Someone recently said to me... "I was thinking of starting a chess club here, but I don't know how."   

So,... let's brainstorm here and see if we can help him out.   Maybe we'll all learn something along the way.

I'll start the ball rolling... you gotta think of people, location, time/day to meet at least initially.  I know this is simplistic, and I am leaving some ingredients out, but this will get the ball rolling.

One thing we did starting out was to put up a free community calendar entry at our local newspaper.  I would think most local newspapers have that option for free;  also you can put out a flyer at your local library and possibly other places like a Kroger, parks dept., etc.  Make the flyer simple and with large fonts so people can see that.

You can probably post a note about your new club for free on craigslist, also.  craigslist covers most areas now.  Not many people go to look for things like that on craigslist, but it's worth a shot and it's free.

I'm friends with some people in Middletown, Ohio who are trying to start up something.  They meet once a month now at a Coffee shop, but I think that's not enough to keep up a regular club.

I'll pass along the notes here, or maybe I can put those people in touch with the management of this group and they can join in.  There's been some discussion in the All Ohio group in which they've been involved, but the advice there was more geared toward major metropolitan areas in Ohio.  You guys might have more practical ideas from the perspective of a small town. 

My question would be how do you manage cost even if you secure a place to have the club?

Sorry to be so long in answering. :( 

First-I want to say just in case anybody is looking to start a scholastic club, please see http://bgsca.webs.com/startinganewclub.htm

I guess the answer about managing costs I think is to take it once step at a time.  At the start, you may have to just bring in your set, and have others bring in theirs.  Maybe after a few meetings where there are some regulars coming in then you can have a little fund to start up with donations from attenders to buy tournament sized sets.  You can get some for as little as $5.99 from this link.

http://www.chessusa.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PTCS&Category_Code=TCCS1&Product_Count=1

www.wholesalechess.com is a good site to buy from too.  I prefer them actually just because I have had some good experience with them. 

Eventually, you'll run a tournament or two and that can be a source of revenue to buy things for your club - such as a demo. board, chess dvds, whatever your club wishes.  :)  In Winchester, we were lucky enough to sponsor some USCF memberships in Clark county last year.  I don't think we're going to do those sponsorships this year though as many of the kids didn't take enough advantage of it.  Oh well, we play and learn!

I grew up in a rural part of Iowa, and I think that what you're doing with this site is a really good idea. There were only a small number of people in town who were interested in chess. If there had been a site like this, we could have organized a club with other towns in the area, with our parents help. Of course when I was that age there weren't computers, let alone having an internet connection!

We used to meet in the YMCA. It was a free venue and they were happy to have this kind of activity associated with their organization. There was also a bank that used to let us use one of their rooms for tournaments. Another way to promote chess would be to approach local schools about starting a chess club for the kids. Good luck in your efforts!

 I want to senserly thank everyones input's on this subject, I going to start one, one way or another :-) and will use this info to the best of my abillity. Again Thank you all very much!!

so, you're going to get a place to play?  That's great!!!  Let us know how it goes, ok?

 I will let all my friends at chess.com know about the new Campbellsville chess club, when i get it up and running ;-) And maybe when i get some people at the club....We will go and take " hisrook and all the people of Winchester chess club ON" :-) hehe, and maybe just maybe....if we catch them on a bad day...will win :-)

That sounds GREEEAAAT to me!    I hope you get off the ground smoothly and with some good members.   

...so, what is your next steps? (if I may ask)