Clubs reach out to member base for voluntary contributions in tough times; stress on voluntary saying it is a choice not coercion
The RWITC has requested members to help. Filc pic
It has been stop ‘n’ start season for clubs who have had to adopt a bits and pieces approach through the Covid-19 restrictions. They have been opening a few facilities within, in accordance with guidelines on and off. During certain phases of the restrictions, they had been completely shut.
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These social destinations, with their coveted membership, have been asking members for voluntary contributions to help with expenses during the pandemic. In April this year, The Bombay Presidency Radio Club at Colaba, said in an appeal, “even with mounting expenses and revenue reduction, the club has not compromised on the upkeep and maintenance. The club is still not out of the woods and expenses are mounting with very little revenue being generated.”
The mailer asked members to voluntarily contribute Rs 1,000 each or more which will be used for repairs and maintenance of “various departments and help us tide over our present financial difficulties.” The appeal ended saying that members are friends, family and the club is their second home.
Past glory
On May 28, the Radio Club sent a follow up communication to its member base that participation in the voluntary contribution appeal towards repairs and maintenance has met with enthusiastic response, and “we have garnered Rs 8,67,000 till now.” The letter went on to say that 483 members have contributed till now and some members have also contributed on behalf of their siblings/family members.
The letter ended saying that they would ask those who have not responded to do so, “and help restore our ‘second home’ to its past glory.”
Said Prakash Mirchandani, joint honorary secretary of the club, “The accent is on voluntary. Each member was merely requested and not coerced into participating in this appeal.” Mirchandani also said that clubs do have corpus funds but these are kept for emergencies as reserves. The secretary claimed the participation in the voluntary drive is “ongoing,” adding, “The club is also a vaccine centre for citizens not just club members. The vaccine is given free and this Colaba institution is so proud to give its premises to be of service to Mumbaikars.”
Turf times
The Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) in an email on June 18, referred to a letter dated May 14 which highlighted “the weakening financial status of the club due to the pandemic.” In the email, they said that the club had somehow managed to stay afloat then but the second wave had “completely crippled it and they are looking at a financial loss of Rs 30 crore, more or less depending on how the pandemic unfolds in the near future.” The mail went on to say that the committee has been proactive in cutting costs for the club and those have borne fruit. Efforts to curb further expenditure, one of which is racing license fees for 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 amounting to an unaffordable Rs 15 crore are on through talks with the Maharashtra government. The letter then cites other measures after which it requests members to “kindly make a substantial voluntary contribution which will be utilized towards survival of the club.”
The communication highlights how some committee members, trainers, and officials have already contributed, just so that members realise that the committee is asking for funds but it has started with itself, with several on the committee already making a contribution. Topping that list is chairman Zavaray Poonawalla who has given R1 crore to the club. Committee member Vijay Shirke has contributed Rs 50 lakh too, stated the communique which is signed by the entire RWITC committee. While club members do agree these are crunch times, some are peeved that clubs are not dipping into their corpus, instead of asking for contributions. “They should be giving members some discount on the annual fees, as most facilities have not been used through the year as members have not had access. Instead, they are being asked to pay, even though voluntarily,” said a couple of members.
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