Originally Posted by eskimo85
thats pretty neat and I wish that I went to a school like that but at this point I just dont think we are established enough to be able to charge for all of that. I hope we do 3 or 4 races and the traveling/lodging/race fees will have to be covered on the fly. We have tried to get sponsors and they are really hard. We will probably be getting some very small amounts but other than that its all our own money anyway.
I know what you mean. Starting clubs is tough. This will be the first year for my club and I haven't charged any dues because it's hard enough getting people to join the way it is. I'm not sure how it works. Either dues will scare people off or dues will make it seem more legitimate and more people will want to join. I'm convinced people join frats just because dropping so much money on it makes it seem cool/special or whatever. However, I'm still sticking with the idea that it will scare people off. Hell, I had people who were scared to give me their student ID number.
Instead, everyone has to pay for jerseys, hotels, travel, and everything. I'm using social psychology to my advantage here. To join, everyone has to sign a waiver. Signing a waiver is a commitment. People don't like to back out of commitments. Besides, nobody can question what it is they're paying for this way.
Once next year rolls around and we have more of a presence, it will be a lot easier to charge dues. People are kind of scared of new clubs. "Will this club be around next year?" "Do they know what they're doing?" It takes a while to prove yourself.