New Club Paperwork

Whether you are starting a company club or a community club, you will need to do some paperwork.
The Forms in this manual must be filled out and submitted and money collected and accounted for:

1. Send in an "Application to Organize a Toastmasters club"
2. (Part A) Send in the "Club officers list" and "club information form"
3. (Part B) Send in the "Charter membership roster and mailing list"
4. (Part C) Fill in and send in the "Constitution and Bylaws" with "certificate of club adoption"
5. (Part D) Send in Remittance form and payment to cover the $125.00 Charter Fee,
$18.00 dues for six months per member in advance, commencing with the month in which the application is submitted and the charter is issued, plus the $20.00 per member service charge.
6. (Part E) Apply for IRS form for tax exemption (U.S. clubs only)

Before you proceed any further with your club building effort you should order a new Club Information Kit from Toastmasters International by telephoning the New Clubs Department at 949-858-8255 or sending an email to clubs@toastmasters.org.

The kit contains the information and forms you will need to charter the club:
A copy of “How to Build a Toastmasters Club, A Step By Step Guide” (Catalog No. 121),
and a set of promotional brochures for distribution to potential members.
When ordering, be sure to specify if your prospect will be a company club, because the kit's contents are slightly different in these cases.
An Application to Organize a Toastmasters Club,
Part A . . . Club Information and Officers Report;
Part B . . . Charter Membership Mailing List;
Part C . . . Club Constitution and Standard Bylaws;
Part D . . . Remittance Notice;
Part E . . . IRS Exemption Form (U.S. clubs only).

Review the kit's contents carefully, then do the following:
1. Complete and submit the Application to Organize (also included in this manual). The application should be completed during the demonstration meeting.

Send two copies of the completed application to: Toastmasters International, P.O. Box 9052, Mission Viejo, California 92690 U.S.A., and two copies to the District Governor (email: DG@tmdistrict65.org).

The $125 (U.S.) Charter Fee should be paid at this time.

As soon as Toastmasters International receives the application and charter fee it will send Charter Kit #1, which includes club administrative materials and 20 New Member Kits containing educational materials for 20 members. (If you submit the application without the fee, the prospective club will not receive Charter Kit #1 at this time.) This kit is sent via surface mail unless you or the prospective club requests a faster means and pay for it in advance. A complete list of items in this kit is on page 65 of this manual.

2. Distribute the materials in Charter Kit #1. The kit includes manuals for each of the seven elected club officers and educational materials for members. Be sure to distribute educational materials only to those people who join your club and pay the new member fee.

3. As soon as the prospective club reaches 20 members, send the completed charter application forms (Appendix C, Parts A-E of this manual), the new member fee and dues (and the charter fee, if not already paid) to Toastmasters International.

All members of the club who pay dues and join the club before the charter date are known as Charter Members.

NOTE: New clubs pay six months' dues in advance, regardless of the month in which they are chartered.
If all the forms are properly completed and the remittance is correct, Toastmasters International charters the club. Its official charter date is the date the charter application forms and remittance are received at World Headquarters.

Toastmasters then ships Charter Kit #2 to the club within 48 hours. (If the club included the $125 charter fee with its charter paperwork, Toastmasters International ships Charter Kit #1 at this time as well.) The kit is shipped via surface mail unless you or the prospective club request otherwise and pay for it in advance. A complete list of items in this kit is on page 66 of this manual. Toastmasters International then usually prepares the charter certificate and mails it within 10 business days to the District Governor for presentation to the new club.