Clubs and societies: 4 simple ways to save time and do what you love

Managing a club or society is a lot of work – that’s before you even get to deciding on teams, formations or tactics. Things like registration, administration and chasing and monitoring payments can take up valuable time that you’d rather spend on club activities (even if that is just the post-training drinks)! While delegating can help (and we definitely recommend finding as many willing volunteers as you can) it doesn’t solve the problem of seemingly endless admin.

Here are our four top tips on cutting down some of this unwanted admin. They’ll save you time so you can get back to the activities you really love reminding you why you got involved in the first place:

1. Go paperless

Moving away from pen & paper can help you and your members to save time and effort. Not only do you not need to worry about filing and organizing large stacks of paper but using online or mobile options can save your members time and can allow them to sign up more easily and effortlessly. You can also keep members automatically updated about training events, games and events. Another benefit of going paper-free is you’ll ease the process of transferring your role to another member. If another member were to take over your role in the club, they could easily get started with all the information held digitally on a website.

2. Consider using online team management tools

There are a lot of great online team management tools which can help you to create a website, organise your team, send notifications and track team statistics. You can also share news articles and photos with your team. Three of our favourites are Teamer, Pitchero and Club Manager which all make running a team or club as hassle free as it should be.

3. Find an easier way for your members to pay

Setting up, chasing and tracking your payments can often be time consuming and frustrating. Particularly for volunteers who aren’t paid for the role, managing your payments can become a huge chore especially as your membership grows. Most clubs and societies can save themselves and their members a lot of time by moving over to an automatic payment method. The most popular options are Direct Debit and standing order.

John Hoyland, Fixtures Secretary at Chalfont Otters Swimming Club explained: “Our treasurer used to spend 2-3 hours a week setting up new swimmers and up to 6 hours chasing payments each week. Since moving to Direct Debit everything is now much easier. Setting up a new swimmer takes us just 3 minutes.”

Using Direct Debit or standing order also means you’ll know exactly when members will pay – so no more chasing payments for weeks or members attending without paying. What’s more, you’ll know straight away if someone cancels their payment so you can follow up on the payment immediately. You can also fill their space if you need to.

4. Stop wasting time paying other people

While we obviously wouldn’t advocate not paying your bills we would suggest you look at whether you’re doing it in the most efficient way. Are you still waiting for invoices to be sent and then writing and posting cheques to suppliers every month? If you’re paying regular league or affiliation fees, facility or equipment hire costs, insurance etc. consider using an automatic payment method such as standing order or Direct Debit. It’ll save you time: no need to write and post cheques manually every month and no need to manually reconcile all of your bank statements. What’s more, you’ll never need to worry about late payments again: the hard work will all be done for you.

Find out more about how membership organisations such as Spencer Hockey Club, Rock Choir and Chalfont Otters Swimming Club have saved time and managed to focus on what’s most important to them. Could GoCardless be the new signing your team has been looking for?