Websites and Emails
A professional website serves as a central hub of information for potential members, sponsors, and stakeholders. It helps with communication and engagement, and can attract new members, volunteers, sponsors, and partners. A well-designed website can also establish the club’s brand and identity, making it more appealing and recognisable to potential members and stakeholders.
Emails facilitate efficient and organised communication and can be used to promote the club and its events to a wider audience.
eSafety Resources
The eSafety Commissioner has created an online safety resource covering online abuse, tips for staying safe online and specific advice for administrators, coaches, athletes and parents.
Domain Names - Website and Email
A domain name is a unique online address for your club and this can be used for both websites and email addresses.
It also presents a unique, credible and professional brand identity.
Having a domain name enhances the club’s visibility in search results. The shorter the domain name, the higher it’ll rank in search results as well. (i.e. demons.org.au is a lot shorter than narangbademonsbaseball.com.au but you could still do demonsbaseball.com.au – 15 characters or less is the sweet spot)
Some companies will offer discounted rates for not-for-profit organisations, they might even waive the first years’ registration fees. Reach out to multiple potential providers and ask if they offer any discounts or special deals for Not For Profit Organisations.
Connecting your domain to your website
Typically, hosting sites and/or domain registrars will have step by step guides on connecting your domain to your website. View the relevant sites support section to find out how to complete this.
Using your domain with an existing account
You don’t have to migrate to a new service just to use your domain. You can attach it to an existing account.
Example: I use an existing Gmail account bqclubpresident@gmail and I want to use president@bqclub.com.au without losing all of my existing emails or having to migrate the account. Gmail lets me add president@bqclub.com.au as an alias to my gmail account, this means I can send and receive emails from both addresses without changing anything.
Gmail: Using your Domain with an Existing Account
Google have a step by step guide on the process for attaching your domain address to an existing gmail account.
Outlook/Hotmail: Using your Domain with an existing account
Microsoft have a step by step guide on the process for attaching your domain address to an existing Outlook or Hotmail account.
Creating a new Email Account with your Domain
Office365
Microsoft have a step by step guide on the process for attaching your domain address to a new Office365 email.
Google Workspace
Google have step by step guides available below:
Websites
A good website will serve almost any purpose you need it to.
At a bare minimum you need your site to display information that a new member will want before registering and be able to direct them to the registration portal.
Beyond that you can decide what other functionality you add to your website.
A good website should be seen as an investment. It will increase the number of EOIs you receive and by extension passively increase your membership.
You can go minimal and only update necessary information in the lead up to a season, or you can go all out and post regular News and Recaps to the site, sponsor servicing, etc. (Which you can then share to social media and include on newsletters)
Website Content Recommendations
Here are the pages you should aim to have:
Home Page
Ideally you’ll want a header image that you update regularly, this will feature information on your upcoming events or recent successes.
Underneath you’ll want some major important links, such as your Registrations Page and Contact pages.
Below that, News items, you can do blog posts/news articles on your site. This is great for announcements and calls for help.
Play with Us! (Registrations Page)
This should be a main tab on your website. Treat it as if this is the only page on your website new members will read.
This is your registrations landing page, you’ll want to have
- short summary on your club
- your club address
- your come and try info (date, time, location)
- season information (months, age groups, etc.)
- registration fees
- registration portal link
Try to include information on how far you might expect people to have to travel. (i.e. most fields are within a 30 minute drive, or the furthest south Seniors will have to travel is Mudgeeraba)
“Seasons start in October and finish in Late March, with a break late December, early January”
If you have your training schedule locked in, include that on this page as well, it’s great for people to know when their trainings will be.
Be clear, give them important information!
Competitions
Masters (50+)
Men and Womens (mixed competition vs female only)
Juniors
Content on your Competitions Page
Your competitions page should include the competition information for your club.
“Baseball Club competes within the Cairns Baseball League, this association features clubs from Trinity Beach to Edmonton. For more information on the competition and to keep updated, please visit their website/facebook page”
“Draws, Fixtures, Ladders and Results are all available via this link: “
Masters (50+) Page
Include more in depth information in where your Masters play (if you offer this) – i.e. GBL clubs might want to specify that there is a Division 1 and 2 and that your club competes in North/South – list the clubs that you might expect this age group to travel to
Men and Womens Page
Include more in depth information on where Mens and Womens play
i.e. Most clubs can just specify that Mens and Womens play together within mixed competitions. Try to list the clubs that you might expect these members to travel to (Womens GBL North/South, etc.)
Juniors
This will be your largest page, have the age matrix linked at the top of the page, then do sections based on the age groups.
Specify what competitions each level plays in and state how long the game goes for in each age group, whether your club provides an equipment kit or if they’ll have to purchase their own equipment, etc.
Sponsors
Include contact details at the top of this page for any potential or interested sponsors to contact you.
Platform and spotlight your sponsors on this page, thank them for their contributions and support of the club.
Volunteers
Include contact details at the top of this page for any potential or interested volunteers to contact you.
Include position descriptions for your internal club positions. Testimonials from current volunteers.
Include information on Scoring, Umpiring and Coaching as well.
About
Summary of the club
You can include anything you want in the About section, you could include the Club’s History, Policies, Constitution, etc.
Contact Us
Include your field address.
Identify a main contact for all enquiries (or have an email form)
Include your current committee contact details.
Website Checklist
This checklist covers off all of the items above in more detail and make sure to ensure you use the seasonal updates tab to keep your website up-to-date!
Website Checklist and Seasonal Updates Guide View and Download
Email Newsletters
EDM (Email Direct Marketing) aka. Newsletters
A Newsletter, however simple, allows you to communicate important updates to your members.
Your email list also sits alone as a sellable asset when you’re seeking sponsorships. For more information on this, visit the Sponsorships page.
MailChimp is a widely used free newsletter software, just modify an existing template, place your information into it and send! It can also link in with most standard websites. (like WordPress)
Find out more information on MailChimp on their website: https://mailchimp.com/en-au/?currency=AUD
Newsletters should communicate important information to your members. You might do multiple newsletters per year that cover different things. You should include targets and content planning for a newsletter within your Communications plan.
Some information you might include on a newsletter
- Recruitment Information
- Upcoming season info, come and try dates, uniforms, registration information.
- Calls for Volunteers
- Scoring and Umpiring Clinic Information, Coaching Accreditation
- Fundraising Initiatives
- Events
- Work happening at your Club
- Success stories
- Player, team or volunteer success
Social Media
Traditional Media
Recruitment
Cloud based Clubs