There's a huge banner version of it draped across West Street from one side to the other!

Minimum investment is £255.93

Hi, great forum!

I think bearing in mind the risks involved (not a great deal of chance of getting your money back, let alone a shareholder dividend, the minimum cost is rather high. At Wimbledon it was £100 which whilst not a huge amount to the club IS a lot of money to many fans at this time with the cost of everything in the shops going up (and indeed Dorking tickets going up to £18 a game now)

If you get 19 shares for £250, can't they sell a smaller amount of shares for a lesser amount. I would still like to be a part of it, but what they are asking is a bit too much for me with lots of things to pay for at the moment.

I do go to home and away games (can't afford anything like every game), but I really can't justify £250+ when the only tangible benefits are a scarf and a badge.

I also think they missed a trick becuse they could have said that 'owners' ie shareholders could have got discounts, which would encourage them to spend more money. For example shareholders could have got match tickets at last seasons £16 price. Or maybe £5 off away coach travel. 

I know I am not alone in thinking this, most of my friends who go to some away games are saying the same sort of things.

This isn't about people with £5k or £10k for the boardroom perks, I am taking about entry level investment.

Taken a bit of time to sleep on this and make a decision on it based on my own current circumstances. I’m in no way trying to lead or influence anyone, just setting out my own thoughts on it in no particular order.

When news that the club was going to sell shares via Seedrs, I wanted to know more. I did some research and looked into what others had done before, notably Altrincham and in particular up the road at AFC Wimbledon, from which I believe a former director of theirs had come to DW and brought along this fundraising idea. Obviously AFCW are a historically bigger club than DW, they’ve played in the Premier League and won the FA Cup, but there are parallels too – they have come from non-league rapidly up the divisions (twice) and their fans are at the real heart of their club.

So let’s look at DW. We average something like 1900 fans at our home league games. Take off that number away fans, under 18’s (who aren’t eligible to buy shares) and the odd random groundhopper and I reckon there is now typically an average of 1500 adults supporting DW most weeks (not including cold, wet and windy Tuesday night games in December just before Xmas!). Therefore to get over 2000 people sign up to register an interest is really great going. That’s means a lot of non-regular followers were curious, maybe including the Bunch of Amateurs followers that you often see at away games in the North!

Looking at those who have bought shares so far, approximately a third of them have spent £1000 or more – the threshold that gets you to attend the annual ‘owners club meeting’ with Marc. And approximately two-thirds have spent the minimum level of investment, £255.

The interesting question for me would be ‘is the minimum level of investment too high?’ A couple of people have raised such a question/comment on the discussion section of the Seedrs website already. Is £255 disenfranchising some fans from owning a share(s) in the club? After all, Wimbledon had an entry level of £100. From speaking to a few fans it isn’t that simple of course!

If the ‘entry level’ (pin badge, scarf, name on wall and for a limited period a hat as ‘perks’) was £100, would a lot of those two-thirds of fans/investors simply have opted to pay that instead of £255? Quite possibly. The club would have needed five people to invest at £100 where they only needed two at £255 to realise the same level of funds raised. Would they have got five fans for every two that has put their money down? Impossible to say. It would be unique and fantastic if you could look at the crowd at a home game and say that more than half the adults there were ‘owners’. In reality at the entry level price, which is roughly the same as an annual season ticket, that is unlikely to be the case. An adult season ticket at £250-£300 would be a higher priority than becoming an ‘owner’ for most fans in reality.

Of course it’s not really about the scarf, pin badge and hat. It was always about it being an emotional purchase that you can’t really explain, rather than a sound financial investment. The risks are clearly explained. If you want a guaranteed return there are some great interest rates out there at the moment. It’s all about the warm feeling of owning a bit of it, even if it’s just 0.01% of the club (or possibly less, I was never good at maths!). And when that (possibly final) promotion to the EFL is earned one day (‘the dream’) then remembering that night over a pint that you helped get it over the line in your own small but symbolic way.

Would you get that same feeling if you buy a season ticket or a gold card? Volunteering at games? Watch them home and away for years spending much of your spare time and money? Probably. This is just another way to do so I guess. Which might be good for fans further afield who can’t get to games every week.

