Membership Corner - September 14, 2015

Membership Corner - September 14, 2015

 
 
 
 
 
How Do We Attract Younger Folks To Rotary?
 
By Tom Sturiale
 
This is a question with which many clubs struggle. We all stand up and salute when the call goes out to attract young people. But then what do we do? Are we active in our efforts to attract young folks? This subject will be a clarion call of the District Membership Forum on October 14.  
 
Is this one of your club’s focus efforts?  Does your club really want to have an influx of “young” members?  Will they upset the comfort level of the senior members?  Would the tenor or personality of your club change with a higher percentage of “young” members?  What do we even mean by “younger” members?  Indeed, why should we even concentrate on “younger” members?
 
Who are these so-called young members? We have heard the terms Gen-X (born between 1966 and 1976), Gen-Y ('77-'94) and Gen-Z, ('95-'12) more popularly known as the Millenials. They were born during the Vietnam era, the Reagan revolution and the post-Soviet breakup and war on terror.  These are the new generations. They were born in different time periods than most current Rotarians. They have different habits, interests, time frames, social orientations and work ethics than we do – that is, not worse, just different. It will require some understanding of their wants, needs and desires to attract them to Rotary.
 
The Gen-Xers are now engaged in established careers. Their children are grown and out of high school or finishing their college studies. They may be beginning to have some extra cash and a little more time. The Gen-Yers are just starting out and short on time and money. The Millenials are just beginning or ending their primary education and have neither the cash, time nor interest.  But they all have a highly tuned sense of social justice and want to help their fellow citizens and the needy of the world. They are very energetic, keen on computer technology and proficient in social media. 
 
Rotary must grow to return to the membership levels of just a few years ago.  In the U.S., we have declined from a level of 445,000 members to 360,000 since 1996. Rotary clubs have gone through a significant and positive change since 1987, when women were allowed as members. Women are 53 percent (190,000) of the total U.S. Rotary membership. We have already transitioned from an “Old, White Men’s Club.” If we begin transitioning to a more diverse, younger organization, we would have to be cognizant of the needs and desires of new members. They may not be able to deal with the financial requirements of dues and meals or the time requirements of noon lunch meetings. They may not be able to afford the time for long meetings. They may be more interested in shorter, more productive, action-oriented meetings.  They may be less interested in the “old boy” traditions of pledge, anthem and invocation, and more interested in direct, action-oriented programs of social welfare. 
 
There are several iterations of all of the above, and it would be up to clubs to sort them out if we are to be successful in our efforts to bring in members from the “new” generations. There are many opportunities for us to contact young folks such as, our exchange-student alumni, past RYLAns, scholarship recipients, Interact and Rotaract students and descendants of Rotarians. We have to figure out how to maintain contact information and how to attract these young folks to Rotary. In our district alone, there are hundreds of these alumni. Let’s get busy and start calling on them to invite them back to Rotary.
 
Please let me know any ideas, comments or stories about Membership you would like to share. E-mail me at tsturiale36@gmail.com.