Do Right What Other Clubs Do Wrong

Endear yourselves to the governing body that oversees your club and other clubs by making their jobs easy. Be intimately familiar with the rules and regulations your club must abide by. Observe which ones are necessary to follow to the letter, versus which ones are only in place to prevent mistakes other clubs make, but that yours doesn’t. The latter are the ones you may be able to bend or skirt to your advantage.

In addition, being observed doing things the right way gives your club a positive reputation that you can leverage.

Example 1: Our anime club had a reputation of making very clear posters that followed the Student Programs guidelines to the letter. This was reinforced when the women’s leadership club used the same template as our anime club to promote one of their events.

Example 2: The videogame club had been instructed by Student Programs to purchase a license to cover the school legally for public game nights and tournaments. The videogame club avoided making that purchase for months, alleging that they were being singled-out by Student Programs.

Our anime club, also wanting to host game nights, wrote a proposal to Student Government, suggesting use of StuGov funds to purchase the license, as it would benefit the entire school. The proposal was accepted unanimously, and, to my knowledge, the license is renewed every year.

Overestimate Your Expenses

This is simple: Allocate more money for purchases than you think you will actually need. This will result in the club running a surplus, which you can use for additional events or purchases.

Network With Other Clubs

Be creative and come up with ways the anime club can help other clubs and integrate with their events. In addition, create events that other clubs can latch onto. This helps form a relationship with other organizations and makes the anime club look like a team player.

Eliminate Toxicity (With Extreme Prejudice)

Don’t permit negativity of any kind to take root in the club. This includes negativity toward certain kinds of anime. If viewings are determined democratically and someone doesn’t want to watch what’s been voted on, they can leave. If they stay and complain, they require a talking-to. If the negative behaviour persists, you have the right and the duty to kick them out.

Often, however, if you create an environment that’s too positive to bend to their negative behaviour, they’ll leave by themselves and never come back.