Orpington & District Angling Association

Increased memberships, saved time on member admin, reduced human errors, modernised club processes & introduced a uniformed system to protect the long term future of the club

At Orpington & District Angling Association, we used to have a manual membership system in place. This worked to an extent, although it did take up a lot of my time and it was open to human error (which didn’t happen a lot but still more than it should!). With handwritten forms, I often had issues with reading and then mistyping details which would lead to headaches later down the road.

As well as this, we were exploring ways to increase levels of interest in our club. Ideally, we wanted to ensure that it was as easy as possible for people to become a member. We were keen to grow our club and target a fresh audience. The current system made it difficult and time-consuming as new members had to visit a local shop to drop off their forms and cheques. As well as being inefficient, membership numbers were declining and we knew we had to do something.

It occurred to me that it might be possible to tackle two birds with one stone through a computerised system. It’s for this reason that I began exploring the possibility of Clubmate.

Clubmate was recommended by Angling Trust and this immediately instilled me with a great level of confidence. However, I was a little concerned at first. Being on the wrong side of sixty, I must admit, I am not particularly IT literate. I was worried that perhaps the system would be too complicated to gain all or indeed any benefits. However, I am delighted to say this has not been the case.

One of the greatest advantages of working with Clubmate is that you are provided with a fantastic level of customer service. There are still times when I get a little confused however, I can rest easy knowing there is always a member of the team that I can speak to. Clubmate provides exceptional, personalised service and it does feel as though there is always a helping hand close by.

Of course, our main reason for taking a chance on Clubmate was to improve membership levels. I am delighted to say that this has certainly paid off and provided stronger results than we imagined possible.

It is far easier to recruit new members. The whole process of signing up is now a lot simpler and members are able to join, day or night. In the past, recruiting new members required significant time commitments with limited results. That has certainly changed now. Feedback has been fantastic and members have been delighted with how easy the system is to use.

We have seen a staggering ten percent climb in membership. This rise has occurred after just half a year of using the software so we can’t wait to discover what future benefits it will bring.

Another great benefit that I’ve discovered using this system is not related to the software but the people behind it. The whole team are incredibly helpful and make you feel truly valued. This is rare when searching for business solutions, but Clubmate certainly delivers.

I can confidently recommend this system to anyone regardless of the size of angling club they help run.

While I enjoyed completing the membership and administrative tasks myself, there is no doubt in my mind that ODAA are in a far stronger position with Clubmate. The club is no longer at risk should anything happen to me and we can spend more time on developing our club and going fishing!

Like me, it’s possible that some people may be turned off by the difficulty of learning to use new software. However, with such a helpful team of experts, these fears have certainly been put to rest. And it’s true, there is a learning curve but I’ve taken my time getting used to it and am now reaping the benefits it can bring.

Furthermore, whenever I do forget how to do something, I can find the answers in the Clubmate help centre. There are countless articles here that get to the root of an issue and help you navigate it with ease.

I would definitely recommend that clubs explore what Clubmate can offer. We were optimistic from the start, however, I think it’s safe to say that the software has greatly exceeded our initial expectations. By delivering measurable results, we have been able to feel confident that Clubmate has provided a solid ROI, providing benefits to the club, committee and members alike.

If you are a membership secretary, secretary or treasurer of a fishing club then Clubmate is definitely going to be of benefit to you. Just ask for a demo!