Event subsidy policy

Event subsidy categories

According to UK IBM Club rules, as posted on the UK Club Web site, the overall subsidy of IBM Club activities must not exceed 50%. IBM Club Warwick splits events into four general categories, plus one special category, for the purpose of deciding upon a target subsidy level. These categories are:
• Group Family
  Where the opportunity exists for strong social activity amongst several members, and where the event is suitable for children.
• Ticket Family
  Where the opportunity for social activity is limited, but where the event is suitable for children.
• Group Non-Family
  Where the opportunity exists for strong social activity amongst several members, but where the event is not suitable for children.
• Ticket Non-Family
  Where the opportunity for social activity is limited, and where the event is not suitable for children.
• Special
  Used occasionally for special celebrations such as the Christmas Dinner and Dance.

  The committee tries to be consistent in categorising events, and the subsidy banding helps to ensure that events are subsidised equitably.

  Concerts and shows, whether a block of seats is reserved or not, are normally classified as "Ticket".

The subsidy rates vary according to the category, with special, group and family events attracting a higher level of subsidy than ticket-only and non-family events. The subsidy levels may be adjusted from time to time in order to manage our budget, but no category will exceed the 50% maximum. The spread between the highest and lowest subsidy is typically 20%.

The more people attend IBM Club Warwick events, the more money we spend from our annual grant, and so the lower we need to make the subsidy levels in order to keep within our budget. The lower the subsidy, the less attractive the events will be from a cost perspective, and the lower the demand will eventually be. This therefore makes a classic case of balancing supply and demand.

Each event run by IBM Club Warwick will be assigned a subsidy category. During organisation of the event the finances will normally be managed so as to keep the actual subsidy level of the event so that it does not exceed the subsidy level for the category. In exceptional cases the committee may agree to allow an event to exceed the subsidy level for its category.

Where the venue offers child prices the event will normally be considered a family event and will attract a family subsidy category as well as passing on the benefit of the child price. In such cases the venue's accepted age range for the child price will apply. Where the venue does not offer a child price, but the event organiser believes that the event is well suited to a younger audience, they may with committee approval apply a family subsidy. In some cases it may also be appropriate to apply a greater subsidy for child places than adult places in order to encourage family participation, as long as the category subsidy level is not exceeded overall.

Managing subsidy level for an event

When preparing an event for committee approval, the member ticket prices should be chosen so that the resulting subsidy falls within the level for the selected subsidy category. All additional costs (booking fees, other fixed costs, etc) should be entered carefully before making this calculation, making generous estimates for costs that are not yet known, so that later costs do not cause an event to exceed its target subsidy level.

In particular, if the event organiser is unsure that the full number of tickets will be sold, care should be taken to set the prices so that the event will remain within the target subsidy level even if smaller numbers of tickets are sold. This can be done by temporarily reducing the ticket numbers to likely levels and hitting F9=Refresh to see the effect on the final subsidy level. Since this might involve raising member ticket prices, there is often a balance to be found between keeping the ticket prices as low as possible for members and protecting the subsidy level against low takeup, and this is a judgement call for the event organiser and/or the committee when approving the event.

As an incentive for event organisers they receive a free place on any event that they organise, subject to capping. This extra discount for the event organiser is limited to a maximum of £35, or £50 in times when an overall underspend for the year is predicted. As with the general event subsidy levels, the organiser's subsidy is subject to periodic review.

Changes to subsidy as a result of changes to event status

If any changes to the cost structure of an event take place (eg, because exact costs are changed or finalised, or unexpected charges arise), this can have an impact on the subsidy level. In general, provided the cost to club remains within the approved cost to club and the overall subsidy remains within the subsidy level, no re-approval is required. However, if the cost to club exceeds the approved cost to club, or the overall subsidy exceeds the target subsidy level for the selected subsidy category, re-approval by the committee is required, as the committee will need to decide whether to continue with the event, cancel the event, or continue with the event but raise ticket prices (or make other changes).

If the event subsidy level rises because of changes to the costs or because of low take-up, the event organiser may choose to sacrifice part of their event organiser's subsidy in order to bring the event within the target subsidy level. If it is possible to bring the event within subsidy level by doing this, no re-approval is required. If the event still falls outside the subsidy range with the event organiser receiving NO additional subsidy, then the event will either need re-approval (or may need to be cancelled) as detailed above. The event organiser would not normally be expected to pay more than the member price for the event.

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