Membership at private clubs has been faltering since the new millennium began, but a refreshed look at what draws members could help those clubs looking to increase the number of members, says Candice Clemenz, Ph.D., of the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Clemenz performs and analyzes research about country club and golf club membership and gives presentations about increasing membership. The challenge for golf and country clubs is that they face more competition than in previous decades.
“The challenge for the clubs as they entered 2000 was that they were competing with market share with more and better competition that frequently had a financial edge-and, the total market seize was the same as pre-1990 since the forecasted increase in the number of golfers did not materialize,” she says.
At the turn of the 20th century, 80 percent of golf courses were private, and there was a significant difference in the quality of play between private and public courses, Clemenz says, adding it wasn’t until 1990 that daily-fee courses jumped onto the scene as a significant rival for private clubs. They really started showing up in the 1950s, but they weren’t posting high numbers, she says. It was in the past decade that an increase of golfers was predicted, and in response, high-end, daily-fee golf courses sprang up.
Clemenz cites a McMahon Group study of 595 country/golf club owners that shows only 17 percent of respondents had more memberships in 2003 than in 2001, where 44 percent reported having fewer members in 2001, and 39 percent reported their memberships to be about the same in 2003 as 2001.
Clemenz conducted research, published in 2006, about waiting lists in private clubs. Usually, the lists are established so private clubs don’t exceed the capacity of their facility or as a way to create exclusivity. Waiting lists usually signals the popularity or success of a club.
The study, based on responses from 163 CMAA members, found that 31 percent of country clubs had waiting lists. In 2000, a survey performed by accounting/consulting firm Pannell, Kerr, and Foster found that 84 percent of country clubs had waiting lists.
In Clemenz’s study, clubs with waiting lists were between 50 and 100 years old and had well-established clubs that were member-owned and tax-exempt. In addition, clubs with larger memberships (between 1,000 to 3,000 members) were more likely to have waiting lists, as were clubs with gross revenue exceeding $5 million.
“This seems to say that the more contemporary clubs, started in the last 50 years, have been unable to capture the same foothold in their communities as clubs that weathered the depressions and world wars of the early and mid-1900s,” she says.
Contemporary clubs that struggle can work to boost membership and keep up in the competitive market by learning more about today’s potential membership demographic and learning to cater to them, Clemenz says, naming methods she’s seen clubs use.
“A growing number of clubs are employing a membership director or director of members services to focus on membership matriculation by assisting members with the process of sponsoring new members,” she says.
Clemenz suggests those membership directors or others at clubs take advantage of resources including the Professional Club Marketing Association and the CMAA, which can provide clubs with membership marketing training and information. Along that line, club professionals are becoming more marketing-savvy and learning to market and promote the club based on the needs of its members.
Other suggestions Clemenz shared include:
- Communicate the club’s competitive advantages, which could include creating community, establishing relationships or providing a safe haven away from home;
- Join the growing number of clubs that are catering to the needs of the entire family, especially children;
- Evaluate pricing structures and consider creating new (and often less expensive) categories to entice nontraditional demographic segments; and
- Offer incentives for members to sponsor new members and/or encourage prospective members to join the club.
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