Starting car club as incorporation?

[Nikked]

A few blokes and I currently do a few things as a "owners group", and with our first show, generated some interest in running more events, runs and even moving further into club territory.

We have looked at a few things, basically:

• Going the whole hog and forming a registered club,
  
• Joining up under another club as a "sub-committee",
  
• Forming as a incorporation or;
  
• Remaining as a group.

One of the hardest things is trying to get our heads around what is more beneficial to what we want to achieve. One thing that we are worried about the "hierarchy" involved in a registered club, and how that could effect things. We want to be able to keep a fairly laid back vibe, but still be able to hold legal and insurance covered events. Whilst being be able to raise money for charities, that sort of thing, all with Council and Police approval.

The club rego always gets brought up, and it makes sense as (in Tamworth, NSW) there is no local club for Ford owners/drivers (although a few are members of car clubs around the area). So that's one thing that's on our mind. We have heard a few things about car clubs as an "incorporation", but even then, there is a lot of jargon that is hard to properly interpret...

So I guess, I'm just looking for any tips and guidelines that may be of help, particularly pros and cons between a Incorporation and a Registered club.

Cheers.

[The Yeti]

We did the same and decided to just be a group of mates and not go down the club route,

Rego wasn't an issue for us though.

The thing is do you want club rego for existing "group" members or potential future members?

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by The Yeti

The thing is do you want club rego for existing "group" members or potential future members?

Mainly for other people interest in the group, have had interested Ford owners ask about it.

[neptune blue]

If you don't have a hierarchy then its pretty much a group of guys

The hierarchy really is there to organise events and run the general busness of the club. Our club has a number of committee members and our monthly meetings consist of discussions of up coming events , correspondence , treasurers report , and a review of the minutes from the previous meeting (amongst other things)

While this sounds kind of boring and very official, our meetings are very laid back and informal. ( and there is always room for a joke and a laugh)

This is because the committee and club members have mutual respect for each other. The Commitee is elected by the members to serve the members. It's not a dictatorship.

I think that's why we are still growing and now in our 21st year

So if there is a group of like minded people who enjoy each others company and are prepared to work together to enjoy your passion, forming a registered club may be the way to go .

[SPArKy_Dave]

Suss out our club - The OzFalcon Owners Club of Australia Inc -
www.ozfalcon.com.au

I'm the club secretary.

What you described, is the exact reason Oz was formed as an official INC club - people were asking for a Ford specific club, to hang out with like minded people, go on cruises together, etc.

Turning Oz, into an official club, was a mammoth amount of work.
Just drawing up our club constitution, took forever. (it's 35 pages long)

We're in the middle of obtaining Historic Rego accreditation with the NSW RMS at the moment.

If you wanted to go down the route of associating with another club, instead of forming one, that might be something OzFalcon could look at.

Send me a PM either on here or on Oz, if you like. (even if you just want some advice)
Anything to help fellow a Ford enthusiast.

[The Yeti]

As Neptune blue said if it's not formal it's just a group of blokes, and as he said some clubs are quite casual, and they work well because there's mutual respect and the comity doesn't have an over inflated opinion of the selfs, I'm a member of such a club and it really works well and they get stuff done.

The other group I'm a member of (for want of a better term) is a non described car group, it's not just hot rods, it's not just fords, it's thing is if it's got wheels and your passionate about it well that's fine by us.

We talked about making it formal but decided that we had all been in clubs where there were self appointed hitlers on the comity and decided we didn't want that.

We also didn't want to take any one, so it's essentially just a group of mates that lets another person in if they fit in with the rest. We gave our selfs a name and we've had merchandising made (as a bit of a joke and also for part of a mates wedding) and we have a secret Facebook group for information umongst members and that's as big as we plan on getting.

But if you guys want to actively recruit members and provide access to the club ergo system you'll need to formalise it. And if you are providing access to club ergo I would suggest a minimum criteria be it in the club for 12 months before it's available, or something other wise you will get ergo shoppers and typically these are the guys at abuse the club rego system as all their after is a cheap way of regions their car and they arnt interested in the club at all.