I'd like to see how much money Carfest gave to Children in Need.
Look at RIAT, a very small amount of the money taken in actually ends up with the charity.
INCOMING RESOURCES 2014-15
Commercial Trading Operations
Royal International Air Tattoo £7,346,762
Other income £694,157
Total Incoming Resources £8,040,919
RESOURCES EXPENDED
Cost of Generating Funds:
Promotional Costs (£236,884)
Commercial Trading Operation: (£4,766,241)
Other expenses (£2,381,767)
Governance Costs: (£75,806)
Donation to Royal Air Force Charitable Trust (£580,221)
Total Resources Expended (£8,040,919)
So, in round numbers, for every £8 at the gate, 58 pence ended up with the charity.
What the charity did with that 58 pence is another story. As usual, it's the lawyers and accountants who are doing well.
As for Jersey....
The annual air display is organised by the Jersey International Air Display a.r.l. a not-for-profit company, which strives to raise monies for British Service Charities and to support the Island’s tourism industry. As a result, organisers receive a grant from Jersey’s Economic Development Department, the government department responsible for tourism in Jersey and relay upon the generous support, financial and otherwise, of many leading businesses and individuals.
Costs for staging an event of this size are increasing each year and as well as the expected costs for fuel and ground power, accommodation for aircraft crew and ground support also needs to be sourced. Organisers are always grateful for the generous donations, however small, it also receives from members of the public in acknowledgement of their enjoyment of this ‘free’ event.
Any profits from the 2014 Air Display will be donated to this year’s nominated charity, Help for Heroes.
2016
Sorry for the lack of any official information. I expect the first news release will be some time in April.
My bold. That was lifted from their website today. No mention of what they spent last year's money on. Interestingly, they say
"any profits" so perhaps experience tells them that there may not be any profit, after all the bills have been paid.
The whole Airshow Circus should come clean about what really happens. The people who operate old aircraft, get paid to display them. I don't think that any of them are making money at it, they are probably just covering their costs. It would be more honest to point out that it is a show, which is expensive to produce, but enjoyed by many. To overly rely on the suggestion that it benefits the charities, is less than accurate.
There may well be some truth that charitable donations will suffer if airshows have to stop, but the impact will be more keenly felt by those who display at them, than by the charities.