Membership secretary
The keeper of the only list that matters
Every question a club ever asks starts with the member list: who belongs, who has paid, who is allowed on the water or in the air, who to email. The membership secretary owns that list. When it is right nobody notices the role exists; when it is wrong every other officer inherits the mess.
The honest hours. Under an hour a week for most of the year, then renewal season, where the state of the records decides whether it is a week's work or a month's.
What the job actually is
Process the joiners
Application, category, consents, payment, welcome. First impressions of the club's competence are formed right here.
Run the renewals
The annual cycle: notify, collect, chase, lapse. Done with the treasurer, owned by whoever the constitution says, felt by everyone.
Keep the record true
Categories, contact details, emergency contacts, consents and qualifications where the sport needs them. A record nobody trusts is worse than no record.
Answer the who-is question
Coaches need session lists, the treasurer needs payment status, the safety officer needs qualifications. The membership secretary is where those answers come from.
Mind the data rules
Personal data held lawfully, shared only where there is a reason, deleted when membership genuinely ends.
Report the trend
Joiners, leavers, category shifts. The committee steering without membership numbers is steering blind.
The year, honestly
Renewal season
The defining weeks. Fees from the committee, notices out, payments matched to members, non-renewers confirmed as gone rather than guessed. Clean records going in halve the season.
In season
Joiners trickle in, details change, lists get requested. Light work if the record is trusted.
Before the AGM
The membership report: totals, trend, category breakdown. Five minutes from a good system, an evening from a spreadsheet.
Handover
The list, the process, and the exceptions: which members have special arrangements and why. The checklist below captures what the spreadsheet never shows.
The handover checklist
What the outgoing membership secretary hands to the incoming one. Most get none of this; be the club where they do.
The record
- Membership system or spreadsheet access with full rights
- Current member list verified against payments
- Category definitions and current fee for each
- Consent and data records, and where they live
The process
- How someone joins, step by step, as it actually happens
- The renewal cycle with dates and templates used
- How lapses are decided and recorded
The exceptions
- Members on special arrangements, with the reason and who agreed it
- Honorary and life members and what their status means
- Any live membership disputes
The connections
- What the treasurer receives and when
- What coaches and safety officers pull from the record
- Governing body registration requirements per member
The parts software takes off your plate
The record maintains itself
Members update their own details, consents are captured at joining, and the list stays true without an evening a week.
How it worksRenewals run as a cycle, not a crisis
Notices, payments and lapses tracked per member, with the chase list building itself.
How it worksEvery list is one filter away
Session lists, unpaid lists, qualification lists: filters on the record, not fresh spreadsheets.
How it worksQuestions
What does a membership secretary actually do?
Owns the member record: processing joiners, running the renewal cycle, keeping details and consents current, and answering every list request the club generates. It pairs closely with the treasurer on payments.
How is the membership secretary different from the secretary?
The secretary runs meetings, correspondence and governance records; the membership secretary runs the member list and the joining and renewal machinery. Small clubs sometimes merge them, which works until renewal season.
How long does the role take each week?
Under an hour most weeks, concentrated into renewal season, where record quality decides whether the peak is a week or a month.