Some of the spikes might be due to other places Tim has been advertising the PHOF's need for money. From what I understand he has been on every major TV network news in the area as well as other venues. So only part of the donations coming in are from Pinside.

In any event it is nice to see it keep growing a little at a time.

Oh I see, you have to click Other at the bottom of the gofundme percentage and then put in what you want like zero.
Thanks

At little over 57% fulfilled as of now. .

Really hope he makes this happen.

If he can just keep the current pace he'll make it by May when he needs to be done. Pretty sure he'll be at the goal within 60 days, though. Good to see all the support he's getting.

It is nice to see the total growing everyday but Tim needs the money before May. He has to pay the contractor to finish the building then get final inspections so he can get the occupancy permit and be ready to move in. So the sooner he hits his goal the better things will be for PHOF. Inspections & permits all take time!

Some "good news" is some people have decided against doing the "go fund me" thing and have sent Tim money directly so I am sure he has gotten more in than we are hearing about. The "bad news" is I am sure he needs all the cash he can get right now with things being slow at PHOF because of this Corona Virus mess.

I am hoping to send a little more again later this week. We all need to keep doing what we can to help keep this move on time. Keep things positive and keep things moving in the right direction anyway you can. If you can't donate yourself maybe you know someone that can use an extra tax write-off this year who would be willing to donate. Since PHOF is a registered NON PROFIT donations are tax deductible. So what ever you (or they) donate can be written off!

the PHOF paid 2.6M/acre [4.6M/1.76] for its strip location in 2018, a bargain compared to the 4M/acre [21M/5.25] their next door neighbor Dream Las Vegas paid in 2020.

if we value the PHOFs parcel at the same 4M/acre Dream LV paid, it would bolster their roughly 8M of equity already being invested in the new location by another 2.46M.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/pinball-hall-of-fame-to-move-near-south-end-of-las-vegas-strip/

Las Vegas arcade operator Tim Arnold doesn’t claim to be much of a businessman.

The 62-year-old used to install pinball machines at bars and restaurants but, he says, is “too stupid to stop.” He doesn’t use spreadsheets or analysis for his venue, the Pinball Hall of Fame, and he said his title is “director of stuff and things.”

“We’re by far not a professional organization,” he said.

Arnold confirmed that he recently acquired a 1.76-acre parcel of land. He said the purchase price was almost $4.6 million and that he paid cash.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/tourism/california-developer-plans-luxury-hotel-on-south-strip-1959977/

Developer David Daneshforooz and Shopoff Realty Investments teamed up to acquire a 5.25-acre plot of land on Las Vegas Boulevard just south of Russell Road, the site of a failed high-rise project from the bubble years, for $21 million.

They aim to break ground on the 450-room hotel by early 2021 and finish by early 2023.

The project, next to a Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership, would cost about $300 million and is not some “pie-in-the-sky” proposal, said Daneshforooz, owner of Southern California real estate firm Contour.

Indeed - I tried to change it when I donated but I sure couldn't find any way past the 7% minimum. I sure hope the effort doesn't come up 7% short...

-Rob
-visit https://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or my replacement LED display boards for model H & model S Skee Ball

I can't help but think, so a Go Fund Me is being done to raise more money to build a place that is most likely going to open while we're still in this pandemic state. How far behind is another Go Fund Me to help the business to survive due to lack of customers?

Wish nothing but the best for Tim, unfortunately this is just the worst time to open/build for a business (no fault of his).

I think you can scroll to the bottom of the tip amount list, pick "other" and then put in 0.00

Tim has no "long term money issues" he will have plenty of revenue coming in once the new place opens. His issue is a very short term issue having the needed funds at the needed time so he can get the place open on time. REMEMBER the PHOF paid CASH for the property and has paid for most of the construction from funds Tim set back to do this. His issue is he expected "X" amount of revenue to be coming in each month after construction started and now his foot traffic & business income is down by like 80% over the past 6 months.

PHOF isn't "broke" and running out of money. PHOF needs a little help to keep this mega move on schedule. Since he needs to be completely out of the old building by May he has a timeline he has to stay on and the funding shortage is messing up that timeline. Once he gets the new place open everything will be just fine.

Remember he has been doing this for years and giving around a half a million dollars to charity each year basically forever. A couple hundred thousand dollars normally would be no big deal for Tim & the PHOF. But since he has that May deadline he is in kind of a squeeze play situation and just needs a little short term help.

If I remember correctly most of the "loan money" (money borrowed for construction) was put up by Tim personally. So if PHOF falls behind with making payments it will just be money going back to Tim's account anyway.

HUGE difference here compared to most people begging for money. In this case it is more of a money timing thing than a money thing if I am understand it correctly.

Thanks t-m-p

Wait a second, back up the horse & buggy. Are you saying the $1.7 million that the PHOF has borrowed to complete this project was money loaned from Tim personally? No outside banks what so ever?

Pretty sad state off affairs that Tims PHOF wont qualify for ppp money but some how Tom Bradys corp does and gets 960k when him and his wife are worth 500 million just dont seem right

46BCBDC2-EDBB-4256-9EEA-3DB607A274FC (resized).jpeg

Here's another one.

