Running an astronomical society can be a daunting task, especially if you have never done it before. to try and pass on some of the knowledge that has been accumulated by other amateur astronomers who have held office in astronomical societies and in the League, we present the following items.

It is hoped that they will make it easier to organize and run an astronomical society. If there is a League society member near you, we urge you to join with them. You can check out list of member societies to see where they are located. If there is no League member society near you, you can start your own.

In addition to the resources here, you will want to check our AstroNotes for information on starting an astronomical society, constitution and by-laws, non-profit status and more.

If you have any articles that you would like to share about organizing or running an astronomical society, please feel free to send them to the Webmaster and we will include them here.

The Astronomical League Leadership Manual

A Guide for Officers (and Potential Officers) of the Astronomical League and its member societies. A Leader is usually defined as one who guides or shows the way. It is important to note that a leader is not one who tells or forces the way. Effective leadership is the ability to create, share and engage people in a vision of the future that is worth striving for.

If you are new to being an officer, or are considering running for office, this manual will help you learn to lead your local astronomical society. For the experienced officer, there are hints and tips, as well as some ideas that you may not have thought of yet. Take a look at this article by former Astronomical League President Jim Fox.

Better Astronomy Club Meetings

What brings people out to an astronomy club meeting? What keeps them away? What hooks a new member and gets them actively involved? What keeps the old members coming back? These are the issues that face club leaders. Successful clubs find good answers to these questions. Read this informative article by Dennis J. Webb.

Ways to Advertise Your Society

In your area there are plenty of people interested in astronomy. When you look at the attendance at your society meeting, do you ask yourself where all these people are and why they are not at your meeting? They probably just do not know about your society. This article helps you let them know about your activities. There are techniques for working with newspaper, television, radio and more. Read this exciting article by Astronomical League Publicity Coordinator Sue Wheatley.

Promoting Membership At Your Meeting

After you get people to come to your meetings, how do you keep them coming back? This article discusses things you can do to entice your membership (and guests) to keep coming back to your meetings. There is also information on how to build a new member packet and what to put in it. Read this thought-provoking article by Astronomical League Publicity Coordinator Sue Wheatley.

Convention Planning Checklist

Would you like to run a convention? It seems like a daunting task to pull together everything needed to make a convention a success. With the Convention Planning Checklist, you can get a handle on everything you need to do to make your convention a hit with your attendees. Whether it is a star party, Regional, or National Convention,.this article will be of great interest to you. Written by Janet A. Stevens (Chicago Astronomical Society) and Deena Joslin (Naperville Astronomical Association) with the input of many convention chairs from across the country.