At this point in the season, you’re probably busy completing budgets, schedules and rosters for the spring sports teams that your facility sponsors.

I have an unconventional suggestion as you start a new season: Share your completed budget with all your players and their parents.

You might worry that this will invite a deluge of phone calls from concerned parents and long discussions on every every line item, but I’ve found that the benefits of a posting public budget outweigh the negatives – particularly for youth and non-profit teams. Here’s why:

• A public budget keeps you and your coaches accountable. You have to stick the to the budget if everyone has seen it.
• A public budget can reduce parents’ questions. If you’ve already done a good job communicating your team’s values and priorities, nothing in the budget should be a surprise. The budget is a great reference if unexpected costs come up later in the year, or to explain any scheduling or equipment decisions.
• A public budget makes you look good. Publishing the budget proves to your team that you’re organized and professional, and also shows that you trust your and respect your team parents – and better relationships with team parents make your life much easier. By viewing the budget, parents can also get a better appreciation for your work as a coach.

I think that publishing the budget online along with other team documents so that they’re easily accessible to the team is a great idea, but it’s been tough to convince many of our clients to make their budgets public. What influences your decisions to keep your budgets private or public? I’d love to hear them.

eSoft Planner helps you create, manage and optionally publish your team budgets on a team dashboard that includes tools to create rosters, publish schedules, charge team fees, contact the team members easily via email, and more. Submit a free demo request if you’d like to see the tool for yourself. If you’d like to consult with me on sports facility management, call (513) 791-4940.