Stay above the tin

Global research shows a worldwide trend in declining sports clubs memberships. We know that funding squash club activities is becoming an increasingly difficult task. Competition for grants and sponsorships is fierce amongst a crowded market. Finding and keeping people is tough. Being an attractive option for their disposable income is a constant battle.

Maintaining financial viability of your squash club is all about ensuring the amount of money coming in equals the amount going out. If your club doesn’t make a profit there is no money available to invest into building your club. This means no provision for equipment repair or replacement, no provision to make better facilities and no provision to provide more services for your members.

It is important to remember that even though we are not-for-profit organisations that does not necessarily mean that we cannot make a profit – we can. By having more money coming in than going out, we can invest this (on a non-profit basis) into the development of our clubs and provide better services for our members.

Club Financial Analysis

Squash New Zealand has completed a club financial analysis project aimed at understanding a benchmark of spending at the club level. Within the analysis additional information is also displayed on membership and court numbers.

Please click here (PDF) to view the 2016 Club Financial Analysis Results (a full report is available on request from Squash New Zealand).

Some questions to consider:

• Where are we sourcing our income from - Membership fees? Court hire? Events? Bar? Venue Hire? Programmes? Pro-shop?
• Which area(s) of our club are covering its own costs (money out = money in) - Programmes? Events? Bar? Coaching?
• What is the most profitable area of our club?
• What percentage of members benefit from it?
• Do subscription fees cover Administration costs? Facility maintenance costs?
• Does income from programmes cover coaching and indirect costs?