To those who have started clubs

DirtAngler · Jan 31, 2013

3 years ago, after trying a large formal local club and being disappointed with the lack of being able to have discussions and learn from club members, I started my own small informal club. By being informal, it's more of a metal detecting BS session, we discuss anything and everything metal detecting, share finds, test detectors and coils, and have had a couple club hunts. Terry Soloman gave me some good pointers and ideas but was wondering how many others started their own club and what you do to keep interest and promote it.
Also how many founding club members did you start with and how many active members do you now have.
My club started with 5 founding members, grew to 10 members, dropped back to 8 current members.
Thanks for any input and advice.

Terry Soloman · Feb 1, 2013

Just a Quick Disclaimer!!

Our club went from a high of about 25-people at a meeting, down to about 7-people at the last meeting. We don't collect dues or have officers, but many of us have hunted together as a group. I see a "social networking" group as an alternative to formal clubs, but there are drawbacks.

We met at local resaurants the first few meetings, then at my home for depth tests and comparisons. The main problem is finding areas for group or club hunts, and raising money to hunt them.

DirtAngler · Feb 1, 2013

Terry,
That's how our club is, informal with no officers and no dues. It's small, as I stated, but there is a lot of knowledge and ideas from members through trial and error actual experiences to be gained from these guys. We meet in my basement usually once a month. I do have a test garden where members can bring their detectors to test them and new coils. I do like your perpetual raffle idea and last night we did raise 65.00 through a raffle using prizes donated by members and an unnamed forum sponsor. Just looking for more ideas to keep the club from becoming stagnant and generate more interest.

tater · Feb 2, 2013

I am VP of our local club. We started with about 10 and have about 40 now. We have many more facebook members. We try and have a diminstration every month. We bring our finds from that month also. We are a rare group because we show each other how we find sites and we just try to support each other. Its a good bunch of people. We try to get the most historic finds we can. Its not about the money. If you want to see how we do it we are on facebook. East central indiana treasure hunters

To those who have started clubs

DirtAngler

Elite Member

Terry Soloman

Elite Member

DirtAngler

Elite Member

tater

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