The Paperless Trail

by Ann McDonald (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
July 2007
 

In addition to producing full-color newsletters, most clubs are also communicating with their members on their Web sites and through e-mail. Software programs have made it easier for clubs to maintain e-mail lists and send out electronic communications to keep their members up to date and informed.

As Noel Rozny, Director of Communications for the Union League Club of Chicago says, many younger members prefer e-mail communications, so it’s important that clubs are able to provide information in as many formats as they can. The club sends out a weekly e-mail newsletter, E-Line, to inform members about recently added events that didn’t make it into the printed newsletter. The club uses a newsletter software program to maintain its database of e-mail addresses. The program helps to track what links people are clicking on, as well as “unsubscribe” and duplicate e-mail notices.

When event sign-ups are low, The Peninsula Yacht Club also sends out e-mail “blasts,” and sometimes even launches telephone-call campaigns, to encourage more people to attend, says Loraine Vienne, General Manager. The club recently switched to a new operating system, and the software contains an e-mail database marketing component.

The Peninsula Yacht Club also sends out e-mail blasts at least once or twice a month as a way to remind people about already planned events or tell them about events that come up after the newsletter has been mailed out. The response to the e-mail campaigns has been good, Vienne reports, and only one member has opted out of receiving e-mails from the club in the last year.

“We have a lot of families at the club with busy schedules, and they all tell me how much they like the e-mail reminders,” she says.

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