>>Can one designate an investment club contribution as an IRA?
Does the club need to apply for "permission" to have an IRA
investment?

No. An IRA must have a custodian which must be a bank, a federally insured
credit union, a savings or loan association or an entity approved by the IRS to
 act as trustee or custodian. I do not believe that there is any way that an
individual (acting as a partner in an investment club) can be approved as a
trustee or custodian of his/her own IRA.
 
Ira Smilovitz