Rotarians: Care and Feeding 101 District 5240 Assembly April, 2013

Your Year Will Be Successful If 2 ?

An effective club is able to… Sustain and increase its membership base. Implement successful projects that address the needs of its community and communities in other countries. Support The Rotary Foundation through both program participation and financial contributions. Develop leaders from within the Club, and leaders capable of serving Rotary beyond the club level.

Being an Effective Club 4

You Are The President – Now What Do You Do? You are the conductor – you are not the orchestra You are an enabler – you are not the only worker You lead by example – and get other club members to participate with you You don’t have to do it alone – you have lots of help available to you Listen to your members – they are your constituents Make a personal ask for help – your members will respond You look for every opportunity to tell the club and the community what Rotary is doing to make a difference 5

What Keeps People in Rotary Relevant Rewarding Responsive FUN Fellowship Satisfies a Need 6

Our Core Values 7 Rotarian Fellowship Integrity Leadership Service Diversity

Why People Don’t Join Rotary 8

Why People Leave a Rotary Club? 9 Business needs Can no longer afford Joined for the wrong reasons Moved Died Lost Interest Conflicts with other members Didn’t recognize value in Rotary

Growing, vibrant, and innovative clubs Focused service, action-oriented clubs Public awareness of accomplishments Fewer, streamlined programs and communications Improved leadership with fewer directives from RI What Rotarians Want 10 ?

Club Assessment How many members in your club? How many have you added/lost during the past year? During the past 5 years? Why have members joined your club? Why have members left your club? What are the demographics of your club’s membership –Age –Gender –Ethnicity –Interests –Time in Rotary 11

Club Mission Statement 12 We provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.

Bigger 13 Diversifying membership (age, gender, ethnicity, race) Improving recruitment Improving retention

Balancing the five Avenues of Service Promoting core values Planning longer-term Developing leaders Differentiating ourselves— unifying our image. Better 14

Flexible and innovative Action oriented Significant, sustainable projects Promote networking opportunities and signature activities Bolder 15

Make Recruitment = Retention Identify a Need Inform & Inspire Invite: Simply Ask Orient & Prepare Induct with Dignity Educate & Mentor Involve and Engage

Goals Focus Commitment Every Member Has A Role Keep Score Ignite is a Membership Program 18

Goals: Goal Setting Meaningful goals can only be set by your club membership –What are your members attitude toward membership? –Where do your members want to be at the end of the current Rotary Year? –What are they willing to do to get there? –How are you going to measure and report progress? 19

Not every member is going to invite a prospect but members can –Be hosts at the meeting –Be mentors to new members –Follow up with special guests/prospective members –Be a welcoming greeter –Keep records Make sure that each member knows their role and responsibilities Every Member Has a Role 20

Inform: Maintain Contact Develop and distribute a club profile Follow up with each visitor to the club – including speakers Establish a public relations plan Keep prospective members on your mailing list Don’t let a prospective member leave your meeting empty handed

Invite: Involvement Precedes Membership Educate club members regarding the procedures for extending an invitation to a prospective member. Build supportive membership teams Invite prospects to service projects and special events. Recognize members who invite & propose members Maintain statistics on membership efforts

Orient: Prepare Prospects for Rotary Establish a formal pre-induction process Ensure that prospective members understand your club’s expectations Listen -- Understand the prospective new member’s interests Enable new members to provide feedback

Induct: Make It Important and Memorable Establish an induction ceremony –Invite family members and colleagues –Recognition of the New Member’s Sponsor –Member obligations –Commitment by the new member to share their skills and resources –Assignment of the new members to a club committee Present a New Member Information Kit –RI Materials: Four Way Test Plaque/Badge/Literature/Member Access –Club Materials: Club Shirt/Mentor/Web Site Info –Certificate of Membership

25 Retention….. Most Members Leave Rotary…… “Because they don’t know what they don’t know about the organization they joined”

Every member needs a friend Every member needs a job Every member needs nourishment –Rotary information –Internal satisfaction and recognition Ignite: Retention 26

Educate: Learn About Rotary and the Club Utilize the Rotary Web Site Section for New Members Establish a formal orientation program Use a Rotary information plan with specific responsibilities and time lines Include continuing Rotary education as part of your weekly club agenda

Involve: Meet the Member’s Needs Get the new member active in the club: committees, fundraisers, board meetings, club social activities Ensure that time spent at meetings is productive and informative Understand the needs of your club members and meet them Tell people how you support your community

The Purpose: To ignite every ROTARIAN by involving them in one or more of the following activities to obtain points. Rationale: Everyone has something to contribute toward the success of their Club; therefore, every person has the power to make a difference. The Score: –Multiply the number of Club members by 10. –This is minimum number of points needed to become a Premier Club. Keeping Score: The Ignite Premier Clubs 29

Premier Club Worksheet 30

Value your member’s time, talent and treasure 31 The key to membership is an active club Interesting & Informative Meetings Rotary Minutes Great Programs Fellowship Participation in events

Avenues of Service & Membership Every Avenue of Service is a Membership Opportunity –Club Service –Community Service –International Service –New Generations –Vocational Service 32

New Members Need Special Attention Assign different members to “host” the new member at meetings and other club events Engage new members in developing service projects worthy of the name “Rotary” and that do substantial good. Help new members to attend the district functions by offsetting registrations fees and other costs. Have members who join in the same Rotary year work together on a project Reach out to the new member’s family members

And Veteran Members need attention, too! Make great Mentors for newer members. Deliver great Rotary moments of inspiration. Offer insights on what has and hasn’t worked. Offer insights on what has not been tried! Etc., etc., etc… 34

Summary: Retaining Members includes… Have interesting and relevant club programs. Find your new member’s passions and get them involved in those areas Understand what is going on in the life of your members and how it affects their Rotary life. Focus on participation – not attendance Hold regular meetings with new members to continue their Rotary education and answer their questions. Create opportunities for members to interact outside of club meetings –Hand on projects –Socials Encourage members to take advantage of events and training outside normal club meetings Use your financial resources to your members’ benefit Have a seamless succession plan 35

What You Should Do Now! Learn why your members are Rotarians –Has it changed –Are you meeting their needs Familiarize yourself with club’s approach to recruitment and retention Review your past membership history Understand your giving to the Rotary foundation Understand how your club interacts with the community Identify candidates for your membership team Retention Recruitment Outreach Think outside the box Watch for information for you on the District website – org –Select District then Rotary Year Information 36