Membership Corner - March 28, 2016
Membership Corner: A review of membership issues
By Tom Sturiale
The Membership Corner notes have been issued weekly for the past eight months for your review. Hopefully, we have covered most of the aspects of membership as a key part of every club’s strategy. It may be useful to pause for a few moments to review the notes and to elicit your response.
Have the membership tips been relevant, useful and effective? Have you been able to implement effectively the membership strategies in your club? What other membership information would be helpful as you pursue membership objectives in your club?
The most important point made in these notes is the criticality of membership as the key objective of Rotary. Clubs need to focus on the development of strategies that are consistent, continual and aimed at maintaining and increasing their membership levels. Other points have focused on quality and diversity being more important than numbers. Potential sources of new Rotarians and possibilities of contacting those folks were reviewed. The development of a club vision, a club story and a value proposition as key elements in attracting prospective Rotarians were presented. The retention of members has also been discussed. Here, the development of exciting club agendas, venues, cost structures, speaker schedules are all important.
The four Objects of Rotary and their relevance to the membership issues of Rotary were reviewed. The first goal of Rotary related to “acquaintance” and its impact on fellowship, friendship, trust and commitment was discussed. Advice for membership chairs and club presidents on goals, objectives and strategies for pursuing membership was presented. The importance of developing consensus and help from members about membership objectives, timing and target list of prospective members was reviewed.
Many of these points will be reviewed and reemphasized in future Membership Corner notes. All the past notes are archived on the District 7910 website, within each weekly newsletter, and can be retrieved for further review. In the meantime, there should be no lack of necessary and sufficient information for any club to engage in a successful effort to improve their membership.
The only other ingredients are: “The Will to Do It!” and the “Urgency to Do It Now!”
Closing thoughts
We need to keep experimenting with our meeting agendas to maintain members’ interests and to encourage attendance. Meetings need to be fresh, exciting and interesting. This will also assist your club’s Membership Committee chair and members in attracting new members to the team. Please let me know of your ideas, comments and stories about Membership you would like to share. E-mail me at tsturiale36@gmail.com.
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