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That is the number 1 tip from Mike McGovern, 2009-10 Chair of the RI
Membership Development and Retention Committee and past RI vice
president, on how to expand membership. McGovern says many members
leave their Rotary clubs because they don't see how they are
contributing, or they feel disconnected from other members.
"We need to connect with members of our club within our meetings and
at our projects, but also outside of Rotary," he says. "This
involves having other members and their families over for dinner or
going together to be a spectator at an event."
McGovern postulates that if more clubs used the assessment
tools (available as an online PDF file by following the link at the
end of this article), they could prevent more than half the
resignations that occur within the first five years of membership,
effectively doubling their size and ability to serve over time.
McGovern and other members of the committee also offered these ideas
on promoting membership.
McGovern suggests de-emphasizing attendance. "Constantly emphasizing
attendance is a turnoff to many younger members and to those with
family and business obligations. Rotarians should attend meetings
because they are a good use of time, not because they would feel
guilty not attending."
Rotary clubs should list their accomplishments on their website,
McGovern says. "A Rotarian recently told me that her favorite
meeting was the year-end meeting at which the club president
reviewed all the club had accomplished during the prior year. She
felt good about being a Rotarian."
McGovern believes that most communities need to have more than one
Rotary club and that larger communities need many clubs. "We need to
be in neighborhoods, and our members need to be from those
neighborhoods."
Committee member Rupak Jain suggests clubs place a placard at the
head table announcing the classification the club wishes to fill.
The emphasis for the next week or two would be to look for a
suitable member from that classification. He also feels it is
imperative for new members to be linked up with a mentor.
Past RI Director Ken Collins, vice chair of the committee, suggests
that clubs focus on finding worthwhile, hands-on projects that
benefit individuals in their community, which will help produce a
pool of "satisfied customers" who will publicize Rotary to friends,
neighbors, and relatives. "In Rotary, we underestimate the value and
power of word-of-mouth advertising. It costs nothing and is repeated
over and over again, over a wide area."
Here is the link to the assessment tools:
http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/club_assessment_tools_en.pdf |
Rotarians, like most people, need to feel like they
belong.