Membership


Garth Arnold


Membership is everyone’s responsibility!


Sustainable Rotary! For us to have “sustainable Rotary” in the future we must change our ways in how we attract new members, how we conduct our business, and most importantly how we interact with our new and existing members. On a global basis it is frightening when you here these statistics: ‑ 11% of our current Rotarianʼs are less than 40


‑ 68% are greater than 50 ‑ 39% are greater than 60 We can do all the analysis we like in our District but the bottom line is that the age profile is too high and we need to attract more younger professionals both men and women.


How other Districtʼs are changing!


When Rotarians in Walnut Creek, California, USA, found it difficult to attract young professionals to the area's morning and afternoon clubs, they set out to establish a new club that would accommodate busy, on‑the‑go schedules. The Rotary Club of Diablo View (Walnut Creek), chartered in 2009, meets in a local brewery at 5:30 p.m. every Thursday. Club president Jennifer Beeman says the club sets aside time each week for socializing before turning to club business, and that the relaxed atmosphere appeals to younger members.


Beeman was only 24 years old when she became a charter member of the club, and she's now one of the youngest female club presidents in Rotary. The club has 26 members, 90 percent of them between the ages of 25 and 40.


"Because we have younger members, our attitude is different. People have told us how refreshing it is to have young faces behind Rotary," Beeman says.


She says the club carries out many projects in the community so that members have an opportunity to do hands‑on service. Every month, for instance, it plans an outdoor project, such as cleaning up nature trails. Younger Rotarians usually have more time than cash at their disposal, she says, so they tend to contribute by volunteering.


The club recruits new members through social media like Twitter and Facebook, and it has a mentoring programme to help with retention. All new members are assigned a mentor, who spends extra time with them outside regular meetings. "The modifications we've made have helped our club appeal to younger professionals and retain them," Beeman says. "Theyʼve created a high‑energy club."


Best Practices!


Beeman says clubs must be willing to make a few changes to attract younger members. Here are some examples of what other clubs are doing:


• Through a student membership initiative, the Rotary Club of Hope Island, Queensland, Australia, invites college‑age students to meetings and subsidizes the cost to bring a youthful perspective to the club.


• The Rotary Club of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, has created the 25 Club, a club‑within‑a‑club. The members hold additional meetings,


5


sponsor regular social gatherings, and carry out a number of service projects. The inductees are generally younger, and after a year, they transition into the parent Rotary club. • The Rotary Club of Crawley, Western Australia, Australia, started a mentoring program that helps new members transition into the club. The clubʼs average age is now in the 30s. • The Rotary Club of Bricktown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, meets in a tavern. First‑time guests are treated to two free beverages, compliments of the club. Read More at www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/100920_news_b ricktown.aspx


• The Rotary Club of South Metro Minneapolis Evenings, Minnesota, USA, meets in the evenings and lowers costs by not having meals. The third meeting of the month is a happy hour/networking event at different locations in the city. The fourth meeting is a volunteering opportunity


Taking up the Challenge!


If we are going to continue to increase our membership we must be prepared to change the way we do our business. Our RI Presidentʼs recent membership message gives a very powerful message where he pointed out that membership strategy cannot be a “one size fits all” approach; it must reflect the culture, traditions and communications of each district. He appealed directly for Clubs and members to: ‑ take up the challenge and seek out new ways for Rotary to grow


‑bring in new members, especially women and younger people and keep them involved and engaged in a welcoming, attractive and productive Club


‑change the perception of how Rotary is seen and indicate the Rotary is right and relevant, something young professionals especially women should want to be a part of and ‑ ensure Rotary becomes stronger, larger and more vibrant.


Are we Ready!


Summer has now been and gone; we should now be well settled in our new club roles and already starting to make some differences. We need more Rotarianʼs to ensure we can undertake more service activities and to ensure we continue to bigger, better and bolder.


Membership numbers look positive with an increase in membership, turning the tide to a positive net gain. Although, we have the same challenges every year at this time as we find our current members deciding that Rotary may no longer be for them. We all know we have to work twice/three times as heard to get new members as against ensuring we retain our active membership. Going forward mentoring of new Rotarianʼs is a key strategy in ensuring we maximise our membership potential. We have appointed PDG Gay Berkery of our Dundalk club as our District Mentoring Officer; we will be hearing more from Gay in the coming months.


Also the recent Directory outlines our Membership Team for the New Year; please ensure you link in with the Team as necessary. We ran two very successful membership workshops last year to support the recruitment drive and we plan to run something similar this year. When plans have been finalised we will advise dates and locations.


Remember Reach within to attract new members!


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16