Who this is for: the person bringing a club, team or program onto Boathouse Connect. Permission required: you will be the organization's first administrator, so you will have every permission.
If your club already uses Boathouse Connect and you just need to join it, read the New member guide instead.
Before you start
Have these to hand:
- Your club's logo (PNG or JPG, square or near-square works best).
- The time zone your club practices in.
- A list of the groups you want (squads, coaches, board, parents…) — see Roles & permissions for a suggested structure.
- The email addresses of your first administrators and coaches.
- Your club's USRowing organization login, if you want waivers synced automatically.
Plan on about an hour to get the organization ready before you invite members.
1. Register the organization
- Go to boathouseconnect.com and choose Register → New Organization.
- Select your club from the organization list (this list is built from RegattaCentral's registered organizations, so most US clubs are already there). If your club is not listed, email [email protected] and we will add it.
- Enter your own details to create your personal account. There is no separate "organization account" — you become the organization's first member, with every permission, and you run the club from your own login.
- Sign in.
Already have a Boathouse Connect account from another club? Register the organization with the same email address and it will be added to your existing account rather than creating a new one.
2. Understand your subscription
New organizations start on the Professional plan with a 30-day free trial, and no credit card is required to start the trial. During the trial, decide which plan fits:
| Plan | Price | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Small Teams | $7 / month | Small programs that mainly need scheduling, lineups and messaging. |
| Standard | $15 / month | Most clubs — adds stakeholder lists so parents and boosters receive group messages. |
| Professional | $20 / month | Clubs that want everything, including automatic USRowing waiver syncing. |
Change plans any time under Org Settings → Subscription; changes take effect immediately. Current feature-by-feature details are on the Pricing page.
3. Work through the New Organization Checklist
On your Dashboard you will see a blue New Organization Checklist button with a rotating star. It lists the eight setup steps below and ticks them off as you complete them. Work through it in order — later steps rely on earlier ones.
3.1 Upload your logo
Org Settings → General → Organization Logo. Your logo appears on the app for your members and on the emails the platform sends on your behalf.
3.2 Set your time zone
Org Settings → General → Timezones. Everything on the calendar — practices, send windows for messages, reservation hours — is shown in this zone. New organizations default to America/New_York; if that is already correct, confirm it so the checklist item is marked complete.
While you are on the General page, look at the other settings there: Join Approval Required, Permissions to See Members' Contact Information, Emails and Notifications and the External Calendar Widget you can embed on your own website.
3.3 Pre-authorize your first users
On the Dashboard, use the Pre-authorize New User widget to enter the email addresses of your fellow administrators and coaches. When those people register (or if they already have an account) they are added to your organization automatically — no join request to approve.
Pre-authorizing is the fastest way to onboard a whole roster: paste in every member's email address and tell them to register with that address. Members who register with a different address can still find you through the Organization Finder and request an invite, which anyone with the Add User to Organization permission approves from the Pending Join Requests widget.
3.4 Create your first group
Groups → Manage Groups. Create your rowing groups (Varsity, Novice, Masters…) and your job groups (Coaches, Treasurer…), then open Groups → Permissions to decide what each group may do. Your organization already has an administrators group containing you.
Groups are the backbone of the platform — practices, lineups, messages, equipment access and fees are all attached to groups — so it is worth getting the structure right now. Roles & permissions has a recommended layout.
3.5 Import USRowing waivers
Waivers & Docs → USRowing. Connect your club's USRowing account and Boathouse Connect will keep each member's waiver status up to date by matching their USRowing number. Members add their number under My Profile → Basic Information. Automatic syncing is a Professional-plan feature.
3.6 Link social media accounts
Communications → Settings. Link your club's Facebook and other social accounts so announcements can be shared from the platform.
3.7 Create a practice location
Practices → Locations. Add your boathouse and any other venues you practice at. Locations are required to schedule a practice and drive the weather alerts for that practice.
3.8 Link a credit card
Org Settings → Subscription. Add a card so the subscription continues after the trial. You can do this last — nothing stops working until the trial ends.
4. Invite your members
With the checklist complete:
- Pre-authorize everyone's email address (step 3.3), or publish the club's Boathouse Connect name so members can find you in the Organization Finder.
- Send members the New member guide.
- Watch the Pending Join Requests widget on your Dashboard and approve anyone who requested an invite.
- Add members to their groups from Groups → Manage Groups, or mark groups as Self-Joinable so members can add themselves.
5. Recommended next steps
- Org Settings → Onboarding — add your own questions to the first-login wizard every new member completes.
- Org Settings → User Profiles — choose which profile fields members must fill in.
- Waivers & Docs → Manage Docs — upload club documents members must sign, and attach them to group membership.
- Finances → Settings and Fees & Discounts — set up dues and payment collection.
- Equipment — add your boats, oars and launches to the inventory.
- Org Settings → Calendar — share a calendar feed or embed the calendar on your website.
FAQ
Who else should be an administrator? Add at least one other person to the administrators group so the club is never locked out if you are unavailable. Do this by adding their personal accounts to the group — do not create a shared "club admin" login.
Can members join before I finish the checklist? Yes, but they will see an empty club. Finish logo, time zone, groups and at least one practice location first.
We have several squads with different coaches — one organization or several? One organization. Use groups for the squads and give each coach permissions through a Coaches group. Separate organizations are only needed when two clubs are genuinely separate businesses.
What happens when the trial ends without a card? Your data is kept, but you will be prompted to add a payment method before continuing to use the platform. Add a card under Org Settings → Subscription at any time.