New Newport County Supporters' Trust membership scheme sees donations rise from £30,000 to £70,000

The Supporters’ Trust membership scheme was revamped last month and fans were asked to up their donations from £10 a year to a minimum of £5 a month.

And, despite some minor teething problems, the move has proved a success with the money raised from Trust members rising from around £30,000 to a current figure close to £70,000.

That increased contribution from fans has already enabled the club to re-sign Joss Labadie and will help manager Michael Flynn to further strengthen the squad in January.

And Johnson is delighted with the response of the Exiles supporters.

“We’d just like to say thank you for the tremendous effort in supporting the club and supporting Mike and the team,” he said.

“You can never be complacent with these things but it’s a different approach now.

“We want to move away from ‘just surviving’ to now making sure that as a club we’re able to show some ambition.

“We want to back Mike in his ambition and support the players, and Lennie [Lawrence] and the whole backroom staff.

“We want to support them as much as we can, without putting the club in any financial jeopardy.”

The new membership scheme offers bronze, silver, gold and platinum rates with monthly donations ranging from £5 to £50.

There are also separate packages for ex-pat fans and corporate clients.

“Colin Faulkner has done a really good job in revamping it and pushing it, along with some helpers and volunteers,” added Johnson.

“They’ve had a constant push to get people to convert their memberships and up their monthly donations.

“That movement from £10 a year to £5 a month as part of the bronze package is fundamental to the long-term sustainability of the club.

“And the response so far has been fantastic, to the extent where our annual income stream has gone up from £30,000 to close to £70,000.

“In just over six weeks that is fantastic and the fans have really stepped up and doubled their contributions, in effect.

“It’s a fantastic push, especially at this time of year.

“We’ve also still got existing fans who are still on their annual memberships of £10 a year and hopefully they will convert and continue to support us.

“If they convert to the £5 a month packages then we’ll be able to get to a similar level of funding as Exeter City, and close to what AFC Wimbledon get as well.

“That is around £100,000 a year and it would really help us to become a bit more sustainable.

“Considering the demographics here and the attendances, I think it’s a really fantastic effort from the fans.”

The initiative is part of the Trust’s plan to safeguard the future of the club on and off the pitch and make it a more attractive prospect for potential investors if a new hybrid ownership model is to be adopted.

“Without the fans’ support over the last six weeks we wouldn’t have been able to sign Joss Labadie,” said Johnson.

“It’s been fundamental in that and it will be fundamental in any support we can give the manager in the new year.”

County have also made around £315,000 from their run to this season’s FA Cup third round but the board know that they cannot rely on cup success and player sales.

“It’s got to be sustainable and, looking back over the three or four years that we’ve been involved, I think one of the failures has been not pushing the donations in the early stages,” said Johnson.

“When we raised the initial amount of money [to complete the Trust takeover in 2015], the fans had pushed the boat out to raise that money in such a short period.

“And, when there was a windfall from the Conor Washington money, we almost felt that it would be difficult to get fans to make monthly payments as well.

“In some respects we probably lost a bit of ground there but I think we’re aware now that there has got to be that sustainability push.

“And, moving onto the next stage and a potential hybrid model – whatever that looks like – the increase in support [from the Trust membership] allows us to see if there is potentially any mileage in it in the new year.

“From January onwards we’ll start looking at how that could work and gauging what level of interest there might be.

“Our intention has always been to make sure that we get our donations and support in financially to ensure we have a stronger foothold, then we will have conversations with other parties about how that model will look in the future.

“But we need to make sure we’re not complacent and that we retain our members and their donations going forward.

“That will be critical for budget planning for next season, to have that level of confidence that the funding stream isn’t going to drop off.”

As well as helping the club, Trust members receive priority access to tickets for high-profile games like the FA Cup clash with Leicester City on January 6 as well as other benefits.

“Members get preferential access to tickets for big games, like the Leicester City tie,” said Johnson.

“We’ve also got the draw for gold members, which allows them to attend as guests in the directors’ box at away games.

“As a supporter-owned club we have the ability to offer things like that, which other clubs aren’t able to.

“It shows the solidarity around the club now and the common goal that we all share.”

For more details on Trust membership, or to sign up, visit www.ncafctrust.org/join/