I've not run a club either, but some off-the-top-of-my-head suggestions:
1. In my jurisdiction, it's useful for things like chess clubs to become "unincoroporated associations". Thinking more broadly, you want (I _strongly_ suggest) to talk to appropriate people at your local community centre with respect to public liability insurance and the like
2. Equipment: is it "bring your own" or will your funding extend to purchasing some? If you purchase, where do you store it? Who will unlock/unpack/set up each meeting? And clean up after. Allow for loss (or pieces), theft (sadly), and rough treatment. My club has 30+ broken clocks at the moment. :-(
3. Presumably your community centre has chairs and tables. Are the tables wide enough? How much set up/putting away/cleaning will be required? Is there somewhere for parents and any other non-players to congregate? (And what about parking? We have to tell people where they can park, as parking near our building is short term only, but a couple of blocks away there's free longer term on-street parking. We also provide information on how to get to us by public transport.)
4. How formal or informal can you afford to be? At the low end, maybe just anyone who turns up at a regular time with a board can find some other people and play social games. Or are you going to run tournaments? Per-meeting (e.g. Allegro style ~15 minute time controls? Longer time controls with tounaments spread over weeks? Maintain club ratings??) Fortunately notebook computers and software (or even a smart phone) make tournaments much easier to run.
5. Money. _Strongly_ suggest you start keeping records _now_ of everything you spend from your grant. Expect to have them audited; ideally you want a qualified auditor who is not known to you but who maybe has a chess enthusiast kid who'll agree to do an audit each year, or at least once in your first year.
6. Teaching? Classes? Lectures? Does your community centre have rules about commercial activity? (It may, especially if it has public liability insurance you are trying to fit under.)
7. Ongoing funding? Membership? Pay-per-visit? Saussage sizzles/cake stall/you-name-it? Sponsorship?
8. Publicity? Yeah, radio, newspapers (they still exist, and people still read them), blogs, ??? Effort required. You volunteered. :-) I'd recommend a web site, but it has to be done at least decently and updated *regularly*. (Maybe even for every round during a tournament; I've been involved in timing motor sport and results during events have been uploaded regularly.)
9. Any local strong players who'll support you? We have a FIDE master who likes to come along to our regular Saturday afternoon Allegro tournament. We have some other titled players; I don't know (haven't cared to check) but I trust they don't have to pay membership so long as they compete in some events each year. (Really no information about how this part works: but that's how I'd do it. The chance to play -- and be beaten by! -- a grand master will be snatched up by many club level players.)
10. Total beginners: it's _hugely_ dispiriting for a beginner (especially an adult beginner) to find they're totally outclassed by *everyone* else present. Which is what happens when someone who plays social chess turns up for the first time. Figure out what you're going to do: let 'em go (might have to if you lack resources), offer them a mentor, find a good introductory book, hold novice events/meetings, ??? (I had a player lose terribly to me last weekend: he wasn't completely hopeless, but obviously had very little knowledge: Bd6 before moving his d pawn ... ouch. He quickly lost after a king-side attack starting with a bishop sacrifice. Dunno if I'll see him again; hope so, but am not optimistic. I don't think he had a fun afternoon. And no, there wasn't any club support I could point him at, really. We do better coaching kids and reaching out (or being reached out *to*) by schools.
11. Rules. You're going to need rules. They're going to have to comply with your community centre's rules. What do you do with someone who is loud and obnoxious (and/or inebriated) who continues disturbing everyone after being asked to quiet down or leave? Other rules: what set of chess laws do you follow? FIDE? Do you have a copy? Are you or can you drag along a FIDE qualified arbiter? Tournament director? Plenty of things to think about. :-)
My club's rather different: we own our own building, have a higher than average annual membership fee (natch), charge to enter tournaments, run on volunteer labour, and still have problems keeping the place clean, tidy, and the equipment in good repair. Usual amateur association hassles.
We've done the legal stuff; our treasurer runs a policy that anyone can look at the books, and we've jumped through the right hoops with our local council so that we can sell food on the street (we're in a busy neighbourhood; it brings in a few bucks).
Going way back (and I wasn't a member for years, so there are probably _other_ issues I don't know about): we used to have a chess library. Makes sense, right? It did, but the loss rate was too high so it was sold off. :-(
Equipment sales: owning our own building means we can dedicate a small room as the "book shop". I don't know if it makes money (I'm ... dubious) but we do stock basic equipment (vinyl and wooden boards, plastic and basic wooden pieces, clocks) and books. I'm not sure the books sell well; many seem to have sat there long enough that a "real" bookshop would have remaindered them.
All the above is "IMHO"; especially I am not a lawyer and so take any advice with a pinch of salt.
Good luck. I hope it goes well for you. Remember nothing's perfect and you'll have issues along the way; deal with them and keep going!
I have just been granted funding to open a chess club in my town. I already have avenue in our local community centre and already have some interest. I have been a member of various chess clubs in the past but have never had any experience in actually running a club so any advice that anyone could offer me will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Gary