Thinking About Making A Stamp Club, What Do People Do At Club Meetings?

I noticed that there are a number of people who post here who don't live that far away from me. I am recently retired; my wife and I both collect. I've been toying with the idea of starting a club and seeing if people here might be interested. But before I go for it I want to think about what we would do there.

I don't have a feeling for what a bunch of adults would do at a club. I was part of a stamp club as a kid and we traded stamps, and I suppose some of that would go on. We could work on a club exhibit perhaps. I'm interesting to hear if there are active clubs you guys are in that are 100% adults. Are they successful? What advice would you have etc.

Just a flicker of an idea at the moment - not recruiting members yet.

Thanks in advance.

Rick

As a member of several you need to make a list:
1. Place for meetings
2. Cost for said place
3. location of said meetings
4. Goal-what is your goal with this club?
I could go on and on..join one and see how that one operates.
Let us know..good luck

That sounds reasonable. Can you give me some examples of the types of goals the clubs you belong to have?

.
https://classic.stamps.org/You-Can-...a-Stamp-Club ... APS ... You Can Start a Stamp Club!

Available for download as a PDF.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

You can review the schedule of meetings of Sequoia Stamp Club (Redwood City, CA) at www.penpex.org for ideas. The single most popular activity we have is member-to-member, tax-free silent auctions and live auctions. Members sell material, such as duplicates or surplus, or collections they broke down, to other members.

We also hold slide presentations on various philatelic topics, show-and-tell programs, presentations by invited speakers, quizzes, kilowatt sorting and round table discussion, usually about buying channels or buying practices.

Where you live is a 23hr flight away.

The Sequoia Club sounds awesome. I wish the clubs I attended had a better mix of education along with the buying and selling. I think having a range of activities for all members is important. The auctions are exciting and often a bargain but there has to be more to the hobby.. as this forum shows us every day.
Good luck!

Some good food for thought here. Thanks. Has anyone used online tools to connect to members? Meetup is an example I've seen used for clubs.

Of all the potential benefits of stamp collecting, one of the most salient is educational value. Each stamp is, in its own way, a window on history. The opportunity here is to engage people of all ages with stamps that introduce prominent people, places, and events. The story behind each stamp is a thread that contributes to the fabric of civilization. A record of the past illuminates a path to the future.

Note that stamps, both individually and collectively, are an inviolable record of facts. As truth is compromised in modern communication, philately provides a bulwark of veracity.

By all means, have a stamp club for trading purposes and to advise people on the management or liquidation of collections. Consider also a mission to reach out to educational institutions, actively supplementing what passes for a "history" curriculum. In an age with limited school board resources, I would think (hope) that a philatelic supplement would be welcome. This would be a very valuable undertaking. I can imagine securing foundation grants to support such an effort.

rlsny, it depends what you mean by connect. Sequoia uses standard email to send out meeting reminders. We also post announcements using Nextdoor.com. I made an attempt to use Meetup but found it hard to categorize our club in one of their fixed categories, so I gave up.

Collectors Club of New York and the Royal Philatelic Society London both post complete videos of meeting presentations.

With the increasing ubiquity of fast internet service, it is possible to hold smaller meetings live by video using Google Meet, Zoom or Bluejeans. This requires all participants to be savvy enough to get a webcam and microphone working with sufficient light and sound quality, and have sensitivity to etiquette issues such as muting your microphone whenever you are not actively speaking, and positioning your camera so you are actually visible. A lot of people seem to struggle with these basics.

Hi Risny
Congrats on planning to start a stamp club. You can be looking at a real challenge but the result will be rewarding. In the beginning you have a bit of a 'chicken & egg' issue in that you cannot set a program until you know what your members want but you need some sort of program to attract members.
I suggest that you begin by approaching a senior's recreational centre or the local library and post your intention on a bulletin board and hope for a reaction. I also recommend that you contact the American Philatelic Society in Bellefont, PA and ask for their advice and assistance. Third, I recommend that you get on the internet and search for Stamp Clubs to get a feeling for the various activities.
When looking at a program, don't try too much at first. Start with one or two ideas and then see how it evolves. In my experience, every stamp club has its own mix and flavour. Don't try to replicate another club - just let your own develop. My home club (West Toronto Stamp Club) has been in existence since 1935 and is really rolling with 100+ members and 4 meetings per month (2 auctions, 1 Discussion Group and 1 Learning Workshop).

Best wishes

Garfield

Great feedback. Just what I was hoping to hear. Thanks all. I'll be scouting locations somewhere between northern Westchester County, NY and Danbury, CT. If this comes together I'll definitely post an invite here for people in the region.

