April Membership Moment

Membership is the lifeblood of every Rotary Club.  Every Club must remain acutely aware and invested in the recruitment of new members, involvement of all members in the Club so that they develop “ownership stakes”, and member retention.  Hopefully your Club has an active membership chair, but that position is not the only person in your Club that needs to take responsibility for these duties.
Nor is it limited to the Club’s President or its Board.  In this regard, it is vital to encourage every Rotarian to find ways to be involved in membership development:   Member Recruitment – All Club members should actively invite non-Rotarians to their Club meetings and events.  This is easily accomplished with just a little effort.  Opportunities exist with everyone you come in contact with, every day – your business associates, people you deliver services to, people who deliver services to you,  people in organizations you are a member of (professional and trade organizations, other volunteer organizations, church, kids’ activities, etc.) neighbors, friends, family, and more.  Just pick out those who you feel might enjoy Rotary opportunities, be it community service, networking, enjoying programs and people attending Club meetings and events, etc.  And please, don’t be disappointed because some people don’t accept your initial invitations.  Through these guests, prospective members can be identified that hopefully can be converted to new members.  And if your Club finds someone interested in Rotary, but your Club is not a fit for some reason, help them to find a Rotary Club that does fit them. 

 

Member Involvement – For members to fully enjoy and become stakeholders in their Club, Club leadership needs to actively encourage members to get involved in the Club in a role that they enjoy and fits their commitments outside the Club.  There are ample opportunities -- actively helping with community service projects or fundraisers, helping Club officers with support of Club operations, etc.  While this involvement is important for all members, this is clearly vital for new Club members.  In this regard, the Club leadership should consider formally assigning a mentor to each new member, be it the new member’s sponsor or another member of the Club, who will actively mentor the new member.  

 

Member Retention – This involves developing a Club processes for members to check with Club members who have missed multiple meetings or members that have challenges  members of the Club might be able to assist with or issues that all members may be unaware. Good communication and action on any issues identified that that the Club can address is very valuable to member retention.   Membership recruitment and retention are an issue for virtually every Rotary Club, as it is most membership organizations these days.  Take a look at your Club and see how you can help with your Club’s membership development and retention – and your enjoyment of your Club. 

 

Jim DardnneDistrict 5870 Membership Committee