Starting Auto Club

Dyno247365 · #1 09-09-2006, 10:59 AM

UPDATED: The poster is done: 56kers beware, or DIE!!

It looks much better printed out, but this is it.

ARCHIVED:
I really wanted to join an auto club this semester but to my surprise, there was one on the college website but it wasn't working. I went early to the student associations and they said the club hasn't been active for a year. So, I'm taking over and I need 5 members to start, already have 2. But I don't plan the club number on stopping there, 20k people go to Albany, I will see more people interested in cars.

My Ideas are:
Learning how to work on your cars
Watching movies, playing games
Race Track Field Trips
The club's project car
Diagnosing non-members cars for free

There's some problems though, I'm making the flyers but I don't know how to start the club up aside from registering it and we haven't found a garage yet. But enough worrying about the little details, anyone have ideas to help me out?

Dyno247365 · #2 09-09-2006, 08:47 PM

I'm thinking of charging a small membership fee (10-20) so that when a member joins we can buy more tools. I'm going to get my flyer cleared with student assoc monday so I can get more members.

So far there's 2 officers and one member, and 3 maybes. I need more exposure.

Also monday I get to see the list of members from the previous club so maybe I can contact them.

FormulaLT1 · #3 09-10-2006, 12:01 AM

Too bad you live so far. I would join up. I think hanging out or passing flyers at local auto shows will probably be a good way to get members.

Dyno247365 · #4 09-10-2006, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FormulaLT1

Too bad you live so far. I would join up. I think hanging out or passing flyers at local auto shows will probably be a good way to get members.

I wish there were shows around here, gotta find out, but that's a good idea.

Earlsfat · #5 09-10-2006, 10:05 PM

Not a bad idea, wish my school had a club.

Good way to make sure you stay in the clear... Restrict the membership to dues paying members, and revert the assets to the school for stewardship in the event the club disolves. No problem with anyone stealing your stuff, the school will promote your club via the student activities council, and you guys will actually be able to have some assets that will be available to other students long after you're gone.

Get a set of decent bylaws that states that the SCHOOL retains ownership in the tools/assets in the event the club disbands again, and list the members' rights and priviledges. That way you won't look like you're profiting off the donations / membership fees, and there's a good reason for the school to sanction your club. They might even let you use the school facilities, if their insurance company or the board itself isn't too anal.

Dyno247365 · #6 09-11-2006, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earlsfat

Not a bad idea, wish my school had a club.

Good way to make sure you stay in the clear... Restrict the membership to dues paying members, and revert the assets to the school for stewardship in the event the club disolves. No problem with anyone stealing your stuff, the school will promote your club via the student activities council, and you guys will actually be able to have some assets that will be available to other students long after you're gone.

Get a set of decent bylaws that states that the SCHOOL retains ownership in the tools/assets in the event the club disbands again, and list the members' rights and priviledges. That way you won't look like you're profiting off the donations / membership fees, and there's a good reason for the school to sanction your club. They might even let you use the school facilities, if their insurance company or the board itself isn't too anal.

That's excellent! I was thinking about dividing the tools up if we split but of course I want the club to continue on. Plus that means members dues will be part of the budget. I'm asking what the 'budget' is tomorrow and also if we could use a faculty garage or anywhere we can spill oil and clean it up. I'll let you all know via this thread how it goes. I just need more officers and we can start!

Earlsfat · #7 09-12-2006, 08:36 AM

Good luck, interested to see how you make out.

stieh2000 · #8 09-12-2006, 11:44 AM

Look if any other schools in the area have similar clubs and see how they are run. I know here at RPI (which is like 20min north of albany) we have one. I'm not in it though, so I can't tell you much of anything. Good luck

Dyno247365 · #9 09-12-2006, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stieh2000

Look if any other schools in the area have similar clubs and see how they are run. I know here at RPI (which is like 20min north of albany) we have one. I'm not in it though, so I can't tell you much of anything. Good luck

I keep hearing about RPI, the expensive tech school I SHOULD have went to but i'm not letting it get me down. They must have ten different chapters of auto clubs

On a more serious note, I'm starting on the paperwork and the constitution complete with amendments (RULES). I still need to finish the flyer but I haven't got my scanner working yet.

Dyno247365 · #10 09-12-2006, 05:55 PM

Just picked up an officer, so that's a total of 4 members. I'm concerned about finding a garage now...

Dyno247365 · #11 09-13-2006, 01:35 PM

It's time to open the club!! I've got enough members and I'm writing the rule book. The flyer will come later I decided. Also, about the garage...UA has no garages, so I'm trying to find garage space to rent around the area. I also wanted to talk it over with my members before we 'bought' a garage. I've talked to mechanics, seen garage stalls in the newspaper and there's the Albany Parking Authority, which is 120 a month...yikes.

TransFukinAm · #12 09-14-2006, 10:46 PM

Registering? hmm, my club should do that. Do you mean going to like.. .your township and registering it like an organization?

Dyno247365 · #13 09-15-2006, 01:04 PM

It's for my college, University of Albany. It's a college club. I'm worried about getting too many members but we'll see how things pan out.

News: one officer turned normal member but he's still giving us money...lol so I'm making a flashy poster for more members. Officers are key, I need people who will commit to this club. 4 officers to register...where did I put that paperwork. later

stepho · #14 09-15-2006, 08:28 PM

Advice: Document all the money you take in very well. Document who paid what and what its been spent on. Might be a good idea to have an officer be the treasurer and have them take care of all that crap.

Dyno247365 · #15 09-15-2006, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stepho

Advice: Document all the money you take in very well. Document who paid what and what its been spent on. Might be a good idea to have an officer be the treasurer and have them take care of all that crap.

That's what the last club did, but the problem is that I have NO idea what they did with the money. I will get my officers to keep track of the money. Because we want a garage, we have to rent the space so i was thinking, membership fee $15 and then 3 months later, 5 a month which would be easy but sounds ugly. This isn't set in stone and I want to talk to my members about it. Why should we all suffer? I'm not a scammer, I want a damn garage or else we can't work on cars a lot. Right? Once again, the weekend and I can't do anything about the club now.

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