Strategic Private Club Communications: Beyond the Club Newsletter

"In the absence of information, people make up their own story—and it's usually not positive." This fundamental truth highlights why strategic communication has become essential in today's private club. Private clubs face a unique communication challenge. Their membership—often hundreds of individuals with varying interests, engagement levels, and communication preferences—requires intentional, consistent messaging to maintain trust. Without clarity, the rumor mill takes over, particularly during periods of change. When the rumor mill is running rampant, club leadership loses control of the messaging and members begin to lose trust.

In a recent conversation with Kristen LaCount, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer, and Jacqueline Singleton, Director of Communications at The Country Club in Brookline, MA, this reality became clear. Their approach to communications has evolved from basic necessity to strategic asset, helping them navigate major capital projects while maintaining member confidence.

Building a Communications Foundation

The Country Club's communications journey began almost 20 years ago with a simple goal: to provide members with the ability to make online reservations for its Curling Center. This was originally Kristen LaCount’s undertaking and what started as a small reservations solution has evolved into a sophisticated operation that now serves as the connective tissue between leadership and membership.

"At this point in time, the need for this support has grown so much that there's now a communications summit through CMAA that sells out in a week to 10 days and has a waiting list," notes Singleton. Jackie would know, she started the first CMAA Communications Summit years ago.

At The Country Club, their day-to-day communications strategy is straightforward and includes:

• A content-rich website serving as their information hub
• Segmented email communications based on member interests
• Limited but strategic physical mailings (2-3 per year)
• Push notifications through their club app
• A private Instagram account that builds community

This multi-channel approach creates a communication ecosystem where members know where to find information—critical for preventing misinformation during times of change.

Capital Projects: The Ultimate Communication Test

For private clubs, capital projects represent the ultimate communication challenge. These high-investment initiatives require member buy-in and often involve temporary disruptions to club life. This is an area many clubs struggle with without a strategic plan to ensure the members understand the need for improvements along with the many expenses. The Country Club's approach to their current $10 million kitchen renovation and upcoming clubhouse renovation offers valuable lessons.

"We are about two and a half years into a three-and-a-half-year drip campaign," Singleton explains. This extended timeline allows for gradual education rather than overwhelming members with information.

Their strategy includes several key elements:

Dedicated Digital Home

The club created a "Campus Conversations" section on their website—a centralized location for all project-related communications. "Every communication that we've posted about this particular project has a timeline down the bottom. You can go back to it," explains Singleton. This allows members to go back to previous messages and updates to see what they’ve missed. All communications are archived, making it easy for members to stay current with the latest updates.

Regular Member Forums

Twice-yearly information sessions (available in-person and via livestream) keep members updated while allowing questions and feedback. These sessions are recorded and shared afterward, ensuring even absent members stay informed. Ongoing forums like this allow members to join in on the conversation as it’s happening saving them time and ensuring clarity about the projects.

Behind-the-Scenes Access

Understanding that members can't support what they don't understand, the club offered tours of back-of-house areas that need improvement. "Most members aren't stepping into the kitchen," Singleton notes. These tours help members see operational challenges firsthand, often transforming skeptics into advocates.

Multi-Format Delivery

Recognizing different member preferences, the club creates video fly-throughs with narration for those who can't attend in person. "Trying to really serve up each thing in multi-faceted ways," as Singleton puts it. Over the course of 2024, Jackie and her communications team produced more than 200 videos for members so they could stay current on the improvements as well as other topics.

Starting Your Communications Strategy

Clubs first need to recognize they have a gap in their member operations. Once that is established, it’s important for club leaders to remember this is a process and change will take time. For clubs looking to enhance their approach, LaCount and Singleton offer practical steps that don't require massive resources:

Start Small

"If there is somebody on your team already that you feel like is ready for a new challenge or is just really ingrained in the club culture, you can start as a part-time role," suggests Singleton. Most clubs aren’t staffed with a full-time communications leader or coordinator, so identify small things that an existing team member can take on.

Audit Current Communications

"Take stock of all your departments, how many emails are the club sending out to the membership that are hitting their inboxes," Singleton advises. Often, the first opportunity is simply coordinating existing communications. Just because you’re sending out emails, printing newsletters and posting to your social media channels doesn’t mean people are paying attention. See what is working and what’s not.

Establish a Unified Voice

Creating consistency across all club communications helps members instantly recognize official information. "We'll do some ghost writing for department heads. We do collaborations with them. We help make their operation look better," explains Singleton. With a unified voice that comes from a unified communications plan members will realize what’s legitimate and focus attention on the important information.

Measure and Report

Board members want to know what’s happening around the club in a way that is simple to understand, yet also offers valuable insight. For the board meetings every month, at The Country Club, “the communications team creates a wrap-up report of that last month's communication statistics," LaCount explains. This data-driven approach demonstrates value to leadership and ensures everyone on the board is reviewing the same information.

Be Authentic Over Polished

While club communications should represent the values and brand of the club, not every piece of communication has to be “perfect”, especially when it comes to video. The Country Club produces its videos using simple equipment rather than hiring a professional video company for every project. "The authenticity is more important than the polish part of the videos," Singleton notes. "An iPhone works just fine. The mics that you can buy for $15 off of Amazon work just fine."

The Return on Investment

Contrary to what many might assume, The Country Club's communications function operates on a modest budget—approximately 2% of the club's overall expenses, primarily in labor costs. The payoff comes in member support during critical initiatives, increased engagement with club offerings, and ultimately, a stronger community. Well-informed members become advocates rather than skeptics, particularly during periods of change and investment.

Private clubs are multi-million dollar operations and the need for processes and resources that align with small businesses is critical. Strategic communications isn't a luxury—it's essential infrastructure that supports every aspect of club operations. As LaCount puts it, when leaving any meeting, the question should always be: "How are we going to communicate that to people?" When clubs answer that question thoughtfully and consistently, members don't need to make up their own stories. They become champions of the club's true narrative instead.