How Do Private Clubs Make Money? The Revenue Model Explained

Private clubs earn operating income from membership dues, food and beverage, events, and golf and racquets activity, and they fund buildings, courses, and equipment through initiation fees, capital dues, and assessments. Dues pay for daily operations.

The scale is larger than most outsiders assume. The “Private Club Economic Impact Report,” jointly funded by Club Benchmarking, the Club Management Association of America (CMAA), and the National Club Association, reports that there are 5,659 private clubs in the United States. The estimated 3,887 with more than $1 million in annual revenue generated an estimated $32.6 billion of revenue in 2023. Their members injected another estimated $5 billion of capital through initiation fees and capital dues or assessments. The report presents that capital as its own figure, separate from the revenue total, and that distinction is the key to the whole model.

What Are the Main Sources of Revenue for a Private Club?

A club’s income falls into two ledgers: operating revenue, which runs the club this year, and capital income, which builds and renews it over decades. CMAA’s Finance and Operations Report summaries group operating revenue into membership dues; food, beverage and social events; and golf operations and the golf shop.

• Membership dues. Recurring payments from members. The Private Club Economic Impact Report defines a private club as one that requires members to pay dues.
• Initiation fees. A one-time payment on joining. The Private Club Economic Impact Report lists initiation fees among the sources of the $5 billion of member capital.
• Food and beverage. Dining rooms, bars, and snack service.
• Events and banquets. The report notes that when clubs open food and beverage to non-members through banquets, a member must sponsor the group.
• Golf and racquets. Golf operations, the golf shop, and racquet sports programs.
• Capital assessments and capital dues. Charges counted, with initiation fees, as member capital for facility investment.
• Residential community ties. Some clubs sit inside residential communities. The report says about 65% of clubs in Florida are residential community clubs.

The mix depends on the type of club. Among the 3,887 clubs with more than $1 million in revenue, the Private Club Economic Impact Report shows 82% are golf and country clubs, 9% are city or athletic clubs, 7% are yacht clubs, and 2% fall into other categories, such as tennis or swimming clubs. The report also notes that many city and athletic clubs in New York and Boston have union labor and overnight rooms. Benchmarks for revenue mix vary by sample, as the dues section below shows, so compare your club with its own peer group, not an industry-wide pie chart.

How Much of a Club’s Revenue Comes From Membership Dues?

Dues are the largest single source of income in the benchmarks we found. The article “Benchmarking Your Club’s Member Data,” published by PBMares, reports that annual dues are the biggest source of club income, at 53% to 59% of total income, with smaller clubs relying on them more. CMAA’s Finance and Operations Report summary put dues at about 49% of income from 2017 through 2019. The structural reason is that much of a club’s cost base is fixed: a course must be maintained whether few or many rounds are played.

Labor shows how heavy those costs are. The Private Club Economic Impact Report puts club payroll at $17.4 billion against $32.6 billion in revenue, or about 53% of revenue by our calculation. The payroll figure includes $14.6 billion in wages and $2.8 billion in payroll taxes and benefits. The GGA Partners Club Leader’s Perspectives Report (August 2024) found that 51% of club leaders said labor costs ran over budget.

Usage-based revenue is harder to predict. In the same GGA report, food and beverage was most often noted for “simultaneously exceeding and falling short of revenue budgets.” Dues are steadier, and GGA found clubs planning an average operating dues increase of 6.2%, which it tied to expected growth in expenses. Clubs that want more from non-dues lines should build them deliberately, as we outline in our guide to private club revenue diversification beyond membership dues.

What Are Initiation Fees Used For at a Private Club?

Initiation fees fund the physical plant. The Private Club Economic Impact Report says the $5 billion members contributed through initiation fees and capital dues or assessments is “destined for investment in property, plant and equipment.” GGA’s 2024 leaders report, as summarized by Private Club Marketing, puts the median initiation fee at $34,000, with 8% of responding clubs charging more than $165,000.

Boca West Country Club in Boca Raton, Florida, shows the principle at scale. The story “Two Palm Beach County Country Clubs Are Spending $70M-plus to Renovate Clubhouses,” by Jasmine Fernandez, published by The Palm Beach Post in August 2024 and reposted by Boca West Realty, reports that the club unveiled a $70 million, 110,000-square-foot lifestyle center. President and CEO Matthew Linderman told the Post that the center and all other improvements at the club are paid for by joining fees. He said the center “rivals any five-star resort in the world.” The blog post “Two Palm Beach County Country Clubs Are Spending $70M-plus to Renovate Clubhouses,” published by Boca West Realty in September 2024 as a repost of the Post story, adds that the club announced a joining fee increase from $115,000 to $150,000 effective October 1, 2024.

