In this Midburn, like in any Midburn, there is always more than meets the eye. Everyday we have a different unplanned occurrence that forces us to adjust our course. Even when we choose to stay the course, we do it after rethinking and calculating the risks.
In light of the fact that COVID-19 has been raising its head again recently, the risk to the event has also risen, despite all of the governmental officials declaring that there won’t be another lockdown and that we will learn to live with COVID-19.
In the last few days we have been handling an unexpected event - The credit card companies decided to stop the transfer of ticket sales proceeds to protect ticket buyers. Therefore we will not be able to get the ticket sales proceeds until some time after the event. So far, we have received less than 50% (250K NIS) of the ticket sales and we will be able to receive another small portion later on (150K NIS). These amounts are not sufficient for the cash flow required before and during the event.
In the past three years the association has become a very lean body, spending money only on legally mandated expenses - Namely on a legal advisor and a financial officer.
The treasury is empty.
We need cash flow to produce the event. There are expenses that need to be paid now to people and organizations that are already working on the event. There are commitments which must be upheld to the artists who have already started spending money based on the commitments sent to them by the art fund. We don’t want them to bear the risk. The cancellation fee, intended to cover cash spent before the event, was set at 15% because the risk was low at the time. Now the risk has not only increased a bit, but is further compounded by a serious cash flow issue.
In light of all of these new issues, we are forced to increase the cancellation fee to a level similar to what was set at 2020 Motion.
This time, and to bypass the credit card companies ticket sale transfer freeze (done with their permission), the cancellation fee on pre-event expenses will be marked as a donation instead of cancellation fees. This allows you to receive a donation tax exemption on it, and allows us access to a positive cashflow.
How this will look within your shopping cart:
Midburn event participation ticket - 720 NIS (which include 3% credit card fees that will not be returned in case of ticket cancellation).
A donation to the Midburn association of 210 NIS that will not be returned in any case.
An important clarification: The 210 NIS donation was calculated to account for payments to suppliers and artists who already received commitment of fundings, and not for creating a surplus for the association.
Additionally, it is important to clarify that the cancellation fee for tickets purchased in the first sale event is still 15%, as was written in the previous ticket terms. This change applies from the upcoming sale event and onwards.
We delivered and held multiple consultations on how to deal with these changes. This solution is the simplest and most practical one we could find, and probably the only one that can work within the time frame we have.
We trust that the Midburn community understands that the effort is a communal one - We all participate in the creation of the event and in the calculated risks taken to make it happen.
Midburn’s Board and Management
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