USFS has broken my heart

[moonvine]

Ah. That is (and no, I am not being facetious) rather less than I would have expected, especially the gross receipts. But they won't be needing to sell off the silverware any time soon, I guess...

I volunteered for an animal rescue for a long time. We never made enough to have to file a 990. So millions of dollars seems to be a lot of money.

They do not respond to our emails. To me that's a very strong indication that they just...don't care. They could take a very small portion of those millions of dollars, and hire someone to answer emails.

 

[TallyT]

So millions of dollars seems to be a lot of money.

Oh for me personally it absolutely does! But for a sport (and even if niche, it is one of the main winter ones) in the world's biggest economy.... ummm. And that's gross, not net.

But I agree, it wouldn't cost a lot (certainly not as much as they wanted to pay that official's relative a while ago, what was her name?) to hire someone to answer their emails.

 

[moonvine]

Oh for me personally it absolutely does! But for a sport (and even if niche, it is one of the main winter ones) in the world's biggest economy.... ummm. And that's gross, not net.

But I agree, it wouldn't cost a lot (certainly not as much as they wanted to pay that official's relative a while ago, what was her name?) to hire someone to answer their emails.

And they would make more money. I even emailed Scott’s foundation a week ago and no answer. It’s just a very clear indication of either “we don’t want your money, peon” or “we are so disorganized we can’t get it together to answer emails.”

 

[NanaPat]

The $125-249 level got you one free ticket. The $250 level and all levels above got you 2 free tickets. So the 2 free ticket price has gone up to $1,000. That's a 75 % increase.

250 to 1000 is a 300% increase. You divide the increase (750) by the original 250 (not the new 1000) and multiply by 100!

I think your real problem isn't the increase to get the free tickets to FOFS breakfast, but the increase in cost to go to the FOFS breakfast at all. So compare (cost of membership that allows to buy breakfast tickets) + (cost of breakfast ticket) under old scheme vs (cost of membership that includes breakfast tickets) under new scheme. I think that would be even more than 300%!

 

[icewhite]

Okay, putting everything else aside I'm just very sorry this happens, moonvine. I'm not such a super fan myself, but I can see that it would hurt. And it's just extremely unkind of them to not even put out a real statement that's not just PR crap to the fans that are affected, much less answer emails. Of course nobody has the "right" to meet anybody, but to make it for rich people only is also very ignorant.
I hope you can see and meet the skaters you like at competitions and show them your support.

 

[moonvine]

250 to 1000 is a 300% increase. You divide the increase (750) by the original 250 (not the new 1000) and multiply by 100!

I think your real problem isn't the increase to get the free tickets to FOFS breakfast, but the increase in cost to go to the FOFS breakfast at all. So compare (cost of membership that allows to buy breakfast tickets) + (cost of breakfast ticket) under old scheme vs (cost of membership that includes breakfast tickets) under new scheme. I think that would be even more than 300%!

Thank you. I'm so bad at math I shouldn't even attempt it. It's a miracle I completed the required math courses to graduate from college.

 

[moonvine]

Okay, putting everything else aside I'm just very sorry this happens, moonvine. I'm not such a super fan myself, but I can see that it would hurt. And it's just extremely unkind of them to not even put out a real statement that's not just PR crap to the fans that are affected, much less answer emails. Of course nobody has the "right" to meet anybody, but to make it for rich people only is also very ignorant.
I hope you can see and meet the skaters you like at competitions and show them your support.

I can hang over the barrier after practices and call them over and pass them things. It's just a more hurried thing. But at least I can do it. I have never seen Gracie at a FOFS breakfast. With the way Covid is going, they might not even have one at all at this years' Nationals. I'm very worried. Sofia and her mom got it at SCI, which means tons of more people got/had it, some of the newscasters I watch have had it recently...it would really stink if I somehow saved up $1,000 and there was no breakfast!!!!

 

[throw_triple_flip]

USFS won't even keep up streams they do on peacock anymore, I mean, asking them to do an online stream is like pulling teeth at this point. And that's sad.

Blame that terrible Heavy Young Heathens band suing over a song they didn't even write.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Blame that terrible Heavy Young Heathens band suing over a song they didn't even write.

I'm well aware of that incident.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

I'm well aware of that incident.

Hopefully it'll be dealt with soon and it can go back to normal.

 

[moonvine]

Hopefully it'll be dealt with soon and it can go back to normal.

I think this may be the "new normal." I hope not.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Over the decades, I have given lots of money to my sport but particularly to the young skaters as financed by USFS FOFS. Now, I have to donate $750 to get the honor of purchasing tickets to breakfast and $11,000 to go to breakfast at Worlds???? Am I missing something?

 

[Arigato]

I'd rather fund a skater directly than read that nonsense.

 

[Minz]

Chris, unfortunately, I believe this is just how it is now. There used to be a ton of other perks (I remember seeing that a few thousand got you all-event tickets to Nationals), and at the lower levels, there were things like video calls from Team USA members, various merchandise, free admission to the HOF Museum in Colorado Springs, etc. Also, the cheapest tier used to be $65. Now they don't even give you a membership card anymore lol.

Honestly, I feel like these changes might be more sad than anything because they show the state that US skating is in, which, financially, at least, clearly isn't great judging by what we see here.

(And I don't want to get too deep or off-topic, but these struggles aren't great for anyone. It puts more pressure on skaters (especially through the media) and given some of the accusations/investigations that have come to light recently (probably only the tip of the iceberg), it makes sense why people are weary, especially after what happened with USAG).

 

[TallyT]

I guess that they are chasing the corporate membership now and have no time or interest in actual fans (I mean, they may think they have the next superstar/crowd draw in Malinin, but from what I gather many of his fans are young and hardly this level of rich!). Sorry for you and the other longtime loyal supporters.

 

[el henry]

A decision has been made at some level to "abandon" the individual and pursue the corporate/group donations (just like no one expects an Individual to fork over a thousand dollars for a table at a charity event).

I doubt if USFS made this decision based on any one skater. Probably some study or belief that this approach was more "cost effective". More bang for the buck chasing big donors.

I think it is a darn shame leaving the individual donors behind like that, and short sighted to boot. We'll see how this works out for them

 

[TallyT]

I doubt if USFS made this decision based on any one skater.

Oh I agree, I wasn't having a go at him or his fans. Just a shame that they are being left behind by the national sport for finance's sake when some are just starting to be interested.

 

[Mathematician]

I've NEVER seen one of these tiered supporter charts present tax-deduction as one of their primary offers

 

[4everchan]

I've NEVER seen one of these tiered supporter charts present tax-deduction as one of their primary offers

Really? That's common. It's actually the most sensible perk /return on your money. Donations of all kinds are a business opportunities for corporations or people who have a lot of money.

 

[4everchan]

A decision has been made at some level to "abandon" the individual and pursue the corporate/group donations (just like no one expects an Individual to fork over a thousand dollars for a table at a charity event).

I doubt if USFS made this decision based on any one skater. Probably some study or belief that this approach was more "cost effective". More bang for the buck chasing big donors.

I think it is a darn shame leaving the individual donors behind like that, and short sighted to boot. We'll see how this works out for them

I am of the opinion that it's pretty annoying for the fans of the sports who have been giving for years but it's most likely the right strategic move at this point. Aim for the wealthy corporations who need business opportunities. I have worked in that field. Tax credits is just business : if they can offer a good deal, there will be good donations. As it is a non-profit, you should be able to see how much they received in donations in the past years and compare it for future years.