Chartering a New Club

District 5 Operation Manual

New Club Lead →
Chartering Ceremony →
Volunteer Roles →
Launch Checklist →

Chartering a new club is exciting. There are various kinds of clubs, but the general principle of chartering is the same. Below are the milestones in this process. Take one step at a time, that’s how we finish any great journey!

Division New Clubs Chair Training (download)

Milestone 1: Initial Contact

Step 1: Nurture the Lead

Before the contact: if it’s a company or an organization, look them up on LinkedIn. Gather as much information as you can to be prepared. Be prepared to answer questions. You may start with  https://www.toastmasters.org/Footer/FAQ/New%20Clubs

Be on-time.  It’s highly recommend that you have a partner to attend this appointment together—if anything last minute comes up, at least one of you can still attend the appointment.

At the appointment, you have 3 tasks:

  1. Collect information: Find out who they are, why they want to have a Toastmasters club, when they plan to have the meetings. (It’s common that they don’t have all the answers.  You can follow up again on the next appointment.  The information is important, as we will use this to look for sponsors and mentors accordingly.)
  2. Inform: Explain that we’d like them to gather 30+ attendants for a launch meeting (Schedule this as soon as possible.)
  3. Close the deal: Help them see the value in Toastmasters for their staff, and close by scheduling a Launch Meeting to introduce Toastmasters to their office.

Step 2: Support the Lead

District 5 has plenty of publicity materials available. Provide resources to help them with their Public Relations: https://www.toastmasters.org/footer/faq/Public%20Relations

Share common practices regarding how to effectively gather people for a launch meeting, for example, “Lunch and Learn.”

Tip: If finance is not an issue (for many companies it’s not an issue), recommend that they submit the $135 charter payment to get the charter club kit from Toastmasters International as a first step.

Step 3: Schedule and plan the launch meeting

This is the most critical milestone for us. In our experience, once a launch meeting is scheduled and takes place as planned (i.e. with 30+ attendants), our launch successful rate is 100%.

Photo by Ron Gross, 144Photos@cox.net

Milestone 2: Launch Meeting

Our Goal: Help the Prospective Club to stand on its own feet in 4 to 6 meetings with a team of 4 to 6 people.

In District 5, the procedure described below has proven to be very effective. Our goals when setting up new clubs are simple:

  1. Establish the mentor system to help prospective members understand the meeting roles
  2. Identify leaders to take on the club officer roles
  3. Gather 20+ charter member applications (to launch the club)

*Note that the charter member application is different from regular member application.
Make sure the correct form is used.  Make sure the members sign on the back of the application.

The first meeting will include only one speech, which allows time for an FAQ session.

Sample Slides for FAQ Session: A check list for what to cover in the Launch Meeting – How Toastmasters Can Help (download)

Mentors will stay with the clubs for six months after the club is chartered. Please help the club officers to prepare for transitioning their duty to the incoming club officers. (What does the transition consist of?) Inform Area Director of transition progress, including any challenges.

Meeting Agenda

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6
Toastmaster TM TM TM new * new new
Table Topics Master TM new * new * new new new
General Evaluator TM TM new * new
Speech Evaluator TM – 1 TM – 3 TM – 3 new – 3 new – 3 new – 3
Timer new * new new new new new
Ah Counter new * new new new new new
Grammarian new * new new new new new
Speaker (Ice Breaker) TM – 1 new – 3 * new – 3 new – 3 new – 3 new – 3

TM
The role will be served by Toastmasters Members.

new *
The role will be served by prospective members, mentored by Toastmasters Members

new
The role will be served by prospective members, mentored by the prospective members who have served this role before.

Download the New Club Workbook & Forms

Essential materials for new clubs:

“How To” guide for building your club

Step by Step guide to filling out the forms

Club resources and ideas

Milestone 3: New Club Application

Application forms (6)

Form 1

Form 1 can be submitted independently, and upon successful submission, the club will be assigned a club number and show up on the district’s dashboard. Toastmasters International often updates the information within 2 business days. If it’s NOT showing after 5 days, please follow up with Toastmasters International.

Club dashboard: http://reports.toastmasters.org/reports/dprReports.cfm?r=16&d=5 

Toastmasters International: newclubs@toastmasters.org or by phone (720) 439-5050

Forms 2-6

Form 2-6 have to be submitted in one package. The status will be updated at the above link as well. It would show as:

  1. Application to Organize: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY]
  2. Certificate & Remit: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY]
  3. Roster: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY]
  4. Officer Info: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY]
  5. Club Info: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY]
  6. Constitution & Bylaws: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY]
  7. Payment: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY](Status is either “RECEIVED” or “INCOMPLETE”.)

If it shows “incomplete”, please follow up with TI to find out why ASAP.  The dates of the above 6 form can be different. The charter date will be the most recent date of all forms. Your new club will show in the district dashboard in about 5 business days.

In most cases, at least 17 prospective members for the club have to be new or reinstated members. Discuss with your district officers if you have any questions or concerns.

Toastmasters International has helpful resources here.

Take me to the Chartering Ceremony

Milestone 4: Chartering Ceremony

The ceremony is about the club.

In District 5, new clubs will:

  • Work with the District Director to develop the best agenda for the club.
  • Receive a new club banner (6-8 weeks) that the District will order—most ceremonies are scheduled after the banner arrives.
  • Host the top 3 district officers: District Director, Program Quality Director, and Club Growth Director. In District 5, it’s a tradition and honor that one of the top 3 district officers attend and lead the chartering ceremony. In the rare occasion that none of the three can attend, the Division Director will be responsible for leading the ceremony.