1. Develop Your Idea
The first step in starting any society is figuring out what your society’s purpose will be. Check your students’ union directory to make sure that there aren’t similar societies that already exist. You could start a society based on a hobby, culture, cause or academic subject – as long as you have a passion and goal in mind, you can make it happen!
Once you have chosen your society’s purpose, outline the core aims, activities and target audience and start researching how the process of starting a society works at your university.
2. Advertise and Recruit
Most universities require at least a small set of founding members in order to start a society, usually you will need at least a President, Secretary and Treasurer in your committee. To advertise your society, talk to friends, use posters, post on student forums and social media and conduct polls to gage interest. Check what the minimum number of supporting students needs to be at your university and collect as many names and signatures as possible.
3. Formalise Your Society
To formalise your society, you will need to write a constitution that outlines your society’s aims, rules and structure. Many universities will provide a template for this as well as a template for any risk assessments needed. Once your application is complete with all necessary information and documents, you can send your official application to your student’s union!
4. Build an Online Presence
Once your society has been approved, it’s time to start planning events and building a social media presence to keep members engaged. Designing a logo at this stage can be useful for branding – plus, you can add it to custom clothing later down the line! Start with one or two custom society hoodies that your members can wear at fresher’s fairs and social events to recruit new members.
5. Order Bulk Custom Society Clothing!
Once your society is official and your number of members starts to slowly rise, it’s time to design some society clothing! Think about what colours you have been using on your social media posts and try to create your society’s very own colour palette and overall style. If you’re running a sports society, try to choose personalised activewear that can be worn while playing games or training. If your society is cause-based, consider including charity logos and messages that are important to your goals.
It may be helpful to get other society members involved in the design process – try holding a design competition or a group discussion so that everyone is happy with the outcome.
Custom society clothing like society hoodies and T-shirts can help to create a unified identity for your society, helping everyone to feel like a cohesive team. They will also act as a walking advertisement for your society, encouraging new members to sign up and be part of the group. Plus, custom clothing can make for great photo opportunities during events and fundraisers, adding to your online presence and helping to build recognition.