I would suggest reading the article "Tennessee's Hotbed of Philately" in Kelleher's Stamp Collector's Quarterly. It describes how they have kept the Knoxville Philatelic Society going and assisting club members to get stamps inexpensively (not through a traditional dealer) was key. I am not sure the formula will work at many clubs since it takes special people.

The issue is free to access on Kelleher's web site.

https://db.kelleherauctions.com/php/home.php

risny: congratulations on your decision to research starting a stamp club. 91stang and Ikey-Pikey have some good thoughts. There are, however, some other "nuts and bolts" needed in order to set up a non-profit organization, which I assume your stamp club would be. Note that I am neither a tax lawyer nor a tax accountant. But I do have a lot of experience with non-profits of all sizes. In no particular order, some points, some of which may also be on the APS link:

1. suggest using the APS web site to search for a list of clubs in your general area to make sure you're not "trodding on" somebody else's "turf." There aren't many stamp clubs around now and you might solve your issue by linking up with an existing club.

2. someone suggested researching existing clubs that are or aren't in your area. Good idea. Check out their structure, and especially their bylaws. See if they have term limits for board members. If so, the chance of the group becoming "stagnant" with the same leadership is less.

3. check out their incorporation structure. Here in Colorado, it's relatively easy to incorporate a non-profit. Doing so lends legitimacy. There is a small cost at start-up, then a modest annual fee and reporting requirement. Note that you need to be incorporated in order to get an IRS tax status. Regardless, if you're to sell anything, you need a tax ID. Here in Colorado, one would need also to collect sales tax. A tax accountant might give you some pro-bono time to help research tax issues.

4. will your club be an educational venture or a social venture? If educational, consider obtaining an IRS .501(c)3 tax exempt status. Contributing to charities is more difficult now due to tax law changes, including major increases in the standard deduction. But some people may still have enough deductions to itemize.

In my case, I give money annually to APS, Polonus (for Poland), MEPSI (for Mexico) as all three have a .501(c)3 exemption. I write off that cash as charitable contributions. I give both cash and in-kind donations (in-kind = old catalogs, surplus stamps) to the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library and take a write-off, since RMPL also has a .501(c)3. I value the stamps at maybe 5% of Scott as I don't want to trigger an audit. Of course, these aren't heavily valuable items either.

If you're primarily to be a social club, then you'd fall under .501(c)6 and contributions would not be tax deductible.

5. Another item worth considering is Directors & Officers insurance (D & O). Cost of such insurance is moderate and offers protection against being sued by a disgruntled member. It would also be worthwhile to check your homeowners, or renters, policy to see if this type of activity would be covered. You might get D & O insurance by adding a rider to an existing policy. A place you get for free, or rent, for meetings should have their own liability insurance. You would need to ask.

Note that we live in a litigious society. Courts usually throw out frivolous actions, but there is still the cost of defending yourself. As the Club grows, you may be handling large amounts of money. Consider having at least your treasurer bonded.

6. Finally, I have two books on a shelf in my home office: one is "Starting and Organizing a Business in Colorado." Remember that a non-profit is still a business. You might want to check local bookstores in your home state to see if such a book exists for your state. I also have "Principles & Practices for Nonprofit Excellence in Colorado," published by the Colorado Non Profit Association. Your state should have a similar trade association for non-profits.

Keep us posted on progress. Steve

.
Climber Steve has clearly been there & done that, but I'd like to offer two thoughts:




What is more likely to trigger an audit is the relative value of the donation (you take a U$D 20k deduction on an income of U$D 50k) and/or the absolute value of the donation (you take a U$D 250k deduction, period).

The methodology by which you value the donation is unlikely to trigger an audit because that methodology (5% of Scott, or 35% of Scott) is not visible to the IRS:

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8283 ... About Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions

However, a modest methodology (5% vs 35%) will almost certainly help you survive an audit with both of your nuts.




Most new organizations are started by inspired / motivated individuals, and that energy might be needed to get things off of the ground for more than a little while.

Perhaps you should consider a grace period of a few years before the term limits provision kicks in.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

ikey: thanks for your comments. Regarding my claimed donation for the Philatelic Library, I think the most I've ever claimed as an in-kind, or non-cash, donation is $250. This philosophy has been OK so far with my tax accountant. I think we both have a valid concern about people who might list stuff at full Scott. As for term limits, you have a valid point. My concern probably applies only if risny and his friends join an existing club. But they also might be the fresh blood that an existing club needs.