Finance and Budgeting
With any new organisation the question of finance and budgeting becomes one of the main core discussions with many considerations:
How much does it cost to run?
Where will the funds come from?
How should we allocate and spend the money?
We firstly aimed to set out a budget for headline items that will need expenditure. These were website development and hosting; marketing & advertising; organisational insurance; & professional fees such as insurance and accounting. This budget was posted for all National Organisations (NO’s) to review in the representative area of the Buhurt International forum.
Once we had established the budget we then had to look at where the funds to pay for these items will come from. At the BI AGM it was voted by the NO’s that the funds should come from a set membership fee paid by fighters on a yearly basis.
2. The License Fee
To decide the fee, we ran projections based on the lowest assumed member numbers taking carryover from BL registered fighter numbers. This allowed us to rationalise the license fee to ensure the organisation has the funds to firstly cover the expenditure and secondly look towards sport support and growth.
The license fee is currently set at €15 per fighter per year and the license to compete applies to all fighters wishing to participate at BI events within the given season.
3. Funding The World Championships
The quick ones amongst you will have realised that the above doesn’t mention anything regarding funding of a World Championships (which is aimed for 2025), and you would be correct.
World Championship events are tendered on a bid proposal basis and open to National Organisations to submit bid proposals for. Due to the specific nature of each bid proposal, each one will bring something specific to the table which will include a detailed financial review of the event plan including the budgeting and monetary requirements.
Each World Championship proposal will be reviewed fiscally to review the funding provided by the organisers as well as what, if any fiscal support BI may need to provide.
This process is one that is taken separately from the day to day operating budget, but one which will still involve the NO’s once bids have been reviewed and validated.
4. Trust and Transparency
We understand and appreciate that trust and transparency will go a long way to ensuring our members are comfortable and happy with what money is coming in, and ultimately where it is being spent is justified.
As an organisation we have committed to ensuring that we are accountable (excuse the pun) and to that end we have already created a dedicated policy on how funds are to be collected and used and we have committed to publishing, via the National Organisations, the budgets as well as interim spending reports on a bi-annual basis.
Hopefully this has given you a little more insight into the ins and outs of what is being done financially at Buhurt International, however if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at any point.
Daniel George
Treasurer
Buhurt International