Do Clubs Need A Website?
Many clubs have posed this question. Club management and the board have bigger fish to fry and it has nothing to do with websites, or so the thinking goes. So it is natural to wonder if a website is necessary or even appropriate for a private club. The bottom line answer is yes but it demands some explanation.
Effective Communication
Call it what you will, but a website is nothing more than a communications vehicle. It competes with the telephone, newsletter, in-club signage and word-of-mouth methods in delivering information. The website method is unique but the objective is the same...communication. A website communicates club information to members more effectively and efficiently, and less intrusively, than any other method.
Snowball Effect
The greatest benefit of a successful club website is its ability to provide ready information to a membership that visits frequently. It all starts with a good design that is friendly and intuitive. Add in news, information, schedules and current events and the classic snowball effect begins: as more and more timely information is made available on the website, more and more members visit the website regularly. As visitation increases, members become better informed, questions are answered before they are asked, and something marvelous begins to happen - member satisfaction and perception of the club, facilities, programs, policies and, most of all, management, almost always improves!
Does Every Club Need a Website?
Probably. And for several reasons. A website is now considered to be every bit as important as a listing in the phone book. Members now expect any successful enterprise to have a website. A website facilitates rapid and frequent communication of timely information. Improved communication almost always leads to improved morale and satisfaction.
How Can Clubs Benefit From a Website?
By improving communications. By providing this modern method of communication the club delivers information in a much more timely fashion, and communications do not just flow from the club to the members but also from the members to the club through surveys, polls, email, and response forms. Some examples of website communications devices and benefits:
- A membership directory that not only provides a handy reference for members but also keeps itself up to date by prompting members to regularly update their own contact information.
- Member announcements keep members abreast of what is happening today at the club, events, changes, achievements.
- The club's calendar of events can cover everything from wine tasting events to re-paving the tennis courts, all in a place where members can find answers in a few mouse clicks.
- Everybody likes photos, especially of themselves, so photo galleries are great, especially now with the availability of inexpensive digital cameras.
- Reference documents ranging from club by-laws to back issues of the newsletters, contact lists, tournament details and tournament results and just about any other kind of document is readily available for quick member reference.and reduced phone calls for information.
- A survey system to find out what members like and dislike is a superb two-way communications vehicle with incredible benefit to both members and management. First, it communicates the club's desire to know what members want and secondly, it gives members a voice in club activities and policies, and gives them the true sense of belonging.
- A website with email capabilities built into it enables sending of email messages to all members, to groups of members by special interest and to special distribution lists. Information gets out faster, increasing participation or notifying of changes and specials.
Are there Valid Reasons Not to Have a Website?
Perhaps, but only two come to mind - no electricity and no internet access! Other reasons sometimes given are thoughtful and well-intended but they miss the mark:
- Some clubs think that a website is for selling goods and services and since a club is not in that kind of business they think that a website is inappropriate. It is true that most websites sell but websites also communicate and that is the sole role of a club website.
- Some 501(c)(7), member-owned non-profit clubs unjustly fear for their tax status; unjustly because communications between club and its members is not a threat, though advertising for new members might be, so it is not a website that is at issue but how it is used. When used for member communications it is perfectly valid.
- Some clubs claim that their members do not use the computer, usually because, as a group, they are older and have never used a computer. This one is not valid unless the club is not admitting younger members. In spite of the older demographic for all clubs in general, over two-thirds of all club members nationwide have internet access.
- Management believes the club does not need a website, that it is unrelated to the club activities. That probably applies to the telephone and newsletter, too, so if the club has neither then this argument is probably valid. A website is simply a communications tool that will ultimately enhance the member experience.
- The club does not have the staff necessary to maintain content on a website. This one has an element of truth in that it does, indeed, take a few hours each week to keep content fresh and crisp. But like answering the phone or writing for the newsletter, this task can be shared by several on the staff, and the answers provided on the website may well reduce the number of phone calls to be answered.
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