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Chippenham gets fully integrated
Open Solutions provides the
best EPoS solution for rugby
clubs, while FSI provides the
best membership administration
solution. But what happens
when you integrate them?
Charles de Haan finds out
from Chippenham RFC’s Steve
Whitehead.
President, plus Non Playing, Social, Touch Rugby, and a Summer
membership, all with varying fees and privileges for partners,
children, matches, voting status and so on.
Administrating and updating these categories, especially at
renewal time, is a potentially massive task.
The clubhouse i.e. bar, catering, room hire and so on,
represents another major income source for the club. This needs
completely accurate, up to date and readily available information
if it’s potential is to be maximised by Chippenham’s one full time
employee, bar manager Sam White.
Club Secretary Phil Read handles the membership side,
supported by long term member Steve Whitehead. Thanks to
Steve’s IT background, Chippenham has long recognised the value
of technology in helping the club’s decision makers and volunteers
manage the club’s operation. For many years Chippenham’s used
Access based database software for handling its membership,
and in 2013 it acquired a modern Electronic Point of Sale system
(EPoS) from Open Solutions. Including a separate e-mail system,
the club was operating up to three databases, risking duplication
and errors.
GMS: delivering on expectations
One of the leading rugby clubs in Dorset/Wiltshire,
Chippenham RFC has over 800 members (including some 300
Minis) and some of the best facilities for playing and socialising: 22
acres of pitches, two floodlit, and a spacious modern clubhouse
with a large bar and function room, a fully equipped meeting room
facility, and parking for up to 250 cars.
Membership is sub-divided into 11 categories: Senior,
Student, University Part Time, Junior and Mini, Family and Vice
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Steve has long seen the need to get everything online
and fully integrated, so when the RFU commissioned the
Game Management System (GMS) in 2017 from First Sports
International, it promised to deliver what he wanted, because
amongst other things GMS is designed to let every member
access and update their own data online, thereby making a huge
contribution to a club’s GDPR compliancy as well.
With its own e-mail system, GMS makes things like mailing
renewals to members simple. As Steve will attest, because an