Droitwich
Touch Players Who Have Represented England
Fanos Hira , Treasurer commented on their financial transition , saying , “ Rugby clubs are run almost exclusively by volunteers , and DRFC is no exception with only one full time employee , the groundsman .
This , despite our turnover at around £ 200k , being comparable to many small businesses . As such , many of the historic policies , in particular with respecting to accounting and reporting , had just evolved and needed to be amended . This occurred when I became Treasurer in 2013 .
The first thing that I implemented was to centralise and streamline everything - payments , multiple bank accounts , cheque authorisations etc ., initially just too really understand all the components of running a busy rugby club .
We also wanted to break down the historic silo mentality which existed within separate areas of the club . Payments were only authorised and made with approval of the treasurer and chairman . We immediately introduced signed reconciliations performed bi weekly - looking at till takings and exploring where any differences occurred .
This scrutiny continued and identified obvious areas of focus , over staffing during the week , over purchasing by operations and other matters . Whilst this created unpleasant friction to start with , and volunteers left , these obstacles needed to be overcome in order to make sure the club could continue .
We also began to focus on easily identifiable metrics , or key performance indicators , from which to judge our progress . We obsessed and continue to obsess about liquidity and cashflow . The obvious income streams such as membership and sponsorship are bedrocks of a rugby club , but we also needed to understand how food and drink over the bar contribute , and how our fixed costs , especially as we are blessed with great facilities , remain significant .
It ’ s through initially proper accounting and analysis , that the board and also the members could be kept updated as to how the club progressed . We provided detailed financial analysis and reports at AGM ’ s - so that members could understand that membership provided very little to support the ongoing costs of our club .
An example being that all the first team memberships didn ’ t even pay for the paint for marking out the pitches , let alone actually physically marking them out . This focussed the minds of all our membership to the on-going costs of running our club and the need where possible to contribute further , in any way .
The club has , pleasingly , rallied round , with greater involvement by all areas - many volunteering services and time to improve our facilities . We renovated our club house , and finally , literally and metaphorically fixed our leaking roof . Unsurprisingly cohesiveness and team work has also occurred on the pitch as well , with significant progress .
We are even exploring purchasing new floodlights , which given our financial predicament a few years ago would have been a distant dream . Our focus is to utilise our facilities more and transition to multi-sports with rugby as a primary use . Whilst of course challenges always remain , it ’ s a privilege to be part of a re-emerging club .”
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