How to Start an Anime Club

Looking to start an anime, Japanese, or Japan-related club? Here’s how!

1. Set up your team! Recruit your president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and so on.

For schools: You may need people in certain positions to start a club, such as an advisor (someone who works at your school) and a student representative for student government meetings.

2. Meet with your team to create the club! Talk to your team to decide the club’s name, mission, or purpose, and what your club will be doing. Make sure to write all of these out in case you’d like to promote the club on a website or have to fill out a constitution or bylaws.

For schools: Clubs are usually asked to submit a club constitution or bylaws, basically a document that says what your club is, how and why the mission or purpose of the club is accomplished, and how all your teammates will do their roles. It’s a guide of rules for the club to follow.

For schools: Find the place that’s in charge of clubs at your school. For middle schools and high schools, it might be your student government. For community colleges and universities, it might be your student government, such as Associated Students or a department such as Student Activities or Student Life. At this place, they’ll guide you in what you need to start a club.

3. Make club plans with your team! Decide when and where your club will meet. Create a calendar of events and decide who is doing what, when, and how.

For schools: Now that you have your club, your club leadership, your mission, and your constitution, make sure to register your club. Registered clubs or official clubs get funding from their school student government.

For non-school clubs: You will want to decide on what platform, such as Meetup.com, or a place to meet or to run your club out of. If you’re going through a church or library to host your club, make sure to meet with someone from the church or library to set up your club.

4. Promote, promote, promote! Once you have your club set up, have a room booked, and you have your leadership team with you on a plan for that meeting or event, make sure your club has some flyers and marketing materials to promote your club.

Starting Out for Junior and Senior High Schools

1. Go to your student government. It’s usually the Associated Student Body or ASB (middle schools and high schools).

2. Get an application for a starting a club.

This is what you usually need to start an official club:
1. An on-campus advisor (a teacher or faculty member who works at school) and their signature on the application.
2. A minimum number of members. (This is different for each school. )
3. A constitution or a list of rules for your anime club.
4. A budget or how much you think everything will cost in a year.

3. Complete the application and turn it in to your student government.

This is a lot of work. Why get recognized?
Schools give money, venues, and privileges to recognized groups. By becoming recognized, you won’t have to worry about starting from $0 with no base to set your manga on.