Whitepapers

Food and beverage is the single most consequential amenity in a private club. Member satisfaction with dining tracks with overall club satisfaction roughly 1.7 times as closely as the golf course does, yet F&B is consistently one of the lowest-rated...

Most conversations about club food and beverage begin with the wrong question: "Why are we losing money?" The earlier whitepapers in Club Benchmarking's F&B series put that question to rest. F&B deficits are not a sign of mismanagement; they are the...

The 2025 Club Benchmarking Executive Compensation whitepaper examines factors that drive total compensation for Executive Team positions in private clubs, drawing on extensive national datasets and proven analytical methods. The intent is to bring...

New board members are often experienced business leaders with impressive credentials and deep expertise in their respective industries. These individuals typically assume their roles on the board with the best intentions – to improve their clubs and...

What is the secret formula that makes governance at some clubs so seamless, consistent and effective? Club Benchmarking has been searching for the factors that drive success via annual governance surveys since 2017.

Co-Authored by Michelle A. Riklan, ACRW, CPRW, CEIC, CJSS, Phil Newman & Ray Cronin

The catalyst for this whitepaper was a discussion amongst the authors about the general state of financial management in private clubs, and in particular the...

In a recently published report on proactive capital planning, Thinking Bigger Sooner, we referenced “zombie debt” as a by-product of inadequate and reactive capital planning. We committed to follow up with additional analysis and commentary and the...

Does the concept of “20 times current year depreciation” mean anything to you? As described below, that metric should be front and center as a discussion starter for your capital planning over the next 10 years. The key to proactive planning for...

Club Benchmarking has been conducting surveys related to club governance since 2017. Over the last several years, many respondents have expressed concern or uncertainty about the nomination and succession planning process at their club. Our 2024...

The purpose of our annual Club Governance Survey is to explore gaps in board education and alignment across the industry and report those findings in a way that will provoke thought, fuel productive discussions, and promote adoption of best...