At the IOF Council meeting in April the financial accounts for 2017 were approved. 2017 was a challenging year, as the cost structure of the IOF operations was restructured, but ended with a positive result. The restructuring has meant that the overall positive economic trend from 2017 has continued into 2018.
– It is important that we have stable finances, but also that the absolute level of financing allows us to implement the Strategic Directions of the IOF and invest in the future, says IOF Secretary General/CEO Tom Hollowell.
External funding is the biggest challenge and the proportion of external funding needs to increase to be able to continue developing orienteering worldwide.
– Increasing external financing further is a question of defining and investing in those activities which can be used to generate the external funds. This requires focus and prioritization, says Tom Hollowell.
He has seen indications that the IOF is able to sell, for example sponsoring of the World Orienteering Championships and the Orienteering World Cup, when televised, and sponsoring of World Orienteering Day activities has been successful. It is expected that TV rights income and income from sponsorships will increase, primarily from WOC and the Orienteering World Cup.
– Having stable and predictable TV productions is key to generating additional sponsorship income. Therefore, the IOF is taking over a larger degree of responsibility for TV productions which also means that both income and costs will increase in the IOF financial accounts.
In the past 12-18 months the IOF has taken important steps to establishing a long-term stable financing platform and restructured cost elements to bring them in line with income.
Read a longer interview with Tom Hollowell about the financial situation here
IOF 2016 Financial Report (Original – SEK/Swedish)
IOF 2016 Financial Report (Copy – EUR/English)
IOF 2017 Financial Report (Original – SEK/Swedish)
IOF 2017 Financial Report (Copy – EUR/English)