The season is wrapping up, AGMs are on the horizon, and committees across the country are turning their attention to 2027. It’s the moment to look at what worked this year, what took too much time, and what could make next year easier.
Most committees run on a handful of volunteers juggling registrations, fundraising, communications and finances alongside day jobs and family life. The right tools won’t do the work for you, but they can take a lot of the admin off your plate.
Here are seven examples of how Clubforce helps GAA club committees get ready for the year ahead, and which committee members each one helps most.
1. Take the hassle out of membership
Membership renewal is one of the biggest jobs on any committee’s list, and it lands right at the start of the year. Clubforce’s integrated membership lets members register and pay online, so there’s no chasing cash or cheques at the clubhouse door.
It also works seamlessly with the GAA’s Foireann system, so your registrar isn’t keying the same details into two places. Set up your 2027 membership packages now and you’ll be ready to open registrations the moment your AGM signs off on fees.
In practice: Clubforce has the most advanced membership system on the market for GAA clubs, allowing us to make registration simple for your members. With our combinations and dynamic pricing capabilities – members simply select the plans they require and we’ll apply the correct price.
Helps: Registrar, Treasurer, Secretary
2. Grow your lotto, online and in person
For many clubs the weekly lotto is the backbone of fundraising. Clubforce helps it grow in two simple ways.
First, when membership and lotto run together, members can be offered a lotto ticket as they register. 20% of membership orders add a lotto ticket when prompted, which turns renewal season into a lotto boost.
Second, the Tap to Pay app lets your volunteers sell lotto tickets in person using just a phone. Take card payments at matches, in the clubhouse or at events, and every sale flows straight into your lotto reporting. Home Farm FC doubled their lotto entries in one day using it.
In practice: a parent renewing their family membership is offered the lotto at checkout and adds it in one tap. On a morning’s training, two volunteers can walk around parents hanging around to sell lotto tickets by card.
Helps: Treasurer, Chair
3. Reach every member without the extra work
Training changes, fixture updates, lotto results, AGM notices: a club sends a lot of messages, often across WhatsApp groups, emails and social media. The Communications Suite lets you post once and reach members on every channel in one click.
Dynamic lists update automatically based on the filters you set, so the right message goes to the right people, whether that’s U12 parents or adult players. You can schedule messages in advance or automate them entirely.
Critically, the Communications suite combines email and app communications to ensure that you’re not missing out those who might not download a mobile app.
In practice: on top of the day-to-day benefits of the Communications helping your coaches manage and organise their squads and groups, clubs are using the communications suite to automate regular communications, for example:
- Automatically remind those who haven’t renewed yet to pay for their membership.
- Remind players who’ve stopped playing the lotto to sign up again.
- Remind members who aren’t playing the lotto to support your fundraising.
Helps: PRO, Secretary
4. Sell more than lotto tickets
Camps, club gear, event tickets, fundraisers: there’s plenty a club sells beyond the lotto, and it’s often spread across different apps, bank transfers and cash boxes. Marketplace brings it all online through one trusted checkout.
Every sale is reported alongside your lotto income, and buyers automatically receive follow-up messages through the Communications Suite. With Christmas coming, it’s the perfect way to run a Christmas draw or sell club merchandise as gifts.
In practice: run your Christmas draw online, sell tickets for the club social and take bookings for your summer camp, all through the same checkout. Each sale appears in your reports, and buyers get a thank-you and the event details automatically.
Helps: Treasurer, PRO
5. Give your club its own app
Connect Pro is a club app with your name and your crest on it. Share club news instantly, give your sponsors a prominent home, and keep members connected to everything the club does.
Because it’s integrated with your lotto, membership and fundraising, members can do it all in one place. Coaches also get a tool for managing their groups and schedules. Clubs including Kilmacud Crokes GAA, Corofin GAA and Ballinasloe GAA are already using it.
In practice: members open the club app to read the match report, renew their membership and buy a lotto ticket, with your main sponsor’s logo front and centre. Coaches use it to manage their squads and training schedules.
Helps: PRO, Chair
6. See the full picture in one place
When membership sits in one system, lotto in another and fundraising in a spreadsheet, the treasurer’s report becomes a job in itself. With Clubforce, it’s one connected platform: membership, lotto, Marketplace sales and in-person Tap to Pay sales all report in the same place.
That means less reconciling, clearer figures for your AGM, and a committee that can see at a glance how the club is doing.
In practice: before the AGM, your treasurer sees membership, lotto, Marketplace and Tap to Pay income side by side, ready for the financial report, instead of piecing it together from bank statements.
Helps: Treasurer, Chair
7. Get answers from your club data with intelligent reporting
Pulling figures together for a committee meeting or AGM report can take hours of exports and spreadsheets. Clubforce’s new intelligent reporting powered by AI (coming Q4 2026) lets you ask questions about your club’s data in plain English and get a clear answer straight away.
Ask “How many members have renewed so far this year?” or “How does membership income compare to last season?” and get the figures you need, without waiting on someone to run a report.
In practice: the night before a committee meeting, your chair asks how many members have renewed so far, and your registrar asks which U12 players haven’t registered yet. Each gets an answer in seconds.
Helps: Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Registrar
Final thoughts
Most of these can be switched on at no additional cost for existing Clubforce clubs, and none of them require you to change your current setup. Now, before the new season starts, is the best time to get them in place.
Planning for 2027? Get in touch with the Clubforce team and we’ll talk you through which of these would suit your club best.
