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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