Starting A Society

5 Simple Steps to Starting a Society

Can't find the society that you're looking for? Have an original or exciting new idea for a student society at Northampton? Why not set up your own! It's not as hard as you might think - below are our 5 easy steps to starting up your own society.

1. The BIG Idea

   If you already have an idea for a society you’d like to start – you’re already half way to the finish line. Coming up with a new or exciting idea can be tough and worrying about how many people might be interested in joining is a common concern.

   The important thing to remember is that different societies do different things and run in different ways. Some are focused on one big project, like RAG, others might have regular meetings or organise activities that anyone can come to. Some societies are quite small, whilst others are naturally larger.

   You could set up a society related to your course, to organise talks and social events. You could set up a society to find other people interested in your hobby or interest or just to bring together like minded people – whether this is maybe a religious, political or ethical group.

   The key benefit to starting a society is that it can be anything you want it to be!

2. Putting Together Your Proposal

   The next step in getting your society off the ground is filling in a proposal form. This is a simple form that asks for:

   
   ·         Your proposed society name
   
   ·         Your aims, objectives and intended activities
   
   ·         Names of the proposed President, Treasurer and Secretary
   
   ·         Names of 5 people who would be interested in joining such a society

3. Meeting Elina

   Once you’ve gotten this form all filled in, email it to our friendly Societies & Volunteering Coordinator, Elina. She’ll have a look at your form and ask you to come in for a short consultation meeting.

   At this meeting she’ll go through some of the duller pieces of information you’re going to need to know and together you’ll put a plan together for the coming year and write a constitution– it’s not as horrible as it might appear!

4. Getting Members Signed Up

   Following this meeting the only thing stopping you from being a full-fledged society is members. You only need 5 and so it’s time to go back to those 5 friends from your proposal form and get them to sign up proper and pay their membership fee to your new society.

5. Celebrate Success!

   You’ve done it! You’ve successfully created a new society from scratch! Celebrate the moment at your first meeting and enjoy the rest of the year – it’s going to be great!