Chartering a New Club
District 5 Operation Manual
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!
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:
- 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.)
- Inform: Explain that we’d like them to gather 30+ attendants for a launch meeting (Schedule this as soon as possible.)
- 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.
Resources
New club FAQs: https://www.toastmasters.org/Footer/FAQ/New%20Clubs
PR tools: https://www.toastmasters.org/footer/faq/Public%20Relations
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:
- Establish the mentor system to help prospective members understand the meeting roles
- Identify leaders to take on the club officer roles
- 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.
Resources
Charter member applications (to launch the club)
Sponsor check list prior to the Launch meeting
- Ice Breaker
- Meeting sign-in
- Additionally, fellow clubs have posted their functionary forms on their websites. You can find those forms in Club Resources.
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.
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
- General resources
- Meeting Roles
- Club Officer Leadership Handbook
- Additional resources can be found in Club Resources
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:
- Application to Organize: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY]
- Certificate & Remit: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY]
- Roster: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY]
- Officer Info: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY]
- Club Info: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY]
- Constitution & Bylaws: [status] [MM/DD/YYYY]
- 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.
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.