Dealing with correspondence

You should read and reply to correspondence promptly, even if only to acknowledge receiving the letter/email and passing it on to the relevant person at the club. By following these tips you should be able to deal with the club's correspondence quickly and efficiently.

• Maintain a register of correspondence 'in' and 'out' by recording the date of receipt on all incoming mail. Make a note to whom copies have been distributed.
• Deal with each letter/email promptly. If you cannot answer the query, or need to wait until the next committee meeting for a policy decision, send an acknowledgement explaining the reason for the delay. If this sort of thing happens often, prepare copies of a standard reply that you can use.
• Make sure that you are up to date with correspondence before committee meetings, so information can be distributed and dealt with at the meeting, whenever possible.
• Keep a copy or a note of the letters that you send and the date you sent them.
• File copies of correspondence under the appropriate heading, if you think you might need to refer to them again. Do not file everything just for the sake of it.
• Throw things away when the matter has been finalised, or they are no longer of any use. Keep contact details, addresses, email addresses and mobile telephone numbers, either on your computer or have a paper copy.
• Keep notes of important telephone conversations.
• Make informal inquiries or replies by telephone or a computer typed letter

Source: runningsports Quick Guides - The Role of the Secretary