But before I start, I'm not telling anyone how to spend their money or to even spend/donate. Donations are a very private matter in my mind. There are some preaching often to donate to PHoF. By now, everyone on pinside who is going to donate probably already has. They probably already helped spread the message on other forms of social media etc.

Check this out, it started aboot the same time Tim started his GoFundMe for the PHoF. It's for Ray's Ice Cream. a local, long-time dairy producing Ice Cream for commercial accounts along with their neighborhood shop in Royal Oak, Michigan. The owner struggled with the Covid restaurant closures in Michigan and started a GoFundMe hoping for $50K.

Look what happened: https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/27245/over_76_000_in_public_gifts_are_sweet_payback_for_ray_s_ice_cream_in_royal_oak

Even sadder is when another guy received 3.9 million from the government for CoVID relief and he spent it on a Lambo and expensive hotels
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/29/florida-man-allegedly-spent-coronavirus-relief-money-on-a-lamborghini.html

Being from Europe I'm not that familiar with the U.S. tax system, but I understood donations to PHOF are 100% tax deductible. Does that mean that a company that usually is paying $90,000 in taxes can donate 90K to PHOF and they don't have to pay taxes for that amount? If so, you'd expect there should be certain businesses that can easily solve the problem of the money that's still needed. Right?

I just donated. And yes, you can reduce the "tip" for go-fund-me by selecting "other" and entering any amount.
https://gofund.me/8fe844b5

i donated yesterday .. just found the thread .. so its worth "bumping"

A lot more complicated than that... a company contributing 90K to the PHOF would only be able to claim a partial amount commensurate with a ton of other factors associated with excruciatingly cumbersome corporate tax law. If it was a 1 to 1 deal, there'd be a LOT more charitable contributions IMO.

In a very simplified explanation, charitable donations lower your taxable income. If your are paying 27% of your income in taxes, then your tax bill would be lowered by 27% of the amount of your donation. In your example, if you donated $90K your tax bill would be lowered by approximately $24,300. You would still owe $65.7K in taxes.

I remember reading somewhere that Tim made a "major loan (in excess of a million dollars)" to PHOF to help fund the project but I don't know for sure that there is ZERO money from an outside bank. I know Tim doesn't like paying interest on loans so I would assume your statement is likely correct.

It has been a couple years ago - back when Tim first announced this project - that he got into the funding for the project and said instead of PHOF borrowing from a bank he was going to make up the shortfall with a low interest loan to PHOF. DON'T hold me to this because my memory isn't great when it comes to something I saw somewhere a couple years ago.

But regardless PHOF should have no problem covering operating expenses and loan payments once the new place is open. The issue is basically just a short term $$$ shortfall that might delay them being able to move on time if I am understanding things correctly.

If you ever listen to Tim or read anything about him he will be the first to tell you he is cheap. That is part of the issue with the current PHOF but it is also one of the reasons he has given so much to charity over the years.

If you stop and think about it Tim would likely have ZERO problem getting a $200,000 loan to finish things on time but instead he is asking for a little help in the form of donations so he doesn't have a loan to pay back or interest on a loan to pay. That will help him get back to giving as much as possible to charity sooner.

As I said a few days ago a donation to PHOF isn't going into a "for profit" business. It is a donation helping a non profit through a tough time so they can get back to giving to charity sooner. So every dollar we donate will become multiple dollar to charities down the road. PLUS we are helping get a KICK ASS BIG ARCADE open sooner. Sounds like a win-win-win all the way around to me. That is why I keep bumping this post, donating what I can, and keep spreading the word anywhere I can.

https://gofund.me/37f7e2b2

One more quick thing I think needs to be "explained again" is because PHOF is a non-profit there are a ton of regulations Tim has to follow. Even him selling stuff at PHOF was an issue he had to resolve. So it isn't like his money & PHOF money are in the same pot. So Tim needs to be very careful how certain things are done because of PHOF being a non profit.

Tim explained he gave the lvcc a loan and is charging an interest rate based on the prime plus some factor to be cheap. He didn’t want the loan to be seen as some impropriety or gouging. So something fair and defendable for both sides.

He also said the banks did not like their kind of business for lending making it suboptimal in terms of costs and borrowing.

Pretty sure this was covered in his recorded expo session where he went through the purchase history and before construction started.

Plus... we all know their desire to keep overhead to as little as possible.

The GoFundMe is an opportunity for all those that say “how can i help...” to convert into a real need. or as a way of paying back hoping to keep this mission moving forward

Tim must be a quiet dude. Hasn’t posted for 6 days.

Thanks! I remember it was disclosed somewhere before construction started but I could not remember where. I know the "non profit" makes things a little more involved also.

https://gofund.me/37f7e2b2

I don’t think you’re helping his case by saying he’d rather take other people’s money than get a loan.

Better to just leave it at donating for a good cause.

I think at this point you’re doing more harm than good with the constant posts and guilt trips @too-many-pins.

I am not trying to make people feel guilty I am just trying to get people to understand what a donation to PHOF actually is. Most of the time when you donate money to a cause that money stops at that cause. With PHOF they use donated money to generate more money donated to charity. So in the end giving $10 to PHOF might end up being an additional $100 going to charity.

