When running a booster club, it can be difficult to set up a regular channel of communication between members. Booster clubs are run by volunteers who turn over sometimes yearly. Parents and students move in and out of activities and sports due to changes in interests, sports injuries, family moves, and a whole host of other reasons. It can feel like herding cats, trying to manage who is doing what and who is involved or isn’t involved. People often get busy, and connectivity can fall by the wayside. To ensure that your booster club community remains engaged, follow these important tips:
Set Expectations
The leader of the booster club has the responsibility of setting a regular communication schedule. They can do this weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly depending on how active the club is. Meetings can often be done in-person. The best time to accomplish this is either immediately before or after club activities. That is the most likely time for parents to be located in the same place at the same time. Written communication can be sent on a regular basis to ensure members are on top of all news. However it is that you decide to schedule your meetings or written communication, make sure you follow a set schedule. Knowing when communications will be made makes it easier for your members to remember to participate and when to direct their attention to what you need to communicate.
Devise a Written Communication Method
When face-to-face meetings can’t be held, it’s important to keep members up to date on upcoming activities. You can do this by using traditional methods such as email, or it may be handled using a booster club app. Booster club communication software, such as Boosterhub, can be used to send messages to members. Members download the free app on their phones and then will receive instant notifications of important messages and upcoming events. You can create tailored groups to communicate with specific members on specific topics. For example, you can select “parents” and “varsity” and then send a message only to varsity parents. That way, the JV parents and players do not need to be inundated with messages that don’t apply to what they need to know. What’s more, your club members can use the app to communicate directly with other booster club members, leaving the officers without having to serve as a switchboard to pass messages and information to various members.
Ensure Transparency
All organizations — including booster clubs — should have thoroughly documented roles and responsibilities for each member. This delineation is especially true for people in management roles who are overseeing activities or handling finances. Volunteers and students need to know who to reach out to if they have questions or want more involvement in specific events. Having the contact info easily obtained allows members who, for example, are requesting information on how to purchase a sponsorship, to contact the sponsorship volunteer directly, without having to communicate with two or three other board members to find who is running sponsorships. Establishing a set communication protocol can go a long way toward ensuring that your booster club organization functions smoothly and easily. Parents and members will appreciate the consistency, which can lead to more effective fundraising and participation within the group.
Target Specific Groups
Using a booster club software such as BoosterHub allows you to target specific groups for your communications. Instead of blasting an email to 200 people that happens to be on a subject that is relevant to only a smaller segment of your club, try forming tailored groups in which to communicate. Form chat groups and email groups with, for example, just the volunteers associated with a bake sale, or just the Freshman team parents, or just the JV football linemen, or just the volleyball players who need allergy-free meals, etc. The fewer irrelevant communications that your members receive, the more likely they are to pay attention to the few but important messages you really need them to pay attention to.
Avoid bcc
Blind copying emails is a no-no in today’s world. The chance of “replying to all” accidentally and sending hundreds of emails to your recipients is incredibly frustrating and damages your reputation for respectfully communicating with them. Your members will be less likely to open your messages if they know they are likely to get hit with many “reply to all” emails.
Centralize where to find communications
It will be of great benefit to your club to use a communication app designed specifically for booster clubs. BoosterHub is an all-in-one platform that combines your communication tools such as email, chat, announcement, and SMS into one location. There is no need to have multiple apps open and to have different logins to different platforms. Everything you need to run your club is all in one place. Even better, by being on the same screen, your members will be communicating right next to the icon for fundraising, and right next to the icon for volunteering, and right next to the icon for announcements, etc. By using an all-in-one app, your members will be more engaged and will have a better idea of what is going on in the club, without having to email questions to the club president one by one!
