4 Ways to Make Improving Your Club a New Year's Resolution You Can Stick To

New Year's resolutions date back a surprisingly long way. 4,000 years ago, the Ancient Babaloynins would bring in the new year, which they celebrated in May, with a 12-day festival in which they would make promises to their gods to be good in the year to come. This celebration and promises to be better in the coming year were adopted by the ancient Romans, the early Christians and many others of the past few thousand years. 

New Year's Eve and New Year resolutions in Western society at least, are now mainly secular events, but that doesn't stop us from making another bunch of resolutions every time the calendar swings back around to January.   

However, New Year's resolutions are famously hard to stick to. We all say that this will be the year we quit smoking, cut back on drinking, start going to the gym, pick up that new hobby, read more, run more, eat less, and so on and so on. And within a month or two, we will all be back up to our old tricks. 

 

 

According to one poll, only 6% of people actually stick to their resolutions long-term, with over half of people failing their resolutions within three months.  

This is so well-known that a few years ago, on New Year's Eve, a friend and I decided our New Year’s resolutions would be to become worse people. We (drunkenly) promised each other that we would spend the next year backsliding, getting bitter, jaded, odd and unwholesome; that we’d drink more, fight more, work less, be pettier and just generally rot into horrible people. With the intention that we would inevitably fail in our resolutions and become better people in the process.

Believe it or not, it worked. We both completely failed our resolutions; we met our partners, got new apartments, she got her dream job, and I won an award for student journalism.

 

 

Anyway, my point is that sticking to a New Year’s resolution is really hard, so today, let’s talk about a New Year’s resolution you can actually stick to; making your club or association better in the year to come. 

1. Embrace Artificial Intelligence For Your Club In 2025

The last year has seen artificial intelligence continue to grow both in prevalence and usefulness. AI is rapidly becoming an indispensable tool for everything from crafting compelling website content and managing spreadsheets to generating eye-catching images for your club's communications. It is my personal opinion that despite some of the issues around using AI, the organisations that don’t use it are soon going to fall behind the ones that do. 

We're currently experiencing a surge of AI innovation, just like the dot-com boom of the early 90s. Everyone's rushing to capitalise on AI, and inevitably, the bubble will burst, and some of the hype will fade. However, the businesses and organisations that embrace AI today and strategically integrate it into their operations will undoubtedly gain a significant advantage.

Take the cautionary tale of Sears for example. They hesitated to invest in its own online platform, opting instead to rely on Amazon as a middleman for online sales. This decision ultimately backfired, as Sears lost control of its online presence and eventually faded from prominence. The lesson is clear: embracing new technologies is crucial for long-term success.

Clubs and associations should view AI as an opportunity to enhance efficiency, improve communication, and streamline operations. By adopting AI tools for tasks like content creation, data analysis, and member engagement, organisations can free up valuable time and resources, allowing them to focus on what matters most: their members and their mission.

For more information about how to use AI to help your organisation, have a look at How To Use AI To Generate Content For Your Club’s Website.

2. Prepare For The Changes To Australian Tax Laws

In early 2024, it was announced that Australian tax laws would be changing. Non-profits with Australian business numbers who are not registered charities with the ACNC must complete Not For Profit Self-Reviews to maintain their tax-exempt status. 

No, we at Member Jungle are by no means experts in tax law; I am simply bringing this up to make sure everyone knows about it. As these changes were announced in February of 2024, I’m sure most people already know, but it doesn’t hurt to double-check.

To find out more about these changes and their ramifications, read Changes To Australian Tax Laws May Affect Your Club and Association This Tax Season. It has some more information and some useful links, but it is very much the first stop in your research into this, not your last. 

3. Get The Most Out Of Your Member Jungle System In 2025

One common theme I hear when talking to different Member Jungle customers is that they know they aren’t using the system to its full potential. Maybe they aren’t using some modules, or maybe they know the ways they are using the system aren't taking advantage of all its capabilities. 

So, one great way you can resolve to improve your club or association in the year to come is to make sure you are getting the most out of your Member Jungle subscription. This is a topic I have already broken down in great detail in this aptly named article: How To Get The Most Out Of Your Member Jungle Subscription.

This article covers pretty much every aspect of the Member Jungle system, how it works and how you can get the most out of it. Everything from making money with the Member Jungle system to getting more members on the app to converting the blog module into a classifieds section for your club, and a whole lot more.  

If you want to improve your club and ensure you're getting the most value from the Member Jungle system, reading that article and changing how you use the system is an excellent New Year's resolution.

4. Prioritise Member Engagement and Communications

Members are the most important part of any club or association. They are the lifeblood of any membership organisation; without them, your club would not exist. So, keeping them engaged and enjoying your club is key to your club continuing to grow and improve in the year to come. 

To foster a thriving and engaged membership group, focus on building a strong sense of community and belonging. Encourage interaction and participation through social events, workshops, and online group chats where members can connect and share their interests. It's about bonding your members to your organisation and each other. People will be much less likely to leave a club if they are also leaving a group of friends behind. 

You also need to keep your members informed and involved by implementing a robust communication strategy. This could include regular newsletters with club updates, targeted email announcements for upcoming events, and using group chats to give your members a place to talk and bond with one another. 

Don't forget the importance of actively seeking feedback from your members. Conduct surveys to find out what your members enjoy and what they don't, as well as how you can improve their experience. Not only will this feedback be an extremely valuable resource in enhancing your club, but by making your members feel heard and valued, you'll cultivate a loyal and engaged community that contributes to the long-term success of your club.

To learn more about keeping members engaged and measuring that engagement, have a look at the below two articles:

• How Do I Keep My Members Engaged?
• How To Measure Members' Engagement With Member Jungle

How Else Can You Improve Your Club In 2025 

If you are looking for more ways to ready your club for the year to come, why not read The 5 Biggest Challenges That Clubs and Associations Are Facing. 

If you want to know about the general state of membership organisations, what makes some successful and what leads to others failing, read The 5 Lessons We Learnt From The 2024 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report.