Rugby clubs may wonder, how can they make extra income without putting in a significant amount of extra work and the answer is quite simple.
Hire out your club house for events such as parties, meetings and even wedding receptions. All clubs have a bar and you will just need to establish guidelines for the hiring of the clubhouse.
When hiring out your rugby club house you need to consider the following matters:
- How to hire out your rugby club;
- Advertise your rugby club for hire;
- Terms and conditions for hiring out a rugby club;
- How to price the hire of your rugby club; and
- Potential problems from hiring out your rugby club.
How to hire out your club
If your rugby club decides to hire out their venue, then your rugby club management committee will have to take the decision of how to hire out the club. The first sensible step is to produce a calendar for a year which highlights when your club will be unavailable for hire. This will be due to events that your rugby club is holding or because the club has rugby games on that week. If your rugby club has upstairs and downstairs or two separate buildings then availability to hire out a hall will be easier on the availability front.
The next decision for the committee to decide is whether you offer, at an additional cost, staffing for an event. Particularly, as events may want someone to serve at a bar. There is an assumption that most of the events will require bar staff however, if someone is having a child’s party or a baby shower etc then it is highly likely bare staff won’t be required. It will probably be best to have a cost for the club and then an additional charge for bar stuff.
TIP –if the event does not require staff then install a key safe on the outside of the property, supply the key code to the client 48 hours before the event. Change the keycode on a bi-weekly basis just to ensure no intruders. Click here to see all the key safes on sale at Amazon.
It will be important to indicate when advertising the club for hire, that the individuals hiring the property will be in charge for clearing up the hall and it would be prudent that for each side of a booking there is half an hour issued to an individual to set up and tidy up.
Advertise your Rugby Club for Hire
If your rugby club has decided to hire out its club house, then the first action you will want to take is advertise the hall hire opportunity on your clubs website. It is important to include images of your hall and the dimensions of the hall as this will may impact an individual hiring a hall or not.
Within the same page should be costings of the hall hire per hour and whether there is a minimum time which the hall can be booked for. An example would be two hours minimum for the hire. Any additions such as staff cost should be listed on the website. If you are using WordPress then there a numerous plugins whereby a calendar can be added to a website page which can be updated by the person in charge of the hall. By having a calendar on a page, potential hirers can check whether the hall is booked on their date or not and takes away the email admin of potential hirers ask if a certain date is free.
Within the Web page should be a contact form which highlights name, address, telephone number, date of event, time of event, whether the bar is required or not. It is important that the terms and conditions are encompassed within the contact form and that these agreed too.
The next step that should be taken, is to search the internet and see if there are any hall hire directories which your rugby club hall cam be added too. It’s important that you make your hall stand out therefore, a one-page pdf brochure could be generated to have on your website and sent to your perspective hirers.
It would be beneficial to email all the sponsors of the club and informing them that the rugby club is for hirer and that there is a discount for sponsors of the club. A regular reminder on your rugby club newsletter will also help draw in potential hirers.
Lastly social media posts should be put together and posted on the social media channels to make individuals aware that your rugby club is now available for hire. Within the post there should be a link which directs individuals to the specific website page which deals with the club hire.
Terms and Conditions for Hiring out a Rugby Club
The management Committee of your rugby club will need to consider the terms and conditions carefully for the hall hire. Essentially, the rugby club will want to make their life as simple as possible and also ensure that all regulations are met. In the terms and conditions should be simple and readable text. The terms and conditions should be easily available on the website. The following items should be considered:
- Identifying that the club can only be used for the event which is agreed between the club and the hirer.
- Highlighting how many people the club can hold.
- The hours which bookings are available for.
- A club will probably not want cooking on site.
- What parts of the club can people use. You don’t want people destroying your pitches.
- What can and can’t be put on the walls.
- What are the liabilities.
- Health and safety details
- Clearing up for the hall.
- Any other information.
How to Price the Hire of your Rugby Club
Pricing is an important element of hiring out your rugby club and it is the whole reason as to why you are offering your rugby club out. The one advantage that a rugby club will have over other hall hires is that it will have a bar which people will probably favour if they are having a party to celebrate a big birthday etc. If you are unsure what price to put on your rugby club hire, then look at the pricing of various hall hires in the local area and the facilities which are offered with each hall hire and the price which is charged. If you find a venue of a similar size and facilities, you can use their pricing structure as a guide to what you should charge.
As mentioned previously, you will need to give consideration to staffing, particularly if you run a bar. You will need to add in the staff’s wages and if there is an alcohol being a served then you want a minimum of two staff.
Another consideration that for your committee to consider is the cleaning up of the venue. In the terms and conditions it is understandable to include the hirer has to clean up afterwards however, after a party there may be a possibility whereby the hirer does not clean up after themselves and therefore, a surcharge may need to be required for an hours cleaning.
Potential Problems from Hiring out your Rugby Club
The management committee of the rugby club need to consider the actions that they would take in case of an incident at the club. The main risk for the rugby club is that it is a licensed premise and there could be a situation where somebody drinks to much alcohol or there may be a fight. Firstly, you want your staff trained in how to deal with that situation and secondly, the club would be prudent to invest in some security cameras being installed in subtle locations around the club but with a good enough view to cover the whole area. Check out a wide range of security cameras here.