Myself? I guess I am lucky that if I wanted to find the money for it, I could. However I think that personally I am going to pass this time and fall into the ‘spend my spare money supporting the club in other ways’ and get value that way. £255 would pay for my family to make a weekend of the Fylde away game for example – petrol, a Blackpool B&B, match tickets, and maybe a show in the evening or some rides the next day. I’ll still know if Dorking make the 3^rd round of the cup, the Trophy final or eventually promoted to the EFL that I supported them wholeheartedly for many years along their journey and can take some satisfaction from that. Maybe if there is a future release of shares in years to come I might get on board then if the entry level is lower or if my personal circumstances change?

Can there be future releases of shares? Quite possibly – Wimbledon have done several for example. Is this a good fundraising idea? Well it has certainly already raised more than the cost of a roof over the away end in less than 24 hours, so it certainly has had a great deal of appeal! Does not investing ‘leave you out’? No, not at all – I cannot see any example of any fan being left out of anything or at the back of the queue for tickets etc if they choose not (or cannot) buy shares. So fair play for that, nobody is disenfranchised from supporting the club at all, and I am sure the club were very careful to ensure that. Is the money raised going to make a difference to the club? Absolutely, I have no doubt about that. This isn’t buying the Chairman a helicopter, this is about improving the Academy, the facilities, the whole club and giving it a more solid foundation on which to build from, onwards and upwards.

Very thoughtful and considered response and reply 👍 

Thanks for sharing 🐔⚽️ 

@Dorking Eagle - thanks for that explanation and analysis.  Absolutely agree - whatever individuals decide to do - the packages on offer are are good mix and strike the right balance between inclusivity and fund raising maximisation.  As you say, there are plenty of ways to support and contribute to the success of the club. 

I have decided to invest the £1k , which would otherwise be sitting around earning a bit of interest, mainly as an emotional commitment to the club. Not sure if you can top this up at all at some stage if circumstances permit. Can’t say I have read all the small print yet 🤯

But an encouraging start it seems like so far. Interested to see the odd investment from Wrexham and from other friends we may have made along the way. None from the Maidstone area so far 😬   Looking forward to hearing more about where the priorities are for spending the money raised. 

@miller09 #teamDWFC and support for the club in many ways, agreed 👍

There is an investor from Maidstone - they've changed their profile settings to private now so that they only appear as 'anonymous'. They played for DW in the very first couple of years (but since moved to Maidstone).

It is now open that you can buy as little as a single share...and if you buy £99 worth, then you get the 'I'm a Wanderer' category limited edition pin badge. 

So pleased the club listened to feedback on twitter, here and on the Seedrs discussion section and opened things up to fans of all situations. 

Well listened DWFC 👍  

Great to see the club have taken on the feedback and continue to engage with the fan base and keep up the open communication 

Well done Marc and the team 🐔👏⚽️👍

Nearly 300 investors now…  as of this evening 🐔👏👏⚽️ 

Passed 300 now 👏👏🐔 

Almost raised a quarter of a million quid!!

Latest communication from the club explains there will be a prize draw amongst those who have bought shares:

For the past 10 days only fans who registered with our “Rise With Us” campaign were allowed to buy
shares.

But that priority window is now closed and for the first time we are offering the opportunity to
absolutely anyone out there who is captivated by our incredible story.

Not only is this a unique opportunity to become a valued part owner, it’s also a golden chance to win
some extra special rewards.

Everyone who has purchased Wanderers shares will be entered into a draw and have the chance to:
*Become a club vice president for a season and enjoy all the privileges that come with it!
*Win a season ticket for life
*Watch an exclusive first-team training session and then meet and greet all the players afterwards

Becoming a part owner of Dorking Wanderers will bring you closer to our unique story as we embark
on the next chapter.

We hope to raise £2million, which we’ll invest in our club’s commercial infrastructure so we can
ultimately start self-generating more income for the club’s playing budget.

The only way you can purchase shares is by setting up an account with our crowdfunding partners
Seedrs. If you haven’t already done so, then simply visit www.seedrs.com/dwfc

Incredible 'money can't buy' new prize being offered via Twitter (or should that be 'X'?)

Retweet (re-post) Dorking Wanderers tweet of this morning and one lucky fan can win a place on the TEAM COACH to an away game!!!

Good luck everyone!! 👍