The catch is that initiation fee income depends on turnover. GGA Partners’ Club Members Perspective Report 2024 warns that members keeping their memberships is “a potential future challenge” because new member fees are an important source of capital funding. In effect, a full roster is good for dues and bad for joining-fee volume.

What Is a Capital Assessment at a Private Club?

When joining fees cannot cover a project, clubs turn to capital dues and assessments. GGA’s 2024 leaders report, as summarized by Private Club Marketing, puts average capital dues at about $1,200 and the median at about $1,100. A CMAA Board Brief on the same research says average capital dues are about 10% of operating dues, with expected increases double the 6% rise in operating dues. One-time assessments run far larger.

The article “Jacksonville Golf & Country Club approves $30 million renovation,” published by the Jacksonville Daily Record in April 2025, reports that members of Jacksonville Golf & Country Club in Florida approved a $30 million “Blueprint for Tomorrow” plan, that resident golf members will be assessed $31,750 and social members $19,150, and that the club has 747 members, according to general manager Hans Grover. The plan covers a new 18,000-square-foot dining, pool, and fitness building and a golf course redesign by architect Andy Staples. “This is more than just a renovation—it’s an investment in our future,” board president Jay Southerland said in the club’s announcement, published by Club + Resort Business.

Assessments have limits. At Carolina Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, members approved an $18,750-per-member assessment in May 2024 for a clubhouse project budgeted at up to $17.5 million, according to Private Club Marketing’s account and reporting carried by Yahoo News. The article “Lawsuit dropped over Charlotte golf club’s $23M upgrades,” published by WSOC-TV, reports that cost estimates rose by $5.8 million, or 33%, between May 2024 and January 2025, that the full membership rejected a financing plan calling for additional assessments and fees in June 2025, and that weeks later the board used a board-only vote to approve borrowing $2 million and adding 25 members, which would push membership past a “soft cap” of 500. The article “Club Assessments Explained,” published by Private Club Marketing, reports that members voted down 229 to 166 a second assessment of more than $3,700 per member plus a $75 monthly dues increase. A member lawsuit followed, and the same WSOC article reports that the member leading it dropped the suit after a judge denied a preliminary injunction.

Members notice both sides of that tradeoff. In GGA’s member report, deterioration of club facilities was the top factor that could cause members to resign, at 46%, ahead of increased dues at 44% and capital assessments at 32%, according to the CMAA Board Brief summarizing the survey of 3,750 members.

Are Private Clubs Nonprofit or For-Profit?

Both exist. The Private Club Economic Impact Report finds that 77% of private clubs are member-owned and tax-exempt, 13% are member-owned and taxable, and 10% are for-profit and third-party owned.

Member-owned 501(c)(7) clubs are organized for pleasure, recreation, and other nonprofitable purposes. The web page “Social Clubs,” published by the Internal Revenue Service, says social clubs are generally exempt from federal income tax but are taxed on unrelated business income, which includes income from nonmembers, and that a club may receive up to 35% of its gross receipts from nonmember sources, including investment income, and no more than 15% of gross receipts from nonmember use of its facilities and services.

For-profit clubs, whether owned by a developer, a family, or a multi-club operator, make up the 10% third-party-owned segment. The Club at Forest Ridge in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a privately owned club managed by Bobby Jones Links, is converting from semi-private to fully private. The article “From Daily Fee to Fully Private: How The Club at Forest Ridge Built a Movement, Not Just a Membership,” published by The Golf Wire in September 2026, reports that since the start of 2025 the club has added 185 net new members and grown membership revenue by more than 40% year over year. Ownership has invested in amenities to match the private positioning, including an indoor Racquets Pavilion completed in September 2025. Owner and developer Davis Robson said continued investment is “a key component of the success.”

How Do Private Clubs Make Money Through Membership Marketing?

Every stream above starts with a member. Dues scale with roster size, initiation fees with new-member volume, and dining, events, and golf revenue with how often members show up. That makes membership marketing a finance function with three jobs:

• Fill the roster to protect dues. An open membership slot is dues revenue the club does not collect.
• Keep a qualified pipeline to fund capital. Boca West announced a joining fee increase for October 2024, and Boca West Realty’s blog post said new members were racing to join before it took effect.
• Communicate before you assess. The case study “Jacksonville Golf & Country Club,” published by Chambers, reports that members approved the $30 million plan in spring 2025, after an earlier plan failed a member vote and leadership brought in a planning partner to build an ongoing communications plan. Carolina Golf Club’s members rejected a second ask.

So how do private clubs make money? Dues run the club, joining fees and assessments build it, and members drive all of it. Private Club Marketing helps clubs build the pipeline, CRM, and member communication behind each one. Talk to our team about your club’s membership goals.