FAQ

How do I start a club?

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https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16U8zE5i9-JIq8I1kw6QXp7Cs9_doWtjS2zDAYYtXOQo/edit?usp=sharing

Start by adding your information to this google spreadsheet.

 

Next make sure you join this GroupMe: https://groupme.com/join_group/87178272/LgPePeqv

We will need you to start by evaluating what you need, whether you need help finding more members or can’t seem to find an advisor, we can help! 

 

What if I want to start a club, but I don't want to be president?

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That’s okay! You can want to start a chapter but not want to take on full responsibility. Being president is about delegating and improving the chapter for the better. If you cannot see yourself in that role, that is totally fine! What you will need to do is find someone who can fulfill this role. Start by reaching out to anyone at your university that you think may be able to take on this kind of role and is a woman in sports.

 

What if I can’t find an advisor?

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Don’t sweat it! You will need an advisor, but if you cannot find one on your own please reach out to sportsgirlslcub@gmail.com for more information on how to find your chapter's advisor. We highly suggest you start by emailing a professor you know and ask them for their recommendations on who could fulfill the role or if they could! If this does not work, you will need to broaden the range of whom you are emailing. We suggest that you look at your faculty directory and see if you can email a few staff members about being the advisor. Ensure them that they will not be doing the work and that the board members take on this responsibility but they will be used as a mentor and a resource. 

 

Does my advisor have to be a sports professor or a female?

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Nope! In fact, the founding chapter at The University of Alabama has an advisor who is neither. He is an Advertising professor with lots of connections and reached out because he wants to see women in this field succeed. Your advisor can be anyone who fits the criteria of being a faculty member at your school and is ready to help encourage women in sports to succeed through valuable resources. 

 

How many members do I need? 

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The minimum required is 10, this seems like a large number but if you start marketing 10 will become 20 members in no time. It is important to start your social media account now to start spreading the news and getting members. Each board member counts as a member as well so once you have the 3 board members you only need 7 more members to meet the minimum. 

 

How much will the dues be?

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Dues will be $60 for the 2022-23 school year. This will include $40 going to your school’s chapter and $20 going to the National outlet. 
 

What will dues go towards?

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Dues money from your chapter should go towards fundraising for the annual trip, merchandise, supplies for the club, & more. Dues that go towards the national outlet will be used to put on the annual trip from event halls, guests & food. 

 

Where can I find a constitution to edit for my club?

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We have a draft from the founding chapter which you can edit to best fit your school's guidelines. Editing the constitution should be done by the President or board and should only take about 10-20 minutes total.

Edit your copy here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x-3YgPQrulVQ_606wSxQUnU_mo63y9Dh/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111808859203482549306&rtpof=true&sd=true

Simply just copy the text from this sample constitution and paste it into your own document page. From there, edit any of the school initials to your school and edit the constitution as you see fit. This will not take long at all but we suggest using control + F to make it go faster!

 

Where do I start my organization?

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Check out your school's new organization rules. You can usually do this by typing into your web browser “your school” and “new organization.” From there, they should have the listed rules available for your review for you to apply your Girls Club chapter to your university.

 

How many board members are needed?

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There needs to be at least 3: a President, Vice President, & Treasurer. You can add more positions once you have those three, like social media director & director of events for example!

 

How do I start an Instagram for my chapter?

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Easy, all you need to do is create a new account for Instagram, and make a unique username for your chapter. We suggest doing something along these lines:

Ex- @girlsclubalabama @girlsclubua we think you should have Girls Club come first and then either put the initials for your school or the name of your school to make your chapter easily accessible! 

 

How do I create graphics for social media?

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You should have a graphic designer on your board of execs for your chapter. They can use platforms like Canva or Adobe Indesign to create the content. You are also welcome to post anything that the main account @sportsgirlsclub has posted onto your chapter's account. 

 

Where do I find members? 

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Members are everywhere, you just have to reach them! The best way is by starting your social media presence to get the word out and gain a following from the people at your school to best help you find people to become members. 

 

Will there be discounts for my chapter on merch?

