Startiing a new club on Campus

[SenorCole86]

Hey guys, I need a little bit of advice. I'm looking into starting a new club on campus dealing with 4x4 and offroad and here's what I've come up with so far. It would be easiest (and cheapest) to start the club as an offshoot of the existing motorsports club (whose main focus is racing) with a donated vehicle. This leaves me with the problem of finding a donated vehicle. I can't just ask somebody who's trying to sell a Jeep if they just wanna give it to me instead. There is a tax write off but I'd still feel like a jerk.

The second problem is it would be best if there was some competition we could take the club Jeep to to promote our school. I know offroad competitions exist, but I was always under the impression that it was a predominately hobbyist's sport. Even large gatherings (i.e. jamboree, safari, etc) would be fine but I just don't know of any in the area. Do you guys know of any of these types of gatherings/competitions in the Indiana/Illinois area? The school is Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, IN.

Any help at all y'all could give me in either of these areas would be greatly appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you. The premature club has quite a following already with a good variety of vehicles and I was hoping to get something off of the ground before we leave for the summer in a couple of weeks. Thanks a lot guys, have a good one.

 

[currupt4130]

Why do you have to have a vehicle? Usually a 4x4 club is just a bunch of guys with 4x4's getting together, shooting the breaze, working on rigs and wheeling.

 

[SenorCole86]

I'd like to start a club with the same following and purpose as the existing motorsports club. We've got three club race cars which we all work on and all drive and it's much more fulfilling than just a "bunch of guys getting together and shooting the breeze." Not that shooting the breeze isn't fun, but I'd like to get something a little more driven off of the ground. We get a club truck, we're a lot more apt to draw members and none of us by ourselves have the time or money needed to create a truly impressive rig, but with the school backing us we could do just that.

 

[currupt4130]

I follow.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Sounds like a great idea. There's a few events out there for club trucks, FourWheeler's Real Truck Club Challenge at the Badlands in Indiana comes to mind and there's probably more. Real Truck Club Challenge 2005 - Rules & Regulations - Four Wheeler Magazine

Our club has considered something similar, with all the parts everybody has lying around.

 

[redrooster]

Consider organizing the club first if you already have interest generated. You'll have plenty to do between now and break just signing up members and getting bylaws, etc written.
Express your desires to the members to find a "Club Vehicle" with the goal of having one by the time you return from summer break. If you are lucky, you can come up with a vehicle to build as well as others for parts. You never know, some kid may have an uncle with a couple of old Jeeps sitting out on the farm somewhere.
Let us know what kind of vehicle you come up with. I have cleared out my excess inventory of parts, but there may be some Jeepz peepz with extras lying around.
Question: How will the university support the club, financially or with facilities to work on the project or what?

 

[SenorCole86]

A certain percentage of each student's tuition goes into a fund which is then distributed among all the clubs based on membership and financial need. There is a storage facility off campus owned by the Institute which we could store the vehicle in and on campus the existing motorsports club has two fully equipped garages and a lift.

Another advantage of forming as an offshoot of the existing motorsports club is that we get to use these facilities and tools and also things such as bylaws and other student government legalities are already in place. The only things we'd need would be a vehicle, membership, and space.

 

[TerryMason]

How about something like this:
1995 JEEP Cherokee 4x4

Would you need to get insurance for this?

I say that you get your people together, then have a bikini carwash to raise money. It shouldn't be hard to do some fund raising and come up with $1000 to put towards a ride.

 

[redrooster]

Think about hitting up the local dealerships for a used vehicle that was traded in. Most trade-ins go to auction anyway. If they can take a tax writeoff, then it may benefit them to donate one.