The main purpose of a Club Sponsor is to help a new club complete the necessary paperwork to file with World Headquarters. The paperwork must be appropriately done, with the proper payments, before the World Headquarters will accept the new club as a member club of Toastmasters International.

Successfully serving as a club sponsor earns a credit towards the Advanced Leader Silver (ALS) award. Up to two persons may be a club sponsor of a club. Those names MUST appear on the "Club Application to Form" and signed by the District Governor.

The paperwork needed to charter a club:

• New Club How to Get Started booklet
• New Club Application to Form -- For $125 (in 2007) the club gets:
  • New Club Kit
  • 20 New Member Kits
  • Club supplies such as:
    • Timer cards
    • Gavel
    • Ballots (set of 500)
• Part A. New Club Officers -- the list, including contact information, of the persons who are serving as the seven club officers.
• Part B. New Club Charter Members -- a minimum of twenty (20) members must be sign of which seventeen (17) must not also belong to another club thus a dual member. Transfers and reinstatements are allowed as part of the seventeen.
• Part C. New Club Constitution and Bylaws -- Usually in the Club Organization Meeting (the meeting after the Demo Meeting), the club must decide on several things such as:
  • Club Name
  • Meeting City and State/Province/Country
  • Meeting Frequency (minimum of 12 times per year)
  • Meeting Day(s) of the Week
  • Meeting Start Time
  • Meeting End Time
  • Closed or Open Club (closed clubs restrict members to something such as employees of the company)
  • How Often to Elect Club Officers -- only clubs meeting weekly can choose to elect semi-annually, all others are annually
  • Dues Amounts beyond the Toastmasters semi-annual membership dues to cover meeting supplies, room rental fees, club expenses, etc.
  • Frequency of Club Officer Meetings -- quarterly is the normal, montly is better
  • Parliamentary Rules to Use -- the default is Robert's Rules of Order
  • If any officers beyond the regular ones will be part of the officer team -- such as Hospitality Officer
  • If allow Honorary Members and if so, how long their membership lasts
• Part D. Charter Certificate and Remittance Notice
• Part E. New Club EIN Application form -- Apply with IRS for EIN number

For further information, and to receive a Club Information Kit, go to http://www.toastmasters.org/startclub.asp.

To get the forms needed to charter a new club click here.