Your subs are the biggest sum the club takes all year, and they arrive in one rush on 1 January or 1 April. At a lot of clubs that rush still runs on a printed letter, a pile of cheques and a treasurer with a highlighter. This guide sets out how to move membership renewals into your club's own app, in the order a treasurer or membership secretary would do it, so next year's subs land in the club's account on the date you choose.
The short version
- Set up each membership category once: price, monthly or annual billing, course access, guest passes, joining fee.
- Each member joins their category in the app and pays there. Renewals then bill automatically on the date you set.
- New members apply in the app with their documents attached, and pay only once you approve them.
- The Members list shows who is active and who isn't, without a spreadsheet.
- Tuvabook is £149 a month for a single club, no setup fee, month to month, and we have you live in three weeks.
The renewal as it runs today
You know the routine because you ran it last year. The subs letter goes out a few weeks before renewal, with the new rates the AGM agreed, a form to tick and a reminder about the locker. Members post a cheque, hand one in at the bar, pay by bank transfer with a reference you then have to match, or put it off.
By the renewal date you have most of the money and a list of names you're not sure about. February or May goes on the chase: a second letter, a note on the board, a quiet word in the car park. Somewhere around June a member who never renewed books a Saturday medal, and the office finds out at the same moment the starter does.
None of that is anyone's fault. The trouble is that the club's largest payment depends on a member remembering to do something, and on someone in the office reconciling it by hand afterwards.
Members renew in the app and pay there
Your members join and renew in your club's app, under your club's name, and pay automatically. A member opens the app, sees their category and what it includes, and pays in a few taps. Renewals then bill automatically on the date you set, so you are not ringing round in January asking who has paid.
The money goes into your club's own Stripe account, not ours, and the subscription income lands on the schedule you set, matched to each payout for you. The treasurer gets the subs in the club's account without a paying-in book or a bank statement to match against a list of names.
You decide whether a category bills monthly or annually. Some clubs keep a single annual payment. Others offer a monthly option on the same category, which can make the difference for a younger member weighing up whether to stay.
Set up your categories in the words your club uses
Everything starts with your membership categories: full, five-day, country, intermediate, junior, social, whatever your club already offers. You build them once in the dashboard, and they appear in the app for members to join.
In Membership categories, click Add category, then:
- Give it a name and a price, and choose whether it bills monthly or annually.
- Set Course access: unlimited rounds, a set number per month or year, or no course play for a social category.
- Add any priority booking window, guest passes or joining fee the category comes with.
- Save it, and it appears in your list and in the app.
Course access decides what a member pays when they book. Tick Green fees included and members on that category play without paying a green fee. You can choose whether included rounds apply any time they can book or on full access days only, which suits a five-day category that shouldn't cover the weekend.
At checkout the member sees Included with your membership in place of the green fee, so the round costs them nothing. On a capped category, each booked round counts against the allowance and the app tells them how many are left. If they book a fourball with three visitors, only their own round is covered and the others pay the normal green fee. If you're working out how members and visitors pay side by side, we've set that out in how to take payment at booking without upsetting members.
Retiring an old category works the same way. Set it inactive instead of deleting it, and current members keep their membership while nobody new can join.
| Category setting | What you choose | What the member sees |
|---|---|---|
| Price and billing | An amount, billed monthly or annually | The price in the app when they join or renew |
| Course access | Unlimited, a set number of rounds, or none | Rounds left on a capped category |
| Green fees included | On or off, any time or full access days only | "Included with your membership" at checkout |
| Extras | Priority booking window, guest passes, joining fee | Their booking window and guest-pass allowance |
New members apply in the app
Renewal season is also when the waiting list moves and new members want in. For any category that needs the committee's say, golfers apply in the app with their documents attached.
Applications collect in Membership applications, under To review, and the ones waiting for a decision also show on your Today page. Open one, read it, look at the documents and approve or decline. We let the golfer know, and they pay only once you've said yes. Approving the application starts their membership. Categories that don't need approval let golfers join straight away, and they appear in Members.
You stop holding application forms in a tray between committee meetings, and you never have to refund someone you turned down.
Put the app in the subs letter once
The subs letter goes out a few weeks before 1 January or 1 April. It already has every member's attention, so it is the right place to move them across.
Work back from your renewal date:
- Agree the categories and rates first. The letter can't go out before the committee signs off the prices, and neither can the app.
- Get live before the letter. We move your tee sheet, prices and member list across for you, you check everything over, and you're live within three weeks of signing. For a 1 January renewal, a decision this month leaves time to spare. For 1 April, you have the winter.
- Write the letter around the app. One line on where to download your club's app, one on how to renew in it, and a named person in the office for anyone who wants help. Keep a paper route for the members who need one, and expect fewer of them each year.
- Remind the stragglers from the dashboard. In Announcements, choose lapsed members or a specific category as the audience and send by email, push notification or the app news feed.
Members hear about the app once, from the club, at the moment they're already thinking about their membership. If you're planning the move to a new system over the winter anyway, the winter switch walks through the eight weeks from committee vote to first Saturday.
The treasurer sees who hasn't renewed
Open Members and use the Membership filter to show Members (anyone with an active membership) or No membership. Each row shows the member's status and category, so the list of names you're not sure about takes one click to find, in February rather than June.
Open any member and the Membership and payments tab shows their category, dates and renewals. Reports gives you a live count of active members. Membership subscription payments sit in your Stripe account, where you can see the takings in full and follow each payout to the bank.
The whole system, with the tee sheet, online booking, memberships, competitions and lessons together, costs £149 a month for a single club with no setup fee, month to month. Golfers never pay a booking fee. The full breakdown is on our pricing page.
Send us your categories before the letter goes out
Send us your membership categories as they stand: names, prices, what each includes and when you renew. We'll set them up with you on a call, in your club's app, before your subs letter goes out, so the letter can tell members where to renew. Book a call here and bring last year's letter if you have it.
Common questions
Can members still pay their subs the old way?
Yes, for members who ask. The office adds, changes or ends a membership from the member's record with Manage membership, so everyone ends up on the same list.
Can we offer monthly subs?
Yes. Each category bills monthly or annually, which you choose when you create it. To offer both, set up the category twice, once for each.
Do members pay a green fee if it's included in their subs?
No. Tick Green fees included on the category and the app shows Included with your membership in place of the green fee. It covers the member's own round; guests and visitors in the same booking pay the normal green fee.
How do new member applications work?
For categories that need approval, golfers apply in the app with their documents attached. You approve or decline in Membership applications, we let them know, and they pay only once you've approved them.
Where does the subs money go?
Into your club's own Stripe account, not ours, and from there to your bank on your payout schedule. The Payouts page shows each payout and the day it arrives.