How to Revamp a Pre-Loved Club

Fill out the New Club Registration Form

Got your club idea ready? Great! Start by completing UNE Life’s New Club Registration Form. This form collects some basic details like:

• Your club’s name
• A brief description of the club
• Your contact information

If you’ve already got two other people interested in starting the club with you, that’s fantastic—it’ll give you a head start on forming your executive team. But don’t stress if you’re starting solo; you can still submit the form and get the ball rolling!

Chat with UNE Life

Once you’ve submitted the form, get in touch with our Student Programs Coordinator at clubsandsocieties@une.edu.au to book a time to chat. We’ll help you refine your ideas, explain the club creation process in more detail, and introduce you to TidyHQ—our handy club management portal.

Expression of Interest

Once your club is approved, it will appear under the “Pending Clubs” tab on the “Join a Club or Society” page. This means UNE Life is ready to start promoting your idea—and it’s your turn to spread the word!

• You’ll get access to a basic landing page for your club.
• Look for the Memberships tab at the top of the page—this is where UNE Life sets up your Expression of Interest (EOI) group.

Promote your EOI group to as many people as possible via:

• Facebook groups
• MyLearn forums
• In-person events and activities

To make sure you’re promoting things on social media correctly be sure to visit our Social Media Guide.

Your EOI numbers will give you an idea of how much interest your club is generating, so go all in on getting the word out!

Setting Your Executive

Now it’s time to form your club’s executive team. To start, we recommend focusing on these three roles:

• President
• Secretary
• Treasurer

A Vice President role is optional, but can be helpful. In the future, your club might expand with the formation of a committee and optional roles like:

• Social Media Officer
• Sponsorship Coordinator
• Online Representative
• On-campus Representative

Keep in mind a committee can only be created after the formation of an executive team.

If you don’t already have two others to join your executive team, use your EOI group to find interested people.

Important: All executive members must be UNE students or staff.

Writing your constitution

With your executive team in place, the next step is to create a constitution. This document sets out the rules and responsibilities for running your club, ensuring it operates ethically and sustainably.

UNE Life provides a Model Constitution to help you get started.  This document is fully customisable to suit your club’s needs.

Note: all amendments must be approved by the Student Programs Coordinator before being adopted by the club.

Inaugural General Meeting (IGM)

Next, it’s time to organise your club’s first official meeting—the Inaugural General Meeting (IGM). This meeting is key to getting your club on the right track.

For your IGM, make sure to:

• Prepare an agenda
• Track the minutes of the meeting

Both of these can be organised through TidyHQ, the club management platform. UNE Life strongly encourages you to track all your meetings via this software.

During your IGM, you’ll need to cover the following:

• Discuss your club’s aims and purpose
• Adopt your club’s constitution
• Elect your executive team
• Decide on opening a club bank account

Need help running the IGM?
Don’t hesitate to reach out to our Student Programs Coordinator at clubsandsocieties@une.edu.au. We’re happy to guide you through the process or even chair this first meeting for you.

Discussing Operations as an Executive

After your Inaugural General Meeting (IGM), it’s time to dive into the operational side of your club, starting with marketing and finances. While discussions around these topics may come up during the IGM, we recommend scheduling a follow-up meeting to give you ample time to discuss these topics in detail as an executive.

Make sure to record the minutes from this meeting(s) and present them to UNE Life for affiliation.

Marketing and Communication

At this meeting, you’ll focus on your club’s branding and communications strategy. Here are some key questions to guide the conversation:

• How and where will you interact with your members?
• What purpose does your club serve for your members?
• How does your club’s purpose shape the style and tone of your communications?
• What steps will you take to keep your members informed and engaged?

With TidyHQ, your club will have its own customisable landing page, which should serve as the central hub for all club content, including links to social media, events, memberships, merchandise, and meeting minutes. TidyHQ can also help you send bulk communications to your members via email.

