<p>Hi CC, I am not asking for advice on what club to start, but I am asking about how do I go about actually making an official club at school, and getting approval from teachers and all. There's key club and other clubs like that... I just have trouble picturing my own club working out. Help?</p>
<p>Start a student dipolmats club, if your school doesn't have one. It is a wonderful club and colleges love it!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Depends on your school's policies. At my school you just have to get a Club Charter form from the office, write a paragraph telling what your club's about, then get some signatures from students and teachers (which is really easy no matter what your club's about because a lot of people sign without really caring). And then you've got to find a faculty sponsor, which is a bit harder, but you've got to assure him that you'll do most of the work :)</p>
<p>But yeah, starting a club isn't all that bad. Starting a club that actually does stuff is the hard part. You need to have some key outside events (fun events) that your club is organized around. (For instance, don't start Physics Club just to talk about and appreciate physics, you might get people to perceive it as a do-nothing club unless you're hyper-organized and have a lot of physics videos/demonstration kits/etc at home. Start it to prepare for the Physics Olympiad.)</p>
<p>And also, it really helps to send out good club emails and make sure people know that each meeting has a purpose (i.e. you're actually doing stuff) so they know the club is actually worth being a part of. This goes with the "being hyper-organized" thing. And purposes are much easier to find if you have outside events.</p>
<p>And don't rely on club members/other officers to do a lot of the work, you were the one who started the club so you'll probably be most passionate about it. If they work hard, that's great -- but expect to be the main contributor to the club's essence.</p>
<p>By the way, the first club you create will probably flop. So I'd advise you to save your best ideas for your second, and use the first club primarily as a means of gaining experience.</p>
<p>Okay, what if I don't have much money to do all of this stuff?</p>
<p>what KIND of club do you want to do? many schools have some $$ for a club...</p>
<p>That's one reason you really need an organized club, so you can have fundraisers to get money. Selling bracelets/cookies/pie/other appropriate service is often where club money comes from. (Try to resist the temptation to dump all the responsibility for fundraising on the Treasurer, because he'll inevitably decide it's too much work and forget about it unless you and the Sponsor are very involved with the fundraiser.)</p>
<p>Not to mention, if the activities you're trying to do are free or cheap (Day</a> of Silence, for instance, only requires that students not talk for a day), money isn't really an issue. (Though fundraisers can be good for helping to bring a club together, if they're done in the right way).</p>
<p>And you can also ask for club dues, which is when every member of the club contributes somewhere between $10-$20 at the beginning of the year. Or ask each club member who participates in club events to contribute some cash. Like I'm in Math Club, and before each math competition we require each attendee to pay like $15 to cover registration fees and things like that. Of course this doesn't work unless the club members think it's worth paying the money. If the costs are too exorbitant you might just end up with an empty club, which isn't any fun.</p>