9.1 General Membership Information

12 May 2009


Growing Your Membership

Most sports organisations need to have some focus on recruiting new members. A steady influx of new members helps to keep your organisation vibrant and forward-looking. As well as enlarging the pool of people to play with, and create national teams and leagues, the recruitment of newer and younger members ensures that you're building a participation base for the next generation of top players.

 

 

Membership Records

You will require a database to keep track of all your member details. There are several software programmes that can do this, and some organisations are exploring online membership databases where members can update their own details. For very small organisations, you can establish a simple membership record using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet programme, with one row per member and each column capturing a different data field (address, age, telephone number, playing handicap, etc.). You may soon outgrow this simple system and require a more robust database such as Microsoft Access, or one of several purpose built sports organisation databases.

Maintaining membership records in a database has several advantages:

  • It's easy to find and update each member's record
  • The entire database can be transferred on disk from one officer to another when postholders change
  • You can use mail-merge functions to automate the process of creating address labels for your member mailing.
  • You can quickly analyse the membership information to find out, for example: the number of senior and junior members; which members live in a particular area; and select the sub-set of women members. Please note your responsibilities under the Data Protection Act in relation to dealing with personal information. Click on www.dataprotection.ie for further information.

 

 

New Member Induction

It's a good idea to create a 'Welcome Pack' for all new members. This helps them to find their way around, and feel at-home more quickly. It makes them feel valued and will help them to stay committed to your sport. A Welcome Pack might include:

  • A welcome letter from the chairperson
  • Contact details for the National Governing Body
  • The organisational handbook, or list of rules
  • Details of the organisation programme, with contact details, locations and times
  • A calendar of training events and matches
  • Information about the league and competition structures
  • Copies of significant policies, such as the child protection policy, or the health and safety policy