Unlocking time for community with HubSpot

  1. Our Work
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Background

North Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club (NCSLSC) is one of Western Australia’s leading surf clubs.

They approached us for strategic assistance with their goal of increasing club revenue. However, during the discovery process, it became clear that disconnected systems and manual processes were taking up a lot of valuable time and resources from the club’s team. At the same time, the lack of any definitive source of truth for data meant it was hard for them to make informed strategic decisions.

As a not-for-profit with a small team of paid staff and over 2,000 members, the decision to invest in HubSpot was a significant one. However, the cost was more than justified by the tech stack savings it has enabled and the massive reduction of administrative burden. 

By developing a HubSpot multi-hub solution for NCSLSC, we have helped them build a solid foundation for future success. 

The challenge

For NCSLSC, their challenge was comprehensive. 

Their tech stack was disconnected and made up of apps that either had duplicate capabilities or only performed very niche tasks at a disproportionate cost. They also had no single source of truth for member data, making it hard for staff and volunteers to access the info they needed. As a result, their small team of paid staff had to spend a lot of time on repetitive manual tasks, which in turn was making it hard to train their large team of volunteers. 

This disconnect meant that NCSLSC were struggling to keep members engaged. Because they could not reliably access member data, they were not able to identify trends that could be used to inform member outreach. This resulted in many younger members moving to different clubs once they obtained certification. 

From both a process and financial perspective, this situation was unsustainable. Further, NCSLSC needed to use a system supplied by their national association for compliance and participation that had very limited integration possibilities. They also needed to be able to justify any significant changes to their Board.

The solution

ALYKA undertook a comprehensive audit of all processes and technologies. We used these findings to design an end-to-end implementation plan based on NCSLSC’s goals, while also identifying risks and sources of data and compliance issues. From here, we developed a strategy for each phase of the project, including objective-based training to ensure an effective rollout. 

Phase 1: Set up CRM and manage communications

The club’s CRM needed to serve as a single source of truth. By importing historic data, migrating data from Mailchimp and TidyHQ, and then cleaning this data, we were able to configure HubSpot as a single source of truth for all current member activities and communications. This also meant that we could phase out Mailchimp and TidyHQ, with all forms, lead sources, enquiries and communications management now coming through HubSpot.

Phase 2: Establish member processes 

Next, we focused on improving member processes. To do this, we set up a regular smart import process that uses automations and workflows to push data and sync it to relevant areas in HubSpot. This ensures that NCSLSC will always have an up-to-date representation of where members are at in their membership journey. As a result, we’ve now been able to build in processes for the management of new member onboarding, membership renewal and cancellation processes, and the gathering of feedback via support tools. 

Using our training, the club has also developed some of their own processes with our support, including processes for managing patrol group schedules and sending Working with Children Check renewal reminders. 

Phase 3: Drive member and community engagement

This is where we’re at currently. Because of the essential work done in Phases 1 and 2, we’re now in a strong position to use the member data we’ve acquired to inform new engagement strategies. These include exploring sponsorship opportunities, corporate partnerships and the viability of hiring out club facilities. 

Membership Overview
Tech In and Tech Out
Working with Children Status
Member Record
Membership Renewal Status

The results


Key Results

Improved systems and processes

  • 20% reduction in tech spend with total systems greatly reduced, and all integrated to a single source of truth.

  • $0 maintenance overhead with in-house management of “no-code” customisation and automation tools. 
  • Self-directed onboarding via member support processes embedded within task automation and content templates.

Data-driven decision making

  • No more manual Board reporting with a real-time dashboard displaying insights from integrated finance, compliance and engagement data. 
  • New insights gained from analysis of historic activities and introduction of feedback channels to track indicators of member churn risk.
  • Negotiated budget increase for automation tools to increase operational effectiveness supported by tracking of member enquiries via ticket SLAs and measuring impact of templates and prioritisation tools.

Increased engagement and revenue

  • Retention rates improved with proactive, personalised communication via SMS, email, and “smart content” CTAs that guide members through requalification and renewals.
  • High-value sponsorship opportunities easily identified in streamlined database. Reduced manual tasks and richer insights allow staff to focus on strategic management and forecasting of revenue-generating activities. 
  • Community engagement broadened with marketing tools now driving non-member revenue such as referrals, event ticketing, room bookings, tracked with clear ROI.

The impact

To learn more about the impact HubSpot and this project have had on NCSLSC, we spoke to their General Manager, Ben Johnson.

How has this project improved efficiency? 

As a not-for-profit, how has HubSpot helped you support your community?

What feedback have you received from the Board and your members?

As of December 2024, NCSLSC are using HubSpot Marketing Pro to build automated nurture journeys and communications. This will help them pursue their revenue goals through data-driven member engagement and strategic partnerships.

They are also planning to integrate their recently launched online merchandise store with Commerce Hub to better track customer data and to use HubSpot to improve data security.

We love ALYKA! Their team have been so flexible and have made it easy for us to hit the ground running with HubSpot. Partnering with them for this project has been invaluable.
Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson General Manager

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