The 5 Things You Need To Do For Your Membership Organisation This End Of Financial Year

As the End of Financial Year approaches, membership organisations have crucial tasks to complete. This guide outlines five essential areas for clubs and associations to focus on, including comprehensive financial wrap-up and reporting, streamlined membership renewals, and effective AGM planning. Additionally, it emphasises the importance of smooth operational handovers for new committee members and strategic communication and recognition efforts for volunteers and members. Following this EOFY checklist will help ensure a successful close to the financial year and set your organisation up for future growth.

The end of the financial year is coming. For the average person, that means little more than organising tax returns, deciding what to spend our tax back on and generally just bracing for the colder months. However, if you run a club or association, the end of the financial year comes with a whole lot more to do and organise than your personal tax returns. 

So, with that in mind, today we are going to talk about the five things you, as a club or association administrator, need to organise this end of financial year. We are going to cover the following: 

1. Financial Wrap-Up & Reporting 
2. Membership Renewals
3. Planning and Running An AGM
4. Operations & Handover
5. Communication & Recognition

1. Financial Wrap-Up & Reporting 

It'll come as a surprise to precisely no one that the end of the financial year brings a whole lot of financial tidying up to do. We're talking about tax returns, reconciling payments and accounts from all your different services, financial reports for your AGM, planning out next year's budget, and sorting out any grant reporting that you need to do. 

Let’s have a look at key financial tasks you'll want to tick off. 

• Organising Your Organisation’s Tax Return

As I'm sure you're already aware, if you're based in Australia, the laws surrounding tax for not-for-profit organisations have recently changed. Long story short, if you have previously been assessed as tax-exempt, you will now need to complete an NFP Self-Review to maintain your tax-exempt status.  

For more information on these changes, please read How To Prepare Your Not-For-Profit For The ATO’s Latest Changes To Tax Exempt Status.

• Reconciling Accounts

You need to ensure that all your bank accounts, payment gateways, and systems, such as Member Jungle, are reconciled, with every dollar accounted for, in and out.

• Finalising the Books 

You need to ensure that all income and expenses for the period ending June 30th are accurately recorded, categorised, and allocated. Think of it as putting every financial puzzle piece in its correct spot. Don’t forget that exciting task of depreciating any assets that are owned by your organisation.

• Preparing Financial Reports

Before your AGM, you need to prepare comprehensive financial reports both for posterity and to present during your AGM. Your financial reports need to include income, spending, profit, loss, balance and more. Also, remember to check your constitution or any relevant regulations (such as ACNC requirements if you're a registered charity), as these often require specific details in your reports, including the need for them to be audited or reviewed by an independent party.

• Budgeting for the Year Ahead 

You should also start planning your budget for the year to come, especially if you are going to need to present your budget for approval at your AGM. 

2. Membership Management & Renewals

While this may not apply to every organisation, many clubs and associations have their renewal season in June and July. If your organisation is one of them, now is the time to ensure all your ducks are in a row for this crucial period.

This can include things like:

• Organising effective renewal reminder email campaigns.
• Reviewing and potentially adjusting your membership prices and product offerings.
• Cleaning up and updating your member database to ensure accuracy.

For more detailed breakdowns on how to make your renewal season successful, check out these helpful articles:

• How To Reduce Member Churn This Renewal Season
• 5 Things You Should Do To Get The Most Out Of Your Automated Membership Renewals

3. Planning and Running An AGM

For some clubs and associations, an AGM is legally required; for others, it's optional. For everyone, it's a fantastic idea. It provides your entire committee, and often your wider membership, with a space to reflect on the past year, examine what worked and what didn't, and ensure everyone is aligned for the year to come.

When it comes to planning and running your AGM, there are a few things you need to do to ensure your AGM is as useful and beneficial as possible.

• Pre-Meeting Preparation 

Pick a date and time for the meeting, write up a simple agenda, and open up nominations for committee positions ahead of time. If your constitution requires you to notify your members of your AGM, ensure you do so. Even if you aren't required to tell your members, make sure you still let them know. Don't forget to round up all the important reports, like the Treasurer's financial overview and the President's year-end summary.

• Running the Meeting 

On the day, ensure a smooth flow by officially opening the meeting, reviewing previous minutes, presenting all prepared reports, conducting committee elections, and allowing time for general business or pre-submitted motions.

• Post-AGM Actions

Don't forget to finalise and store accurate minutes, facilitate a smooth handover for any new committee members, communicate the outcomes to your wider membership, and file any necessary documents with regulatory bodies. This may include advice to regulatory bodies on new committee members and the retirement of old committee members.

A well-planned and executed AGM sets a clear direction for the year ahead, keeping your organisation transparent, accountable, and connected with its members. For a much more detailed breakdown of how to run a really great AGM, please read How To Run A Great AGM For Your Club.

4. Operations & Handover

While it won't be the case for every club and association, a lot of organisations have new committee members and administrators stepping into roles around the end of the financial year. If you run one such organisation, it's crucial to ensure these new people receive adequate training and support in their new positions.

If they don't, not only will it make their lives harder, but it will eventually start to negatively affect members and the organisation as a whole. To counter this and to ensure everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing, there are a few things you should do. 

New committee members and key administrators need thorough training for their specific roles. This includes getting them up to speed on any systems they'll be using, like Member Jungle. It's a really good idea to provide new people with both in-person training and clear procedure manuals to refer back to. It doesn't really matter if the person being trained is the new treasurer or new social media person; to keep your organisation on track, they need proper training, producer manuals, and guidance.  

It is also a great idea to communicate the passwords and usernames for all of the accounts they will need. Please just ensure that all your passwords are stored somewhere secure, like a trusted password manager. 

5. Communication & Recognition

The end of the financial year is also an excellent opportunity to reach out to your volunteers and let them know how much you appreciate all their hard work. It's also a great opportunity to check in with your members on how everything has been going and to give them a little insight into the year to come.

This time of year is perfect for acknowledging and thanking all your volunteers and committee members, particularly those who are stepping down from their roles. Taking the time to show your volunteers and team members how much you appreciate their hard work is a great idea and will help boost morale among your team. 

Also, reach out to your members to find out what they did and didn’t like from the last year. Run surveys for your members and/or give them a forum to give you feedback on how the last year was for them. 

It's also a great time to send out an annual report to your members, highlighting all the wonderful things you've achieved and done for them over the past year and all the great things you've planned for the year ahead. Doing this will help show your members just how valuable their membership is to them, which is very important.  

Other Things To Do For End OF Financial Year

So, those are five things you should look at doing for the upcoming end of financial year. I have linked to them both above, but do go check out How To Run A Great AGM For Your Club and How To Prepare Your Not-For-Profit For The ATO’s Latest Changes To Tax Exempt Status. 

Those are both useful resources to help you through this time of year.