as a paying member.

[Francis Albert]

2 hours ago, davemclaren said:

Presumably most of the regular admin is around DD and Loyalty Point queries?

 

1 hour ago, iainmac said:

 

One aspect of it but also arranging plot ceremonies whenever we come out of lockdown and also general queries from members.

No issue with FoH paying for a bit of admin support but a couple of comments.

JKB also has thousands of members and I suspect more active members. Any lessons on how they cope?

How important to fund raising are the FoH Rewards? Personally I have no interest in the Rewards (the pinnacle when I first joined as I recall was lunch with Robbie Nielson! TBH I'd pay to avoid that!)).

I opted out of invites to the plot ceremonies. I doubt I am alone in not being interested in certificates and trinkets. Could the burden of admin be relieved by advertising an opt out option on the website?

[Francis Albert]

1 hour ago, ford donald said:

Ask them for a copy of the minutes from the AGM,you are entitled to this as a paying member.

Yes they will have to publish eventually ... not sure there is any statutory timescale. 

[iainmac]

3 hours ago, Francis Albert said:

 

No issue with FoH paying for a bit of admin support but a couple of comments.

JKB also has thousands of members and I suspect more active members. Any lessons on how they cope?

How important to fund raising are the FoH Rewards? Personally I have no interest in the Rewards (the pinnacle when I first joined as I recall was lunch with Robbie Nielson! TBH I'd pay to avoid that!)).

I opted out of invites to the plot ceremonies. I doubt I am alone in not being interested in certificates and trinkets. Could the burden of admin be relieved by advertising an opt out option on the website?

 

You might not be interested FA but I can tell you from personal experience, if some pledger's points are not accurate at any point, they are on to FoH via email almost immediately. 

 

There are certainly any number of process improvements that could be made to make the whole thing slicker but it's an uphill battle as nobody has the time. 

Edited February 9, 2021 by iainmac

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

Minutes are online now. Says no questions were submitted 

[Footballfirst]

6 minutes ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

Minutes are online now. Says no questions were submitted 

https://www.foundationofhearts.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/649321391_1.pdf

[davemclaren]

37 minutes ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

Minutes are online now. Says no questions were submitted 

Interesting. 

[kettering jam tart]

On 03/02/2021 at 17:33, Footballfirst said:

The total amount of money pledged is usually updated around 4th/5th of the month i.e. it is still showing the amount as at the end of December at the moment (£11,264,610).

It’s now the 10th and still hasn’t been updated, what the hell is going on 

[Lone Striker]

Not that it makes any difference... but Proxy Votes Withheld ?  What could that be all about ?  

 

Does it surprise you guys that no questions were sent in to Stuart (or anyone else ) ?         

 

 My fault for not giving this  much thought at the time, but a blatantly obvious question should have been "What milestones have to be reached before  the FoH board goes ahead with the acquisition of the Bidco shares ?"

 

 

[davemclaren]

4 minutes ago, kettering jam tart said:

It’s now the 10th and still hasn’t been updated, what the hell is going on 

Busy writing minutes and answering questions I would imagine. 😎

[davemclaren]

1 minute ago, Lone Striker said:

Not that it makes any difference... but Proxy Votes Withheld ?  What could that be all about ?  

 

Does it surprise you guys that no questions were sent in to Stuart (or anyone else ) ?         

 

 My fault for not giving this  much thought at the time, but a blatantly obvious question should have been "What milestones have to be reached before  the FoH board goes ahead with the acquisition of the Bidco shares ?"

 

 

It does surprise me tbh. I thought about submitting a question but felt there would be more interesting ones submitted along similar lines by others. 

[Footballfirst]

We know that the FOH Board keeps an eye on JKB to gauge the views of the membership. Even if no-one felt strongly enough to submit questions formally, I think that it would have been appropriate and common sense for the Board to make a statement covering such things as the delayed transfer of shares. 

[Francis Albert]

52 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

https://www.foundationofhearts.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/649321391_1.pdf

It took 2 weeks to publish that?

