Crafting deals that work for sports clubs AND their members
Have you ever asked yourself what you are getting for your club membership? And do club officials ponder how they can make membership a more appealing prospect to their fanbase? If you’re not asking these questions maybe it’s time you should be.
Let’s take some examples, in recent times Kilmacud Crokes have come to a sponsorship agreement with Bank of Ireland while Avoca Hockey signed a 10-year partnership deal with LauraLynn children’s hospice. And if you look to the top right of this newsletter you’ll see an ad promoting an exclusive offer to GAA club members offered by Eircom. This deal works for GAA clubs (they receive €10 for each member that signs up with Eircom), the member (s/he gets a discounted deal) and Eircom themselves (lots of new customers).
Sports clubs are in the unique position of having a longstanding and committed fanbase whose loyalty to the “brand” is not in question. It’s the kind of relationship most businesses would die for, and sports clubs would be remiss in not using this to their advantage, not by exploiting their members or taking them for granted – but instead, putting their business hats on and realising that they have a tremendous asset here, that oftentimes goes untapped. As you can see with the Eircom offer when clubs adopt a more progressive and business-oriented mindset it can be a win-win situation for all concerned. And as Avoca hockey proved these deals need not always be about commercial success, maybe there is some local cause or concern that a club can help promote as Avoca have so admirably achieved by getting the word out about the fantastic work carried out by LauraLynn.
The days of a club membership letting someone play in games or drink at the bar and no more than that should be coming to an end. Sports clubs can really add value to their memberships by offering deals, discounts or coupons to their members – this is the way forward especially when online sports management platforms like MyClubFinances.com enable clubs to set up these kind of incentivized membership deals very easily. On top of that the system will enable clubs to communicate with their members via email or SMS, to segment these groups so they only target specific age groups or membership types, and to have detailed reports and accounts with all data safely stored away online for any authorized club person to access at the click of a button.
In short, it’s time for sports clubs to start thinking more like businesses and running themselves more like corporate entities. Times are tough, money is tight and some clubs are struggling because they are doing the same things they have done for 50 years. Now with new technology available, the resources are there to do things a whole lot better and help your sports club to take the step into the new age of online systemization. No more manual tedious admin work, no more looking through dusty old boxes of files, no more checking who has paid and who owes what, AND amazing new opportunities to transform your sports club into a modern, forward-thinking, well-run and progressive organization. Get started today and contact MyClubFinances.com by clicking the button below and we can send you all the info you need to take to committee or we can arrange a face to face demo.
