“What we have here is a failure to communicate!” Little did we ever think those famous words from the warden in the 1967 blockbuster hit “Cool Hand Luke” would apply to club governance—but the message does resonate, or at least should be considered as clubs work to disseminate information to their members.
When I was a board member of a country club in suburban Chicago from 2007 to 2014, we considered various ways to evaluate and yes, cut expenses. During that time, many clubs were faced with serious financial decisions as the country experienced one of the most significant economic downturns in recent history. Clubs closed, revenues were down, memberships were on a steep decline and boards were forced to evaluate everything to make sure they were able to sustain operations.
We were no different.
After evaluating big-ticket items, our general manager at the time realized there could be significant savings if we stopped printing and mailing our monthly newsletter and other club
communications about upcoming events, elections, issues, etc., that were frequently sent to members. Changing the newsletter would be easy we thought. Not only did we decide to reduce the frequency from 12 to six editions but also, to post it digitally to the website. It was predicted that every member would log in to the club website to find all the information they needed about club activities and news. Just like that, the club would save money and the members would be informed. Why didn’t we think of it sooner?
Well, we were wrong.
Of course, we did save money. Our postage budget was reduced significantly as were our printing costs. Unfortunately, so was member participation in club activities. On countless occasions we would hear a defensive board member or staff person say “it was in the newsletter … didn’t you see it online?” The reaction would be the same: “I thought we got rid of the newsletter!” As the chair of the Marketing Committee during the implementation of this plan, it quickly became apparent that we had a problem.
Yes, we had a failure to communicate.
And each failed communication was a missed opportunity.