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YES! Every school will have a unique discount code for 5% off their personal orders. If your chapter wants to bulk order any merchandise, we will speak with the executive board members of your chapter to best provide you with a good rate to get you all merchandise from the original platform of merchandise. However, you are also welcome to design and order your own merchandise if your chapter’s budget permits it. We encourage every chapter to order shirts for their club members to get to wear!

 

How do I create merchandise for my chapter?

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There are a lot of ways to create merchandise for your chapter. You can partner with places like Campus Ink, JnJ, and more to get them to do the design and ordering for you. The other option is you can use a design you made on Canva or another design application and program it into a drop shipping website like  PrintedMint, Printful, or Custom Ink. 

 

What resources will we provide?

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Anything from resume tips to special guests who provide cutting-edge information about how to navigate the sports world. 

 

What will we do at meetings? 

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There are all sorts of things that meetings can be. You can have special guests in person and on zoom, go tour any sports arenas on campus, have trivia nights, networking events, and more! We will also be having an annual conference for all GC chapters to attend for girls to come for one big event for networking and more!

 

How can I be sure I am reaching as many people as I can to gain members?

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SOCIAL MEDIA! Start marketing your chapter now through all social platforms. We only ask you to stick to certain branding guidelines and that you are appropriate while still having fun. There is no problem with a meme post so long as it is on theme. If you are ever lost for branding ideas, check out the @sportsgirlsclub main page for ideas. We also will provide you with a branding kit for you to reference! 

 

Will we go on trips?

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YES! There will be an annual conference where all chapters can travel for the networking event. We will work with your chapters throughout the year to raise funds to send members to the annual conference and we will work to ensure most costs are covered through fundraising. If a chapter does not fundraise the money, members will still have the option to come but they will have to pay out of pocket, therefore, we will help you generate ideas for you to fundraise your money to get all the girls to the conference. If the chapter decides to go on any other trips they must also organize that money on their own either through dues, fundraising, or other means. 

 

How do we manage our chapters' money?

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Most schools have an associated bank where you can start a club bank account for. For example, The University of Alabama has the Alabama Credit Union that they will use to manage their clubs' money from membership dues and grants from the school to fundraising. If your school does not have this option, just ask your advisor what they suggest! You will also most likely need a money application to collect dues for your chapter, we suggest Venmo or Cashapp.

 

What does a President do?

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The President should oversee all operations of the chapter. The President should be the one to make executive decisions like scheduling, meetings, guests, and more. However, the executive board should have equal power given to the VP and Treasurer as well to ensure everyone has their say. The President should be innovative and motivated to grow the chapter to its fullest potential. The President should also be making sure that there are impactful meetings on the schedule and that there are guests to share information at the meetings for members.

 

What does a VP do?

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The VP should be the one in charge of events in most cases. It is up to your chapter if you would like to change this to another role or add a position to the executive board. However, for basic guidelines, we suggest that the VP works to ensure there are fundraising events in place, that you market your club to others around campus and that there are insightful things to do at meetings. Example: Resume building station or having a fundraiser like a percentage night at a restaurant or doing a Venmo board to name a few. 

 

What does a Treasurer do?

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The Treasurer should ultimately make sure that your chapter not only collects dues from all members but also budgets and allocates funds for other costs. Such as chapter T-shirts or saving money to send all the members to the Annual Conference. 

 

Can my chapter also have a podcast?

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YES! Your chapter can do just about anything as long as it can be deemed helpful to the growth of your chapter and members!

 

What are the goals of this club?

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The goal of this club is to not only motivate women in sports but also give them the resources they need to grow in this industry. Through meetings, events, guests, tips, and more, members should feel they not only got their money’s worth but also had a good time while participating. 

 

How do we fundraise more money?

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You can fundraise money by hosting events! These can be percentage nights at local restaurants, Venmo boards done through social media pages of members, tabling events where they can “pie a member” or just about anything you can think of! Get creative, you can probably even coordinate with sports teams on campus to work to do percentage nights. The options are endless but we suggest you create a fundraising committee that can be in charge of ensuring these events are planned well and executed successfully. It is up to you to fundraise the money for your chapter to get more perks like going on the annual conference trip. Plan now and thank yourself later!
 

Can we have more social accounts than just Instagram?

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YES! Do whatever platforms you think are useful. Just remember to write down the username for each platform on the spreadsheet so we can follow your chapter and help you grow!