Organizing Your Club with 1 Document (Roster)

Link to download my Roster: https://www.madsocietyinc.com/offers/YdEXR7Tp/checkout  

As a leader of an organization, your time is very precious and being organized is one of the keys to protect your time and eliminate stress.   I’m hoping that by sharing the document I have created for my drama club, you too will find it easy to stay organized and be the best leader you can possibly be.   

I’ll take you through the 4 steps needed to create an all inclusive "Roster" for your group to streamline your leadership process, add additional suggestions for maintaining & appreciating roster maintenance and give you access to download my clubs Roster for free to use it as a template.

Your “all inclusive roster” will be a multi page document that will give a snapshot of each person in your group.  

Step # 1 Create the structure of your Roster 

Make a horizontal document labeled Roster. I use google docs. In it, you will make a table that you will duplicate for each member. The number of columns & rows will be decided as you decide your club’s needs. Eventually, you will copy & paste the exact number of tables you need and then give each table a number so you can easily see how many club members you have and I like to put the name of the club member right above each table because it stands out visually.   

Step #2 Make spaces for the personal information of each club member  

The left side of your table should include larger boxes with the important info about your members. Decide what information you frequently need to reference about each member. Do not bother including boxes for things you do not need often. Really take the time to think through the specific things you frequently need to reference for your club members. Other options for this section might be: jersey numbers, home address, parents/family names, cell phone, email, school, etc.  

Step #3 Make boxes for tracking important information  

The middle section for each table is a box for each important document or item that needs turned in for each student. You can see how I color coordinated each box with the title of each document or need at the beginning of the Roster so I didn’t have to fill the chart with words.  

Step #4 Make a detailed attendance recording section  

The right portion of this table is for attendance. The top row should get a month/date and underneath you will record attendance in a specific way…here is what I do: X = present, E = excused, BLANK BOX = unexcused absence (follow up needed), V = vacation, S = sick, Circled = arrived very late or left very early.  I have selected ways to document the things that are important to me and my Drama club, but you should come up with ways to document things that are specific to your group.  

If a student misses 2 meetings in a row, send the student (and the parent) a message telling them you miss them and hope they are able to make the next event. Even though you might be frustrated, your message should be kind. Include the reasons you like having them in your club. Reaching out could save someone’s life.  

Attendance is also used to gauge commitment levels, provide accountability and documentation if you have to give reasons for leadership decisions based on someone’s attendance.  One of the frustrating things about leading a group is dealing with all the ways people can message you and RSVP. Each time you get one of those messages, get your roster out and document the RSVP’s.   

Additional option: boxes for each week if you want to make each table a little bigger to record things like: at home practice time, bringing a snack, reading weekly club memos, posting or marketing for the club, selling tickets, etc..  

Go back and edit your roster to only include the information you frequently need to reference, and have documents with everything else in a file somewhere.  The roster can be used in a digital version or on paper. I’m a paper girl! If using paper, always use a pencil or erasable pen.  

Modeling good organization skills cultivates a culture of safety, personal value and personal ownership in your club.   

Make a new, updated roster each year.  

I include one other table at the bottom of each roster as I gather information on club members that are no longer participating in the club.   This table includes the official reason they are not coming back (as provided by that member so the true reason is communicated properly). I send all members who leave a “Thank You for Participating In MAD” letter (which I have a YouTube video on). That table also includes a box to mark when I have told the club and a box when I have removed them from the club app, just to keep myself organized. Invest in making those boxes unique to your club.

It would be easy to forget to honor members that leave your club. Think about what it will mean to them when you express their value to you and how you would want the clubs you are part of to miss your presence. 

~Coach Baldwin