Becoming a Good Club President
Be a confident leader. You must be comfortable standing and speaking in front of your fellow club members. It's natural to be nervous when you first become the club's president, but you want the club members to respect your authority. You must be comfortable giving orders and setting a schedule. If there are discrepancies of opinion, it is up to you to make the final decision. You also need to have the confidence to hold your club members accountable to the rules of the club and to deadlines like fee payments.
Listen to your club members. As much as you need have the respect of your club members, you also need to actively listen to their ideas and concerns. When someone comes to talk to you about an issue, take them seriously. If you don't have time to address it right then, let them know. Tell them you'd rather talk about it later when you have more time because you really value what they have to say. The positive interaction of all your club members will create a successful club. Create a democratic decision-making process, rather than overriding opinions of others.
Keep your meetings fun. No matter what type of club you are leading, you want to make sure that your members enjoy coming and bring friends. Change up the style of the meeting and the meeting spot. Take time to do purely fun activities with your club members like having a movie or game night or volunteering together.. This will help create friendships within the club. Bring snacks to meetings and take time to play games. Kicking off meetings with an ice breaker can be a good idea.
Leading a Successful Club
State your club's purpose. In order for your club to run smoothly and achieve its goals, the objectives must be clear to you and to all your club members. Define a mission statement for your club, or write out the mission statement that already exists. This mission statement should be short and simple. Post it somewhere in your meeting area, and remind members of the statement at each meeting. This will help you club stay defined and improve, no matter what type of club it is. Also, this will give potential new members an accurate idea of what your club is. If you are starting a new school club, find out how this process has to be organized at your school. Many clubs require a teacher/staff member advisor and signatures of students who would be interested in joining.
Seek funding. Clubs need money for activities, trips and meeting expenses. If you are associated with a university or school, you may be able to appeal to the school for funding if you meet the criteria for becoming a club. If you're not associated with a school, you may want to consider making your club a non-profit. You should only consider this if your club is raising tens of thousands of dollars per year as this will require significant paper work and cost money. But long-term it can help with avoiding any taxes down the road on income the club generates. Consider fundraising. Activities like a car wash, selling products, or simply starting a donation page can help raise money for your club. You can also charge membership dues and fees that are used to fund the club.
Define membership criteria. Outline the basic requirements for someone to become a member. Keep these as simple as possible. For example, you may want age requirements if your club is more adult in nature. You may also make ongoing criteria that are necessary to remain a member of the club, such as regular meeting attendance and participation in events or a certain GPA if you are associate with a school. This will also ensure that you have an active club.
Recruit members. As you're leading your club, you want to make sure the club is constantly active in building participants, rather than just waiting for new members to find you. You'll need marketing. You may want a member of the club devoted to this, but as president this will also be your responsibility to make sure the club is growing. Create a website. This allows potential members to read about your club and contact you with interest. Hold open-house events. Advertise events for potential members to come and see what your club is all about. This is a great way to vet potential members and also showcase what your club can do for them. Ask current members to recruit. They are likely to have circles of friends with similar interests.
Keeping Your Club Organized
Delegate club-related tasks. Part of being a good leader is knowing that you can't run your club alone. Your fellow officers and members are there to help and it is important for you to tell them what you need and expect out of them. Listen to their ideas, and let people volunteer for tasks they are interested in. Delegating tasks and responsibilities will keep members engaged and invested in the club. You'll need a treasurer, a secretary, a schedule manager, and a membership manager.
Plan for club meetings. Have regular meeting dates and times, and tell members well in advance if a meeting will be cancelled. Before each meeting, plan what you will talk about. You should create a meeting agenda, where you outline what is going to be discussed in the meeting and who is going to be speaking on the topic. If you want other officers to speak at a meeting, make sure you discuss it with them before the meeting.
Run the meetings with efficiency. Having a structure for your meetings will make your club more productive. You should begin every meeting with a call to order. You may say, "I call this meeting to order", or "This meeting is now in session." You should then have someone delegated to take meeting minutes, or notes on the meeting. This could be you or someone delegated to be the minute-taker. You should review the meeting minutes from the last meeting at the beginning of the meeting and revisit any issues or concerns that were not addressed in the previous meeting. You should then discuss each item on the meeting agenda. Allow for discussion and debate between club members but try to reach a consensus on each issue and move efficiently through each item. At the end of the meeting, you should have an official "end". You may say, "I now end this meeting" or "This meeting is now over."
Stay active on social media. Make a Facebook page that provides a forum for members to interact and also to recruit new members. You can also create other club social media like Instagram or Twitter. Social media is a quick way to send information or invitations to events. Send out e-newsletters with club content, meeting notes, and upcoming events.
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