Rotary International President Sakuji Tanaka wrote:
“It is not enough to bring new members into Rotary. We want them to stay.
We want the new, young members to become long-time members. We want
them to be Rotary leaders in 10, 20 or 30 years.
How do we do this? We have to look at our product. We have to look at
Rotary not with our own eyes, but with new eyes. When we invite a
new member to join and that person’s answer is no, we should ask why.
This not to pressure someone into joining. It is to find out more information.
What are the obstacles to membership? Is it a inconvenient meeting time?
Is it too much of a time commitment? Is it something else that we
have not thought of?
We need to ask questions and we need to open ourselves to the answers.
We cannot say, “no, we will not do this” just because we have never
done it before. Why not have child care at a meeting? Why not involve
families in projects? Why not make attendance requirements less strict,
We need to increase our membership because:
We need more hands to tackle more and bigger projects.
Your ability to tackle big projects is hampered if there are not enough
members to help.
Clubs need a “critical mass” of members to be effective
and to make meetings interesting.
You can’t get good guest speakers if your audience is too small.
We need to diversify the skills available in our clubs and broaden
the demographic diversity of our members.
Our country urgently needs our support at macro level!
RI’s membership has remained constant over the past 10 years
10 years ago RI worldwide had 1.2 Million members.
In these 10 years 1 Million members joined Rotary.
After 10 years RI still has 1.2 Million members.
That means that in the same period 1 Million members
have left Rotary worldwide.
Membership retention is crucial to membership growth!
DISTRICT 9350 has lost 9% (135) of its members
in the past 10 years
Membership in D 9350 has decreased from 1.505 in 2003
to 1.370 in 2012.
A net loss of 135 members or 9%
In same period 10 new Clubs chartered but 7 closed
due to lack of members (future of another 3 is doubtful)
International retention problem level is mirrored at District level.
If Rotary International as well as District 9350 would have retained most of
its members the ability to serve the communities would be almost double
of what it is today.
No need for more PR – we would be well known!
Club MEMBERSHIP by size in DISTRICT 9350
D 9350 has 62 clubs in Angola, Namibia and SW South Africa
Average membership is 22.5 members.
Almost ½ of the clubs of D 9350 have less than 20 members.
4 clubs have less than 10 members.
Only 11 clubs have more than 30 members.
If each Club reaches its membership goal
(as envisaged beginning of the Rotary Year)
by June 2013 membership in District 9350 will be 1.536
(an increase of 11%).
MEMBERSHIP COUNT D9350 : 2003-2012 (10 Rotary Years + Forecast for 2013)
What can District 9350 do to grow membership?
Ensure that Membership is given the highest priority at all District meetings
and events
“Walk the talk”
Establish a dedicated Membership Strategy Committee to supply Clubs
with a presentation and a brochure with a list of ideas how to retain / grow
Membership
Offer personal help to clubs if required.
PR work by District is limited by funding. Some examples of costs involved:
For 2012/13 R 60.000 are allocated to Membership.
For that money one could:
* rent a billboard for 2 months or
* run 3 x 1/4 page adverts in a daily newspaper
What should YOUR Club do?
Give Membership the highest priority
Ensure that action plans are in place to retain members and
prepare Action Plan to increase membership
Appoint a Membership Director on the Board
Together with the Board this Membership Director should develop dual
action plans to:
a) retain members and
b) increase membership
Club President should give the Membership Director full support
No meeting without Membership Director reporting on progress in retention
and membership growth plans
Membership = first item on all Club agendas
Clubs must be attractive and have good projects = be vibrant clubs !
The ABC of Membership Motivators
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