Educational Opportunities

Explaining the Club Business to Your Board

A club board is more likely to achieve alignment and work together productively if everyone is speaking the same language. Unfortunately, a disconnect often exists between the way finance is discussed in the business world and what the Directors, Officers and Committee Members hear when they step into the club boardroom. Faced with that communication gap, many managers struggle to present the club's results in a way that satisfies the board. In this session, attendees learn how to bridge the divide and strengthen their relationship with the board by becoming fluent in the language of finance.

Value Creation: The Connection Between Culture, Value and Investment

Every club has its own unique culture, defined by factors such as history, mission, member demographics, and amenities offered. Below the surface, there is a strong connection between that culture and the investment decisions made by the club's leaders. Are your board, management and members focused on value creation through investment or are they focused on operational minutia and cost control? In this session, we use data to illustrate the characteristics of a value creation culture versus a cost control culture and explore the quantifiable long-term impact of investing in the club.

Diagnosing Your Dues Engine

For many clubs, the concept of increasing member dues is a very sensitive subject. While it’s not unusual for boards to avoid controversy and discord by kicking the issue down the road, eventually the subject must be addressed if a club is to remain financially viable. In this session, we explore the hallmarks of a healthy dues engine and use actual case studies to illustrate how a fact-based approach can transform the emotionally charged issue of dues into a thoughtful, strategic discussion about the future health of your club.

Compensation & Benefits

The median club spends about 54% of its total operating revenue on payroll. Compensation and benefits are a major component of the club budget and also play a crucial role in your ability to recruit and retain great employees. In this session, we take a fact-based view of compensation and benefits packages at every level (service staff to upper management) and discuss what industry data reveals about the impact of factors such as tenure, experience, training, geography and more.

*Custom Sessions

Club Benchmarking educational offerings are continuously evolving, influenced in large part by feedback from experienced club industry professionals and our extensive work in club boardrooms. If you have a presentation idea that differs from those listed above, please use the form to contact us.

Examples include:

• The Financial Insight Model – Moving from a Tactical to Strategic View of Club Finances
• Club Finance (income statement and balance sheet) Analysis and Discussion
• Food and Beverage Benchmarking Analysis and Discussion
• Course Maintenance and Golf Operations Benchmarking Analysis and Discussion

*Fees: There is no fee for a presentation to CMAA Chapters other than basic travel expenses (air and hotel).