IOF Reflections

Let’s look at external (not fee based) income attracted by the IOF. As you can see from the chart in Part 1 of this post,  this has been a minor part of the revenue, since 2002, but there are ambitious plans to grow it.

The details around external revenue streams are rather unclear, but it is very likely that they fall far short from becoming major contributors to freely spendable IOF resources.

The shortfall is most spectacular in IOF services (LiveCenter, eventor, etc) where the 2015 revenue was €61,040 or 98.5% lower than the budget.

Continue reading “Where the money is coming from – Part 2”

Let’s get to exploring IOF finances further. It would be great to understand where the continued losses come from. First we look at the revenues, and then at the skyrocketing expenses. It makes sense to have a look at where the money is coming from first. After all,  makes a huge difference if the money spent was earned on the market, or simply squeezed out from within the sport.

This task is surprisingly difficult for the post-2012 period. IOF’s commitment to highest level of transparency means that a whopping 92%(!!) of the revenues are reported on one line as “Funding/income” in the 2015 Profit and Loss Statement. One may have thought that reporting 60% of expenses on one line as “Other expenses” was interesting enough. The point is that post-2012 it is unavoidable to make estimates on the breakdown of revenues, and do a bit of a guesswork.

This is also a long topic. In this first part I look at the general picture and the various fees (taxes) charged by the IOF. In the second part I look into the attempts to bring in monies from outside orienteering: grants and ambitious commercial revenues.

The sad news is: 80% to 90% of IOF revenue comes from within the sport as various fees, in essence taxes on the love of our sport.

If you look from a distance, ignoring the details, this looks like a dynamically growing successful organisation.

Alas, details tell a different story. The expectation of dynamic growth of commercial income appears to be way overestimated when it comes to facts. It looks promising only in the budget. TV rights are balanced with similar TV expense, that makes them in essence a zero sum game. More details on that in Part 2 of this article.

The dominant source (80% to 90%) of the freely spendable revenue comes from within the sport as various fees. They come directly or indirectly from athletes, both elite and masters, and volunteer organisers who are all being taxed by the IOF for the love of our sport.

Continue reading “Where the money is coming from – Part 1”

Money matters. Even in amateur sport. Even if we prefer to focus on the sport we love.

Still, in amateur sport money is often the critical resource that limits possibilities. Ambitious ideas quickly come down to earth when one tries to find funds to cover even basic expenses. Any discussion on strategy is empty fluff when money matters are not considered together with the ideas discussed.

When we look at the finances of the IOF we see a mixed picture: solid revenue streams, runaway expenses, and dwindling reserves that may threaten bankruptcy at current trends

Continue reading “IOF Finances – the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”