Organizing the Club
Identify the club’s objectives. Think about what kind of club you want to start and what you hope to achieve. You may want to meet with other people to discuss similar interests, take action on important issues, make or build things, raise awareness in your community, play games, design experiments, help other people, or any other number of reasons. Consider why you are forming the club, what the long-term goals are, what you’ll do during meetings, and if you’ll offer services or resources to members. Most clubs are hobby clubs, such as book club, chess club, garden club, math club, knitting club, running club, and science club. You could also form a faith-based club, a club dedicated to volunteering, a club that raises awareness of an issue, or a club for professionals of a certain industry.
Choose a meeting location. You’ll need a location for meetings that is easy for everyone to get to and large enough to hold all the members. If you want to meet at school, make sure you get permission from an administrator. You could also meet in a public space, like a park, café, or library. If you are meeting with strangers, it’s best to meet in a public place rather than at your home. Once your club is established, you could meet at members’ homes and rotate through a schedule so everyone is responsible for hosting a meeting.
Select a meeting date and time. Now that you know where to meet, you need to decide when. Choose a day of the week when your potential members are likely to be available, such as a Saturday if the club is for working adults. Once you recruit more members, you can discuss everyone’s availability and come up with a meeting schedule. Keep the meetings relatively short — one hour should be plenty for the first meeting.
Begin recruiting members for your club. The best place to find members is from your own social circle. Ask family members, friends, classmates, and co-workers if they are interested in joining. Even if they’re not interested, ask them to refer people they know who might be. You could also post ads online, using classified sites (like Craigslist) or social media (such as Twitter or Facebook). Include the name of the club, the purpose of the club, and the date, time, and location of the first meeting in your ads. Don’t forget to add your contact information as well. Pass out flyers or post them on bulletin boards around town, such as at coffee shops or on college campuses. Tailor your recruiting efforts based on the target membership. For instance, if you have a faith-based club, ask local churches if you can post flyers on their bulletin boards.
Hosting the First Meeting
Get to know the members and their hopes for the club. Be sure to notify every member of the date, time, location, and duration of the meeting. You could prepare some games or icebreakers so your members can get to know each other. Then, spend some time talking about what each member hopes to get out of the club, what they think it should focus on, and ideas for activities or events. For instance, you could play “Two Truths and a Lie” as an icebreaker. Each member should write down 2 true things and 1 false thing about themselves on a piece of paper. Then, other members can guess which item on the list is false. It’s a fun way to learn about your members! To encourage members to open up, you could have everyone write down their hopes for the club and/or ideas for activities on scraps of paper. Read them aloud and have someone make a list of everyone’s ideas. Keep it anonymous so there’s less pressure.
Determine how often you’ll meet. Check in with other members to find out how available they are. Ask what days and times are best for everyone. You may be able to meet every day after school or work. Or, if your members are pretty busy, you may only be able to meet once a month. Remember that not every member will be able to attend every meeting, and that’s okay.
Exchange contact information and communication preferences. You’ll need to be able to reach each member of your club to notify them of meetings and the like. You can choose to communicate by phone or email, or even start a social media group that every member can be a part of. Before the first meeting ends, make sure you have a solid communication strategy. Some members may not use social media, so be sure come up with a strategy that includes everyone. You could call or text members instead of chatting online.
Figuring out Logistics
Find out if there are specific rules for the club if it’s connected to an organization. If your club is arranged through a school, place of worship, or other organization, they may have specific rules for running the club. Speak to the administration to learn about any rules that need to be followed. For instance, if the club is run through your school, you may need to have a faculty advisor.
Determine who will fill the executive roles. If your club is focused on taking action, completing tasks, or raising awareness, it will be helpful to have executive officers that organize these things and disseminate information to members. Typical executive roles include: President: the leader who runs the club and meetings and enforces the rules. Vice president: supports the President and is in charge when the President is absent. Treasurer: handles the club's money, keeps track of dues for memberships, pays the bills for the club's operations and activities, records of all debits and credits for accounting purposes. Secretary: keeps minutes of every meeting and reads them for correction or addition at each following meeting, gives a report of each event at meetings following the event.
Vote on club officers and define their duties. If you have a large club, you may need additional club officers as well. Explain the role of each officer, then take a vote to determine who will fill each role. Spots you may need to fill include: Historian: keeps a record of activities and events that the club hosts, takes and keeps photos of group activities. Head of events: delegates club members to help in planning and organizing activities. Advertising team: responsible for creating flyers, posting to social media, and getting people to attend events, fundraisers, or activities.
Work together to form rules of procedure for formal clubs. Rules of procedure can help you define communication and decision-making procedures. You can use rules of procedure to determine how long a member gets to speak to the club and who gets to speak first (if 2 members want to speak at the same time). Rules of procedure can also be useful in dictating how the club will make decisions, such as what kinds of votes will be necessary to approve decisions. If you have an informal club, you may not need to establish rules of procedure.
Establish a budget and determine membership dues. The budget will depend on what kind of club you start and what you hope to accomplish. If your goal is to raise awareness for issues or host events, you’ll need some funding. Much of this can come from membership dues paid monthly or annually by the active members. Your club can also host fundraising events to make money for equipment, activities, or events. You may also be able to find sponsors that will support your club financially.
Running the Club
Host meetings on a regular basis. A club must be active in order to be successful! Make sure you meet regularly, whether that’s five days a week or once a month. Encourage every member to attend the meetings. It’s also a good idea to create a clear agenda for each meeting so that you stay on track and complete any tasks or goals you create. Be sure to give every member an equal opportunity to speak during meetings. You may also want to assign each member small tasks to help them feel involved and invested in the club.
Stay in touch with the club members. Being part of a club means feeling included! It’s a good idea to send out a brief synopsis of each meeting to members who aren’t able to make it. Or, you could post updates on your club forum or social media page. You could even create a weekly or monthly newsletter that updates members on new developments. Encourage discussion between members outside of meetings through phone, email, forums, and social media.
Continue to recruit new members. Ask your members to advertise the club to their family, friends, classmates, and coworkers. Word of mouth is a great way to find new members! Post or pass out flyers that advertise your club around your community. Be sure to include the date, time, and location of the next meeting or your contact information so people can learn more. You can also continue to post ads on classified and social media sites to find people who are interested in joining the club.
Comments
0 comment