FIND OUT IF YOUR SCHOOL 
NEEDS IT
First things first, clubs need people to function. A rough estimate needs to be made about how many people respond to a call for membership. If you're in one of the higher grades at your school, start with your classmates; if you're not, pitch the idea to someone in one of the higher grades and they can help you from there. There has to be a good number of people who want to join because otherwise, what's the point?

GETTING AUTHORISATION
Once you have a number, or a percentage that seems sufficient, it's time to go to the authorities. Different schools do this part differently, but the essence of it remains more or less the same. You'll need the consent of at least one teacher who is willing to be the moderator of your club, who basically makes sure that the kids don't set fire to the building doing whatever they do. In the best case scenario, this teacher will take interest in what your club is about, and have the passion and drive to make sure it succeeds. S/He also needs to be a person who's comfortable with working together with students, instead of simply being good at telling them what to do. Now you need to put down your desire to start a club on paper in the form of an application, and have your teacher present with you when you meet the head of your institution for approval. Prepare yourself so that you can sell this idea to the authorities and make them understand the necessity of this club you want to start. If all goes well, you will get the green light to go ahead and begin the hard part. 

RECRUITMENT
Recruiting members will be easy if your idea is a popular one among students. But in most schools, recruitment is done by selling membership forms for money, to accumulate funds for the club. Having to pay to get in puts off many potential members, and that's where the initiators and the founders of the club need to be smart. Once again, they need to sell the idea to the students about why they need this club, and be clear about the benefits of being part of it. It's not easy to plan out the events and programmes right at the beginning because you can't be sure about the funds or the participation, so lure them in by telling them about the great things that will take place if and only if they join. 

A CHAIN OF COMMAND
The clubs that function the best are the ones where everyone contributes, and to make that happen, all the members need to feel like they're part of it. Instead of leaving everyone with the title of 'member', assigning posts and dividing them into committees for different tasks is a better option – one which will get the best out of everyone. A chain of command will be useful when a big event is organised and everyone knows exactly what they have to do, whom they need to report to and so on. 

EVENTS
Talking of events, those are probably the most important thing about a club that is just starting out. An impressive event will set the club apart inside the school and to outsiders from the onset; for anything new, recognition is bliss. A solid group of hardworking members are enough to ensure that an event is successful. If most of the members are inexperienced in such things, help from the teachers or seniors will come in handy. It's necessary that the teachers and students can all work closely to come up with something that is exciting as well as viable from a financial and logistical point of view. It is absolutely vital that a club organises its first event as soon as possible after it starts out, because otherwise the whole initiative might peter away into non-existence. 

FUNDING
Despite all the efforts from the part of the students, a club cannot survive without funds. Funds can come from a variety of sources; many schools provide monetary assistance for their clubs from their central budget, many don't. In either case, like companies, even for a school club, being self-sufficient must be the ultimate goal. The aforementioned events require substantial budgets, and a club needs to attempt to balance the books on their own from the beginning. For money sources, we talked about membership fees before, but the sources that can help the most are sponsorships for these events. Businesses and organisations are often eager to reach out to youngsters through schools, and a club can use this eagerness to their advantage.

The easiest way to seek out these organisations is through the members of the clubs and the students in the school. Many of them have parents and relatives who are in positions from where they can help, and a club needs to be able to take advantage of that. A magazine published by the club can attract even more funds in the form of advertisements, and all these will go a long way into ensuring that a club becomes self-sufficient, making sure it can keep helping the students through its actions in the future.

Nowadays, a lot of people indulge themselves in extracurricular activities because it looks good on the resume. But being part of the club gives you a lot more than that; it nurtures a real sense of community and the logistical battles prepare the students for the real world in a way nothing else can. Starting a club in a school might sound easy, but it is indeed a monumental task, one that in the end bears great results for everyone involved.