I did not receive the email notice of the AGM and had no reply to the same email address I complained to (successfuly) when I did not receive the notice of the EGM in December. I therefore did not know what FOH email address to use to ask questions. Or which email address they might choose to reply to.

I have never had a problem sending them money.

 

[Lone Striker]

3 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

We know that the FOH Board keeps an eye on JKB to gauge the views of the membership. Even if no-one felt strongly enough to submit questions formally, I think that it would have been appropriate and common sense for the Board to make a statement covering such things as the delayed transfer of shares. 

Yes, I agree.    The short matter-of-fact minute is in keeping with the minimalist (invisible ?) communication policy the FoH board has adopted for the last few years.     After the antagonism towards fans from Robinson and the detached nonsense from Romanov, FoH have a golden opportunity to  change that aspect of fan liaison - sadly there's little sign that they actually care what the donors of £11m  think or want.  

 

   

[Jambo-Fox]

30 minutes ago, Lone Striker said:

Not that it makes any difference... but Proxy Votes Withheld ?  What could that be all about ?  

 

Does it surprise you guys that no questions were sent in to Stuart (or anyone else ) ?         

 

 My fault for not giving this  much thought at the time, but a blatantly obvious question should have been "What milestones have to be reached before  the FoH board goes ahead with the acquisition of the Bidco shares ?"

 

 

I’m sure ‘Proxy Vote Withheld’ just means a ballot paper was submitted without a vote cast (for or against) for the person seeking election / re-election. 

[Francis Albert]

29 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

We know that the FOH Board keeps an eye on JKB to gauge the views of the membership. Even if no-one felt strongly enough to submit questions formally, I think that it would have been appropriate and common sense for the Board to make a statement covering such things as the delayed transfer of shares. 

Question or no question the failure to deliver the transfer of ownership sould certainly have been featured and explained at the AGM. 

I raised two questions on here. One was what soundings did they take to decide to defer transfer of ownership because of the need to have a party or celebration. The other was what steps they were still focused on working on to give effect  to the transfer which should have happened about a year ago. 

Questions that should not have been needed to be asked.

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by Francis Albert

[Jambo-Fox]

Communications are two way, 8,500 members*^ had the opportunity to communicate a question but nobody did, so can’t really complain about a lack of response!
I’m more interested in communications from Hearts, not really bothered about communications from the majority shareholder!
 

*^ except some notable individuals who have ongoing communication issues between themselves & the FOH ... perhaps one day they will talk, kiss and make up ..... and the ‘anger’ will subside!

[Francis Albert]

23 minutes ago, Lone Striker said:

Yes, I agree.    The short matter-of-fact minute is in keeping with the minimalist (invisible ?) communication policy the FoH board has adopted for the last few years.     After the antagonism towards fans from Robinson and the detached nonsense from Romanov, FoH have a golden opportunity to  change that aspect of fan liaison - sadly there's little sign that they actually care what the donors of £11m  think or want.  

 

   

I didn't feel there was a lack of communication from Vlad. Most of it was bonkers but you couldn't complain that it was lacking, until near the end anyway.

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

1 hour ago, Lone Striker said:

Yes, I agree.    The short matter-of-fact minute is in keeping with the minimalist (invisible ?) communication policy the FoH board has adopted for the last few years.     After the antagonism towards fans from Robinson and the detached nonsense from Romanov, FoH have a golden opportunity to  change that aspect of fan liaison - sadly there's little sign that they actually care what the donors of £11m  think or want.  

 

   

I’m guilty of not asking a question so I guess I can’t moan but those minutes are shite. 

[Francis Albert]

On 09/02/2021 at 14:21, iainmac said:

 

You might not be interested FA but I can tell you from personal experience, if some pledger's points are not accurate at any point, they are on to FoH via email almost immediately. 

 

There are certainly any number of process improvements that could be made to make the whole thing slicker but it's an uphill battle as nobody has the time. 

 

I don't doubt it.

 

It is a few years ago since I told Gary Halliday that I did not want invites to plot ceremonies and the like. He seemed grateful ... I suppose one less invite to send, one less response to check, one place freed for others. 

 

Just trying to help Iain!