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Guide

A team dues tracker that isn’t a spreadsheet

Keep one list with a paid tick, an amount and how they paid, owned by one person and updated the day money arrives. Remind weekly, and only the families still owing — a reminder that goes to everyone trains paid parents to ignore you. The free tracker below does exactly that in your browser; the Mela app does it across coaches, with parents tapping “I’ve paid” themselves.

What the spreadsheet gets wrong

It lives on one laptop, it is edited from a phone at practice, and it has no idea what is in Venmo. By week three the treasurer is cross-referencing three sources and a parent who paid cash at the field is the one being chased.

The reminder is the product

Collecting dues is a reminding problem, not a record-keeping one. The record only needs to be right; the reminder needs to be polite, weekly, and addressed only to people who still owe. Naming the unpaid in the group chat is faster than private messages and, done kindly, is what actually gets the money in.

From a list to a season

When the roster is bigger than a list or two coaches need the same view, the app puts the fee on the season itself: parents pay by Venmo and tap “I’ve paid”, the coach confirms, and one tap sends a reminder to families still outstanding — once a day at most, one message per family. No per-member fee and no cut of the dues.

Open the free dues tracker

Saved in your browser · names only the unpaid · CSV export

Nothing in the demo is sent or published.

Questions

How do I keep track of team dues?

One list, one owner, a paid tick and a method per family, updated the day money lands. Remind weekly and only the unpaid.

Should reminders go to the whole group?

Only if they name the people who still owe. A blanket “please pay” message is ignored by the paid and resented by the unpaid.

Does Mela take a cut of dues?

No. Money goes straight to the coach or treasurer by Venmo or however the team collects; Mela keeps the paid record and sends reminders.

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