Get Your Club’s Events Prepared For 2025

It’s hard to believe, but we are already in the second week of 2025. This year marks 100 years since The Great Gatsby was published and 75 years since 18-year-old Muhammad Ali won an Olympic gold medal in boxing. It has also been 50 years since the release of Back to the Future and The Goonies and 25 years since the Sydney Olympics and the world failing to dissolve into the computer apocalypse of Y2K.

Seriously, time is flying by; just look at how much the kids from Stranger Things have aged since it started. 

 

  

“Vecna’s dead baby, Vecna’s dead,”

 

Let’s put aside the ceaseless march of time for a moment and instead focus on how you can get your club or association ready for 2025, specifically with regard to setting up your club’s events for the year to come. 

Plan & Schedule Your 2025 Events

With the new year underway, now's the perfect time to start booking your events. Even if you haven't finalised every detail, getting key dates on the calendar lets you get a jump start on promotion and engagement.

By scheduling the majority of your events in advance (even without all the specifics ironed out), you can build excitement and anticipation for what your club has in store. Plus, giving your members a heads-up helps them avoid double booking themselves and ensures they can attend your events. It’s basically a save-the-date for all of your club events.  

Organise Your Recurring Events

The first step is to identify recurring events in 2025. To make sure you've got a comprehensive list, consider these key questions:

• Must-Have Events: What are the essential recurring events that your organisation holds? This might include weekly social gatherings, monthly committee meetings, quarterly orientations for new members, or annual general meetings.
   
• Peak Periods: When is your organisation most active? Do you have a busy season with more frequent events? Factor this in when planning your calendar.
   
• Fun Factor: Don't forget to include recurring events that are purely social or recreational. These can be a great way to boost member engagement and foster a sense of community. Think regular game nights, themed trivia nights, or monthly hikes.

Once you have a good idea of your recurring events, you can start scheduling them in your system.

As Member Jungle added the ability to set events to reoccur at the end of 2024, you'll just need to book your first committee meeting and then set it to reoccur every month (or your chosen period) for the rest of the year. Repeat this for all your recurring events, and you'll be well on your way to a complete calendar.

 

 

Also, you can edit the details of these recurring events whenever you want, so if the location, time, date, etc., changes later in the year, you will be able to edit on the fly and not have to start the event scheduling all over again.

Schedule Your One-Off Events

Once your recurring events are all scheduled for the year, you need to do the same for all of your one-off events. Even if you don't have all the details finalised, it's helpful to get those events into the system early on.

While recurring events provide a consistent rhythm for your club, one-off events add something special to the mix. These are your opportunities to create unique experiences, attract new members, and generate buzz. Think of annual fundraisers, holiday celebrations, guest speaker presentations, themed parties, or that one massive annual event. For some dates that aren’t 100% confirmed you can include TBA or “Unconfirmed” in the event name, just so people are aware it may be that way.  At least then you can have the year planned out but not all events locked in. 

Publishing Your Event Calendar 

Once you have planned out all of your recurring and one-off events for the year, you need to make sure they are in your Member Jungle event calendar and are all colour-coded in a way that not only looks good with your club’s theming but also makes them easy to comprehend.  

 

 

Once you've finalised the event calendar and are happy with its appearance, you should share it with your members. While it's already displayed on your club's website, it's important to send out an email to all your members with a link to the calendar to ensure they are aware of the upcoming events. If you have contact details for non-members, consider sending them the email as well; it's the perfect bait to hook those people who are thinking about signing up for your club. 

 

 

Beyond that you can also whip up a little digital poster using free software like Canva, showing all the key dates and big event dates in the year to come and send this along with your email. 

Here’s one I made in Canva in about ten minutes. 

 

 

This can have as many or as few details as you want on it and can be the perfect little addition to your proper event calendar on your website. If you really wanted to, you could even print them out and stick them up around your clubhouse just as a constant reminder. 

Promoting your events early and in detail will mean that your members will be able to take them into account and make sure they are free and able to come to those events. Basically, the earlier you tell people your plans, the more chance there is that they can plan and budget to make it to your events. 

Event Planning Tips

Quickly, before we wrap up this article, here are a few important things to consider when planning out your events for the year.  

• Venue Availability: If your events require a specific venue or just a third-party venue (e.g., a hall, sports field, or meeting room), check their availability well in advance. Popular venues can book up quickly, especially during peak times.
   
• Resource Planning: Consider any other resources you might need for events, such as equipment, catering, or instructors. Make sure to factor in their availability when scheduling.
   
• Contingency Planning: What if your guest speaker cancels at the last minute? Or if bad weather forces you to move your outdoor event indoors? Have backup plans in place to handle unexpected issues.
   
• Accessibility: Ensure your events are accessible to all members, including those with disabilities. Consider factors like wheelchair access, accessible restrooms, and the availability of assistive listening devices if needed.

 

By planning ahead and taking these factors into account, you can ensure your events run smoothly throughout the year and that everyone is able to attend and enjoy themselves.

More Event Management Tips

If you are looking for a few extra tips and tricks to make event planning smoother as you start scheduling this year's events, then why not check out How To Run An Event With Member Jungle - A Guide.

If you need a refresher on how to set up recurring events, then here is Recurring Club Events With Member Jungle.