As far as my post if you don't like seeing what I have to say there are two simple solutions. First you can choose to "ignore me" in your settings on Pinside or you can look to see who made each post and just pass mine by.

As far as a loan verses go-fund-me it is actually really pretty simple. If Tim borrows more money then he has to pay that back before getting back to giving money to charity. If he nicely ask for a little help from people who are interested in helping his cause and can raise the money without borrowing it more money can get to charity sooner.

I know a lot of people are either jealous or Tim or unhappy with the level of maintenance on some machines at the PHOF but in my eyes those people just don't understand things completely. Tim is not the PHOF - Tim is the founder of PHOF and controls most of what goes on at the PHOF but PHOF isn't just Tim. It is a group of people donating their time to bring the pinball hobby to people looking for something to do (other than gambling) when they go to Vegas. And at the same time all proceeds from PHOF (beyond operation expenses) are going to charity.

Tim isn't asking for anyone who can't afford to donate to donate, Tim isn't asking for donations so he can make more money for himself, Tim isn't asking for donations for a failing venture, Tim is just asking anyone interested in helping his cause for a little short term help to fund an unexpected cash flow problem caused by this Corona Virus mess.

The people who "get it" and "give a damn" are doing what they can. And for the people being negative about this -- those of us that do care will never change their minds anyway. But love or hate Tim & PHOF one thing I think most of us can agree on is it is pretty amazing how much he has done for charity over the years a quarter at a time. Who would ever believe a guy like Tim (an old hippy who ran an arcade years ago) would be able to raise millions of dollars for charity a quarter at a time?

In any event I'll likely keep posting here when I am bored and taking a break from doing my business stuff. So if you don't like what I have to say please just ignore me!

Slight digression./// Tip assumption is spreading. DoorDash has it too.

It really annoys me. The world I live in you earn your tip. For the Most part.

Donation made! Best of luck with the campaign. I'll be in Vegas in a month so plan to contribute directly via coin drop as well.

Good reminder,Ignore activated
Have made 2 donations and feel fine with that.
Tim can post for himself,a successful guy he has proven singlehandedly.

So here it is, PHOF has been built and about to be opened all on a cash basis and internal personal loans. On top of that , a go fund me to finish it all off. All in the name of charity and non-profit. Not a dime of interest paid to a financial institution.

Good god Tim should be in charge of finances for this country! I really don't ever want to see another post on how Tim should run his business. The guy is an absolute financial genius.

Bravo Tim, Bravo! I can't wait to shake his hand in Sept and tell him job well done.

Now, think for a moment of the kind of cash these operators were making in the heyday from '79 to the early 80's. Tim found a way to keep it going in the tourist city of the world.

EXACTLY! About as well as anyone could sum things up. THANKS!

I am going to stop posting here and just move on with other stuff going on in my life. Best of luck to Tim getting opened on time. Knowing what I know about Tim I have no doubt that will happen and thanks to the help of a couple thousand people it will likely happen without PHOF having any additional debt. Job well done for sure!

https://gofund.me/37f7e2b2

Another payday, another donation made... I have no doubt that Tim will hit his goal with time to spare.

https://gofund.me/0ccf1d66

You've obviously never been to downtown Chicago. EVERYONE has their hand out.

Have known of Tim since entering the hobby 20 years ago, and met him in '09 when I attended first IFPA Pinmasters tournament at the PHOF..

In my view it seems like Tim hasn't changed a bit in 20 years. Considering the success of the PHOF, it's hard to argue with his approach.

In the end it seems like there are two camps:
Tim could do so much better if only he would do ______ , and...
It doesn't matter what I think, his system has worked all these years and he's on the cusp of opening a $10M mecca dedicated to the silverball.

I'm in the "doesn't matter what I think" camp . I've made a donation and wish Tim, and the whole PHOF crew, all the best with the big move!

$$ On the Way ! Sounds like a great guy and hope all works out.

Why buy Stern toppers when you can give that $ to the LV collector club acct. (or gofundme)
Get to goal!
Donation sent.

You were correct until the last sentence, but the idea he "would still owe $65.7K in taxes" makes no sense. He already paid $90,000 in a donation and it helped to reduce his tax liability by $24,300 assuming a 27% tax bracket. He would only be taxed on the amount of taxable income he has above and beyond the $90,000 that was canceled out by the charitable contribution.

february vegas update

No mention about PHOF there, or did I miss it?

Nothing mentioned at all about PHOF.

I would not imagine the video news would include phof until completed. My guess is an upcoming video would likely include the hall of fame once it has opened for customers.

My assumption is they will come with some cameras later. Can’t wait to watch.

Can i get those 8 minutes back?

Wha Hooo, exciting times at 35% capacity! Oh- and Carrot top is back, can't wait!

Looks like all the sidewalk construction is done. That’s about all I gained from the video.

I figure the donation I just made is just a short term cash flow and eventually Tim will be donating again - so its like a pay it forward donation. If you aren't sure, just think of $20 as a typical trip to your local location. What's one day's worth of arcade action to throw to the PHOF? Do it now.