Despite
Many clubs achieve great things off the field (which usually result in great on-field things). Finding a great sponsor, recruiting an excellent coach, attracting better players, finding more volunteers.
My question for you and the club is does this happen in a club because of the structures, tools and methods your club has put in place or despite it? It’s probably a bit of both, but imagine what would happen if you amplify the positive side of things!
Paying for help.
Typically clubs pay for the things that they consider matter (and they do), things like more footballs, coaching talent, training equipment or more drink bottles. Unfortunately there seems to be no desire to get better at the administration things that matter. A long day at work usually sours our desire for administration at the club. We tend to avoid another meeting, reading more notes and dealing with other overheads.
Now consider how much better it would be to get better at:
Recording the numbers
How to hold a meeting
Giving a presentation
Recording minutes
Short-cutting membership registration
Merchandise
Canteen management
How to attract and retain volunteers
How to raise money
Recruiting sponsors
But for most of us we need to wing it. We stumble over the same hurdles as the person before us. Paying for tools to make your job, and the job of the person that comes after you is something worth doing and will allow you to recruit and retain volunteers around you.
Convincing persuasion…
Getting your volunteers on board, to help your club achieve things can be tough. Taking a moment to reflect on how you do this can be overly beneficial.
At TidyClub we are strong believers in increasing the level of transparency within your committee and broader member base. Firstly so everyone knows that things are happening in a legitimate fashion, but secondly and just as importantly is to help with on-boarding your members to the mission the club has before it.
Now the question is do you persuade or do you convince…and there is a difference.
Engineers convince. Marketers persuade. Persuasion appeals to the emotions and to fear and to the imagination. Convincing requires a spreadsheet or some other rational device. Now what if you have both?
It is far easier to persuade someone after they are already convinced, when they have the facts before them. But you must have both to make wonderful things happen.
Luckily you have TidyClub!
The Finish Line
If you’re in a club or not-for-profit please remember there is no finish line. Sure smaller projects along the way that have finite timelines, but the broader vision and mission of your club doesn’t speak to a finishing point.
With that being the case, make sure you’re enjoying the ride. If you’re not enjoying it figure out why, figure out the tools you need, the practices you need to put into place to make sure the journey is a good one.
If you’re not enjoying it, I guarantee others aren’t either. Work smarter, not harder and enjoy the ride!
Working Smarter, Not Harder
Last weekend I was lucky enough to have been invited onto a number of panels to discuss the various aspects of sporting clubs. One item that keeps on rearing its head is social networking and how to get a hold of it all.
In the past I have used a number of tools to migrate that feed, and force it onto another platform whilst also etc etc… it was easy because I’m from an IT background, but it was still cumbersome.
May I introduce to you www.ifttt.com it is clearly the easiest way to propagate information from one place to another, from Gmail to Twitter, from Facebook to Dropbox. It’s is extremely simple, which we at TidyClub of course love, and we know you will to.
Go and check it.
P.S. We aren’t on any kickback-affiliate scheme here, we just like passing on hints and tips to clubs!
