Tips for Running a Local Club
Are you starting a new club or looking for ways to improve an existing club?
If so, we hope the following tips will be helpful.
1. Members
In most clubs, members will leave from time to time so you need to make sure you have a flow of new people coming in. New members tend to bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm to help improve your club, so make sure they feel welcome.
A good way to bring in new members it to make sure that local people know about your club. A couple of ways to do that are:
- Word of mouth: encourage existing members to talk about the club to other local people.
- Directories: list your club on Localmouth and in any other directories of clubs for your area.
2. Funding
Even if you don't need cash right now, it's always nice to have some money available to reimburse club organisers for miscellaneous expenses or put towards special events. Here are a few fundraising ideas.
- Charge an annual or periodic membership fee.
- Charge a per-meeting attendance fee.
- Apply for charitable funding.
- Sell club-branded merchandise (e.g. mugs or polo shirts)
- Hold a raffle.
3. Running Things
- Plan meeting dates up to a year in advance if possible. It lets people plan around you and helps ensure attendance.
- Spice up your meetings by celebrating members' birthdays or inviting guests from related clubs in your area.
- Start a club blog. It's much easier to maintain than a full website and is a simple way to post club news and photos of events.
We hope these tips are useful to you.
Good luck with your club!
Feedback
If you have any comments on the tips above or have suggestions of your own that you think we should include, please let me know by writing to me here.
