1 · The friction
Sound familiar?
What goes wrong after almost every AGM.
“Nobody knows who owns the website”
In most clubs, key knowledge sits in personal email and in people's heads, so it leaves with them.
Source: TidyHQ, governance research
“The new secretary got 400 files and no notes”
Incoming volunteers often inherit an inbox and a shared drive with no record of what the role involves.
Source: TidyHQ, volunteer retention guide
“We missed the grant deadline”
Grant conditions and compliance dates are club commitments that get lost when people change over.
Source: TidyHQ, governance research
“The old secretary had all the logins”
When one volunteer holds the passwords, the club is locked out the day they leave.
Source: Pattern we check for in audits
2 · The numbers
Club turnover, by the numbers
2.1 yrs
Average committee tenure in Australian community sport
TidyHQ, citing Volunteering Australia
~50%
Of committee positions turn over every year
TidyHQ
3–6 mo
For a new committee member to become effective
TidyHQ
14 hrs
A week spent on club admin by the average committee member
TidyHQ, conference research
With roles changing this often, a club that relies on one person's logins will get locked out sooner or later. The fix is making the club the owner of everything.
3 · The checklist
Tick off what your club already has
Your score updates as you go.
Your club's score
0 / 12
Your club is ready for the next AGM.
Mostly covered. Close the gaps before the handover.
Tick what you have. Every gap is a lockout waiting to happen.
Ownership
Access
Money and records
Knowledge
4 · The decision
Do it yourselves, or get help?
Do it yourselves if
You have one or two systems and a confident volunteer.
You know where the domain is registered.
Everyone can still log in.
Get help if
Nobody knows the domain or hosting login.
The website was built years ago and nobody can edit it.
You run five or more different systems.
Red flags
The domain is in a former member's personal name.
Only one person is admin on your social pages.
Payments go to a personal account.
5 · In practice
What a clean handover looks like
Challenge
The committee changes at the AGM, and the domain, website and social logins sit with people who are leaving.
Action
List every account, move each into a club email, add a second admin everywhere, and hold one handover meeting.
Result
1 meeting
One hour with a list is usually enough to hand over the digital side.
6 · Quick answers
Questions committees ask us
Who should own the club's domain?
The club, registered with a club email address that gets handed over, not a volunteer's personal email.
What matters most to hand over?
Anything that takes money or holds member details first. Then the domain, website and Google profile.
How often should we check access?
At every AGM, as part of a handover meeting for each outgoing role.