Effective Club Committee

This collection has been created to help club committees operate effectively.

A club’s success is largely down to the work of its committee, the group of people who manage the club’s affairs.  The committee exists to serve the club and to ensure that its members receive the best possible service and experiences.

To operate effectively you will need to consider;

  • Leadership and Management skills
  • Decision making
  • Running club committee meetings and Annual General Meetings (AGMs)
  • Planning including succession planning
  • Managing conflicts of interest

Acknowledgement: Annie’s Training Company have supported England Athletics to produce this collection including Worksheets, Factsheets and Videos.

Benefits

  • Gives members the confidence that the volunteers have the interests of the club at heart and are making decisions based on what’s is right for the club and its members
  • Increases and promotes collaboration
  • Defines the leadership and management ethos
  • Supports decision making and prioritisation
  • Engages with members so they understand how the club operates and can contribute to the success 
  • Happier members, less churn, bigger growth and perform better

Key ideas

  • Reinvigorate your club committee to bring in new skills, experience and perspectives. Be proactive in identifying new volunteers to undertake important tasks.

  • Consider the committee structure and associated subgroups. Does this structure allow you to deliver what is required?  

  • Consider how you currently structure commitee meetings and AGMs and look at how you can make small changes using the factsheet in related resources.

  • Provide opportunities for debate and discussion to aid decision making. Use the factsheet in related resources to give you ideas on how to do this.

  • Think about what kind of decisions you will have to make within your club - small, medium and large. Review the approach and tolerance for each decison.

  • Deliver engaging and inspiring AGMs to encourage more club members to become involved with the committee and support the vison of the club.

  • Produce a club development plan that links to your clubs vison.

  • Use the worksheet below to review leading, managing and doing tasks. This will help you understand where you spend your time productively and also to identify where you might need extra support.

  • Engage with the wider club membership through surveys, focus groups and conversations to enable the club committee to make decisons in the best interests of the members.

  • Promote the role of your committee. This will raise awareness of the committee and the work they do. It’s often the unseen volunteers of the club that make things happen. This will help with future recruitment and advocacy of the committee.

Questions

Yes No
Does your club have a constitution that has been agreed by committee members and is reflective of the legal structure
Great. Make sure your constitution isn’t simply left on the shelf. Ensure it’s used to manage club matters. Don’t forget to review this annually at your AGM.
The constitution is the document that will set out how your club is governed. It’s the rules by which your club operates. Your club can’t and should not operate without one.
Does your club have key policies and procedures in place that have been recommended in Club Standards?
Great. Ensure that all club members have access to the policies and procedures
Club Standards highlight the key policies linked to tier 1 code of good governance and legal legislation. Having these in place will ensure your members have a positive experience at your club. The club committee will be able to manage club matters appropriately.
Does your club have a committee that meets regularly and records decision making?
Hopefully you have seen the benefits of meeting regularly and keeping minutes of meetings.
Club committees can set the number of meetings per year. It’s best practice to ensure all committee meetings are documented with meeting minutes and are available for all members.
Does your club ensure diverse viewpoints are considered?
Great. Your club should be representative of your membership and local community to get a balance of opinions and ideas.
Consider how this could be achieved by recruiting a diverse committee and/or representatives from different sections of your club.
Does the club chair ensure conflicts of interest are recognised, managed and recorded?
Great, this will avoid problems and ensure that decisions are made in the best interests of the club.
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual's personal interests – family, friendships, financial, or social factors – could compromise a volunteer’s judgment, decisions or actions in the club. If you don’t manage conflicts of interest this can cause problems for your club. Club decisions may be invalidated and the motives of volunteers can be called into question.

Bitesize videos

Worksheets

Resource Last Updated
Club worksheet - Leading, Managing and Doing

Related resources

Resource Last Updated
Club Factsheet - Succession planning
Club factsheet - Leadership and Managing
Club Factsheet - Decison making
Club factsheet - Running club committee meetings
Club Factsheet - Creating a club development plan
Club template - Club development plan
Club Factsheet - Annual General Meetings (AGMs)
Club Factsheet - Conflict of interest
Club Form - Conflict of interest register
Club Form - Declaration of interest form
Club Template - Committee meeting agenda
Club Template - Volunteer Induction Checklist
Club Guide - Managing Club disputes and complaints

Related collections