That's a great idea GM Pogonina,
So HandBanana, looks like you have at least one GM ready to sign those books for free.
How to make a real chess club succeed?
Sort:
May 5, 2013
0
#63
BorgQueen wrote:
That's only first prize. 2nd might be $50 and 3rd might be $20.
Total prize pool: $220. If you can get 50 competitors, a $5 entry fee would be sufficient to net you a small profit of $30.
This is why I said:
IF you have the facilities and equipment to do it, and the avenues to publicise the event.
You 'd need lots of boards and sets and the abilty to market the event to lots of people.
It's still easier to charge 10 people $1 per visit. Over 3 weeks you'd make the same money with much less effort.
Membership fees and visit fees are the answer for your tiny club imo.
Interesting thread... thank you to the person who posted it-how's your club doing now? It's been 3 years, have you made improvements? :)
Our chess club at UCM is pretty small... so first place received $50 and second received $20... we had only 11 players at the tournament which is why. I'm wondering if next semester will have a larger turnout or the same??
Go chess Go!!!!
Hi Everyone! I stumbled across this thread while looking for ideas for our own Chess Club up here in Oregon. I would love to catch up with you guys to see how your clubs have been going. The one I started up here is at a community college. It has only been one term, but we already have 30+ people that have expressed interest (though only about half that attend our weekly gatherings regularly) We were fortunate enough to have some start up funds provided by the school, though the cost of materials and advertising has already eaten up most of it. I love some of the fundraising ideas you guys came up with, though I'm struggling with the thought of charging membership fees. For a small community college club such as ours, I feel that it might turn some members off. Have any of you had success with these membership fees? I could be wrong. Our school prohibits the sale of baked goods, which is unfortunate because I make chocolate chess sets. I am open to possibly taking on a fundraising sale of chocolates, coupon books, cookies, etc. I also like the idea of finding a local sponsor and having our members volunteer time with children at public school chess clubs for our community. Hopefully we can reignite this post and get some more ideas flowing! :-)
Dec 21, 2015
0
#66
here is an idea , get a local company to sponsor a school chess challenge in your area shouldnt be too pricey for them and they get kudos and advertising in the bargain , then alongside that build after school chess clubs many educational facilities have a budget for that , then integrate the ones who show an interest beyond a passin fad into your club ,
in the club im in we have 42 members are part of a good friendly federation (10 clubs numbering 300+ players) we have a specific youth team with many recognised masters , not nm , we also are proud that nigel short started out at one of the clubs , pity it wasnt the one im in lol
That's only first prize. 2nd might be $50 and 3rd might be $20.
Total prize pool: $220. If you can get 50 competitors, a $5 entry fee would be sufficient to net you a small profit of $30.
This is why I said:
IF you have the facilities and equipment to do it, and the avenues to publicise the event.
You 'd need lots of boards and sets and the abilty to market the event to lots of people.
It's still easier to charge 10 people $1 per visit. Over 3 weeks you'd make the same money with much less effort.
Membership fees and visit fees are the answer for your tiny club imo.
A little advice: money (in that range) doesn't attract people. The notion of spending X hours to probably earn $150 isn't motivating (for people in the US). There is a way more efficient way, also less costly.
1. Buy 3 books by top chess authors (a budget of $60-90)
2. Ask chess celebrities to sign them (that is often not that hard if you tell them a tear-dropping story about your little chess club)
3. Give those out as prizes!