Social Media is essential for reaching your members – it’s free and easily accessible. Facebook is a great starting point, allowing you to create both public and private groups and advertise events. When creating content, remember to tag UNE Life and TuneFM.  When creating an event add these accounts as a cohost and send a link to these pages via messenger, this will help expand your reach to a broader audience. For more resources on social media, check out our Social Media Guide.

Don’t stop at Facebook! Consider using additional platforms such as:

• Instagram
• WhatsApp
• Discord
• LinkedIn
• MyLearn

Also, think beyond digital platforms—traditional marketing can still have a big impact. Some ideas to consider:

• Display event notices, flyers or posters around campus and college, if you have an online club you can also use our digital notice board.
• Send marketing materials to UNE’s campuses in Sydney, Taree, or Tamworth (simply tagging them on FB and IG can do this)
• Collaborate with TuneFM to advertise your events
• Hand out promotional materials at club events
• Collaborate with larger clubs for joint events

The possibilities are endless—get creative!

Finances and Your Club Bank Account

Next, discuss the financial planning for your club’s operations. Consider the following:

• What funds will your club need in its first year?
• How do you plan to raise those funds?
• What portion of funds should remain for the executive after your tenure?

As a non-profit, your club is expected to reinvest any funds back into club activities—none of the funds should benefit individual members or executives.  This doesn’t mean your club can’t turn a profit, but rather that any profits should be used to finance future activities of the club.

While SSAF funding can help support your events, it’s not guaranteed, so don’t rely on it alone. Look into other ways to fund your club, such as membership fees, ticket sales, or creative fundraising initiatives.

Your club is also eligible to set up a club bank account, and UNE Life recommends using Regional Australia Bank for maximum support. If you’re a sporting club, UNE Life will help set this up for you. Reach out to the Student Programs Coordinator at clubsandsocieties@une.edu.au for assistance with this process.

Important Note: Managing your club’s finances is the responsibility of the entire executive team. Ensure your elected Treasurer is keeping track of all financial activity through TidyHQ and that all executives are informed of the club’s financial standing.   Financial liability is a full-executive concern.

The Final Step

This is the final step in your club’s journey towards establishment—planning your first event! It’s time to demonstrate your club’s commitment and planning skills.

Start by organising a meeting with our Student Programs Coordinator, ensuring your entire executive team is present. Come prepared with a potential event idea your club would like to host.

During this meeting, the Student Programs Coordinator will guide you through the entire process of event planning and hosting, helping you understand the commitment, time, and preparation required to run a successful club event.

What happens next?

Once you’ve completed Event Planning 101, we’ll have a conversation where the following will be covered:

• Navigating and using the Clubs Management Portal (TidyHQ)
• Finalising UNE Life’s affiliation procedures
• Learning about funding opportunities for your club
• Accessing club discussion forums and helpful resources

We’ll wrap up the meeting by answering any lingering questions you might have. If any questions arise during the club’s creation process, make sure to jot them down so we can address them in detail.

Pro tip: This is also a great chance to get feedback on your event idea and refine it into something exciting for your members! Reach out to the Student Programs Coordinator at clubsandsocieties@une.edu.au to set up your meeting.

Time to Run the Club

Once you’ve completed Event Planning 101, it’s time to start running the club, hosting regular events, and meeting your clubs aims.

But you won’t be doing it alone, UNE Life will always have your back and the Student Programs Coordinator will be here to support you every step of the way.

Keep in Contact

Perhaps the most crucial step in the whole club creation process is making sure that you keep in contact with our Student Programs Coordinator.  Don’t hesitate to ask them any questions you have regarding the operations of your club.  By reaching out for help you can make sure that your club is sustainable and lasts for not just the next 3 years, but the next 10, 20 and onward.

If you need any assistance, want to gain feedback, or just want to air out some ideas either within the club’s creation process or afterwards don’t hesitate to reach out either via email, phone, or arranging a time to chat.

With all these steps completed your club is ready to become the next sensation at UNE, good luck and happy administrating!