Whether you focus on one type of car or keep it open will have some bearing on the goal and mission of the club. A club focused on one car might mean your members have more in common, but an open group will most likely draw more people to want to join. You might start the club with one intention in mind, but as the club progresses you may decide that you want to shift the focus in a new direction. This is perfectly fine if it serves your members well.
For example, you might say, “Our club will encourage members to perform preventive maintenance, help members build friendships, and promote responsible driving. ” You may want to make new members officially accept the mission statement in some way, perhaps by signing a membership agreement. You can write up a draft of this mission statement on your own, but you can also ask others for input as new people join the club.
Other examples of goals are host five car-themed charity events in the next year, have all members gain car maintenance or detailing certifications, and make a cross country road trip during the summer.
The location of your meeting will be partly determined by where you live and what is available to you. Community centers and churches often rent their space out to groups, so those are good options to check out. If you can arrange to rent a space on a regular basis, this will make it easier for people to always know where the meeting is going to be. It’s likely that you will need to pay to rent a space, so it’s important to figure out where this money will come from. You may have to cover it yourself the first time, and then you can collect dues or rent money from the members of your club.
You can spread the word to lots of people if you want, but for a first meeting it might be better to just have a handful of interested people. You can expand from there. Tell the people you gather that they can invite anyone else they know that loves cars. You might build a large club just by asking people that someone already knows as opposed to inviting strangers.
You may want to print out copies of the agenda so people have an idea of what all you want to cover in the first meeting. Start out by having everyone introduce themselves and mention something they like about cars. At least for the first meeting, it’s great to have some food as a draw and a centerpiece for initial hanging out and conversing.
You could also have people fill out a feedback card of some kind to give you an idea about where everyone stands in regards to the club. During the phone call, ask people how they felt the meeting went, whether or not they would like to participate in the club, and what they would like to see the club do in the future.
If you aren’t good with social media, enlist the help of one of your early joiners to create the online club page. This can have contact information for the club’s leader, meeting location and other details, the clubs purposes and mission statement, and other relevant information that someone searching for the club would want to know. As the club grows, this can become a vital resource for staying connected as a group. It can be a place to message members, post cool articles and videos, and alert your members to any upcoming events or changes to schedules. [7] X Research source
Business cards and flyers should have the name of your club, some contact info, and a brief blurb about the purpose of the club. Local mechanic shops would be a great place to leave some flyers and cards. Flyers are great because they are a constant presence that will ideally stay where you put them for quite a while. They’ll get more views than handing a business card to one person. You can go through parking lots and place these on cars that seem like they belong to people who would be interested in an enthusiasts club. Some of your meetings might focus on just reaching out to new people and handing out flyers and cards.
If you feel that your club is at a good size, you may not want to continue expanding. It’s okay to find a size that works well and allow the group to hang out there for a while.
There are many benefits to belonging to a larger organization, and national car club chapters can usually advise the local chapters on management, event planning and marketing opportunities. Check out a registry like http://www. jctaylor. com/car-club-directory/ to browse national car clubs.
