How to form an effective club?

[bbails]

Fellow disc golfers in my area are embarking on a big project. (mainly, helping to build a new disc golf course) We need to form a formal club to be the stewards of this course.

I have been a member of a club before and have a few observations about what works and what does not work, but would love to hear any advice on forming an effective club.

(goals include getting work done, making it fun to be in the club, including people of all abilities, and reduce bitching about about decisions made about/for the course.)

 

[zenbot]

opcorn:

 

[Oldstump]

My local is in need of a formal club as well. With 2 public courses in a small town, with a course on some church property and another private course also being developed there is much growth right now. Seems a formal organization could be a stronger voice, especially with public entities.

 

[shawny0123]

free beer

 

[DavidSauls]

High on the list is to have a regular meeting time and place. Don't just get together whenever there's something to talk about, and don't just call a few members to get together. It will seem to others that you have a clique, not a club.

Down on the list, but valuable as time goes on, is to have non-disc-golf functions. If the club just does course work and runs tournaments and runs local league/doubles/minis, it doesn't offer anything to the less competitive disc golfers. Our club has a summer party at someone's lake house, where casual players who are club members, players spouses, girlfriends/boyfriends, and children can come. We have a Christmas party at a restaurant, for the same reason.

 

[JC17393]

Communication. That's it. Good communication overcomes a whole lot of everything else.

Second to that would be some sort of structure such that when someone needs to speak for the club (to the park, to the public, to whomever), they are truly speaking for the club. That can be a "President" or a designated park liaison or a designated TD for events...whatever it takes. What screws up clubs too often is everyone doing their own thing and messages getting crossed or mixed up. Which goes back to point #1.

 

[bbails]

good stuff

I like the point about the other functions. (Xmas party, etc.)

Do you vote on things that the club needs to decide? Do you require people be at meetings in order to vote? Does it make sense to create a council within the club in order to decide on stuff that needs to happen quickly. (or does council idea alienate people. though council would be elected by the members.)

Are there committees/ or roles (i.e. treasurer, course maintenance, competition, city lliason etc.? )

I'm all ears.

 

[ScottyLove]

I like the point about the other functions. (Xmas party, etc.)

Do you vote on things that the club needs to decide? Do you require people be at meetings in order to vote? Does it make sense to create a council within the club in order to decide on stuff that needs to happen quickly. (or does council idea alienate people. though council would be elected by the members.)

Are there committees/ or roles (i.e. treasurer, course maintenance, competition, city lliason etc.? )

I'm all ears.

We have officers and at-large board members. Pres, VP, Sec, Treas., and 3 at-large. We solicit advice from the club, but all decisions are voted on by this group of 7. We've also formed committees... Course Committee with Course Captain (non-board member) setting up clean up dates, recommending pin placements, and recruiting help for maintenance duties. Tournaments Committee oversees all club tournament activities. Both committees have board member on the committee and other general members as well and report back each monthly meeting. The league night activities are currently run by the treasurer... so that make's it easy for collecting and depositing the monies collected 3 times a week. If he's not present, someone else collects the funds and give them to him next time.

 

[1978]

Find people good at business. Run it like a business. Run meetings professionally, follow up, communicate. Hold members/leaders accountable. You should model you club off a professional environement that you would feel comfortable doing business with. Don't allow statements like, "we are all volunteers" make a club leadership team (elected) with a group of people that will treat the club like a second business and you will be fine.

If you file for 501C3 don't put freedom, liberty, or tea in your club's name.

 

[JeremyKShort]

If you file for 501C3 don't put freedom, liberty, or tea in your club's name.

Mwahaha!

 

[ScottyLove]

If you file for 501C3 don't put freedom, liberty, or tea in your club's name.

Love the contents of this post... and this one made me spew!

 

[AdamE]

Find people good at business. Run it like a business. Run meetings professionally, follow up, communicate. Hold members/leaders accountable. You should model you club off a professional environement that you would feel comfortable doing business with. Don't allow statements like, "we are all volunteers" make a club leadership team (elected) with a group of people that will treat the club like a second business and you will be fine.

^^^ This

And have everyone check their ego's at the door, it's not about you or one person, it's about the sport.

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

501C3 (Non-profit status).
Businesses will be much more willing to write a check to "Disc Golf Club" as opposed to Bill(or Dave).

 

[scarpfish]

501C3 (Non-profit status).
Businesses will be much more willing to write a check to "Disc Golf Club" as opposed to Bill(or Dave).

Its also a PITA to set up, and meet the requirements for. You have to have an elected board, regular meetings, constitution and by-laws, fill out government paperwork, etc.

If you have a relatively large group of at least 50 members, which include a core of stable and honest people who are good with bookkeeping, finances and whatnot, and more people who could assume those folks duties should they have to step aside, it might be the way to go. If you have a small cadre of people whose attendance is erratic from week to week, it might be best to do things on the down low.

 

[DavidSauls]

Ah, money. If there's much involved, you not only need a competent and trustworthy person handling it as treasurer, but some checks and balances and oversight as well. Even if everything is on the level, you want to be able to prove that the money's accounted for, if anyone ever asks.

 

[teemkey]

One thing that works well for clubs is to run a handicap league with skill-level protected divisions. This provides a regular time for people to get together, and handicapping gives less skilled players a chance of competing. Skill protected divisions enables multiple winners and more happy discers.

Another necessity is advertising. Get your name on gear: dri-fits, stickers, hoodies, etc. Have your club name and location (city, state) prominently displayed so that your club's existence is being shown at tournaments and casual play. Others will see the name and ask about the club.

 

[tom12003]

It really depends on the "SCOPE" of a club. Clubs dealing with a specific course often self organized. "Regional" clubs dealing with 3 or more courses are, all of a sudden, dealing with group dynamics and various levels of friction. Here in Charlotte, the club tends to 17 courses within the county; for the most part, the club actually owns (or in debt for) the baskets and has a formal contract with the Parks & Rec Dept. What 1978 has already mentioned, this requires a business approach (much more than just a social club). Each course has a course director (often a group of specific course junkies/helpers) that help facilitate club league/tournament play as well as course maintenance (I am a course director for one of these while 1978 takes care of 2 others). All 17 courses have equal status with the club, but some get more attention based on the immediacy of PDGA tournament action.

No one wants to know the specifics of how sausage is made as long as it tastes good.

 

[AdamE]

One thing we've found very effective is to provide merch for club members when they join. The club won't make much if any money off of membership but making a connection between players and the club is far more important than money. Members who feel connected to the club are more likely to become active members rather than passive members.

 

[bbails]

Lots a great advice here people. Thanks so much!

 

[joegraham]

Find players that have club experience already to set up bylaws, officer duties, treasurer functions etc, like parents in a PTA or school sport booster clubs. For a 501, you're gonna need all this to be legit and accept tax exempt charitable donations. Park departments love this structure because it's legit and they're used to dealing with them.

Definitely hold regularly scheduled meetings, have a web site, or email list for communication and transparency, and communicate to all members. solicit an agenda and publish that ahead of meetings to be prepared for discussion and most importantly ACTION. And have fun!