Page 6 - 2021-06-Rotary-on-the-Move-Newsletter-Zone-8

‘IF YOU WANT TO GO FAR, GO TOGETHER’

Article by ARC PDG Brian Cof fey
You would have to be hiding under a rock if the global pandemic has not changed the way your Rotary
club operates. Some clubs have sought to pivot, others have opted to wait it out and simply switched
to survival mode, (hoping they will survive), while others are looking for the benefits.

Those benefits will likely play out over an extended period, supported by the shifts in values and culture that COVID-
19 has brought about. Some clubs are benefiting from change, others have been caught in history and tradition and
have, or are, fading out – sadly not even realising it is happening.
Although Zone 8 Rotary membership is plateauing, I see promise in the growth of members under the age of 40
since 2017 (up 75%), but only 5 Districts boast over 5% this demographic! Our female membership attraction is
good, but stable – again only 3 districts in Zone 8, have over 33% of their members of the female gender.

It is our responsibility to share the value of Rotary membership. What have you, your club or your District done to
save clubs and /or attract young people and females to the organisation?
Membership should be your priority – to thrive it needs friendship, service, marketing and flexibility to meet the
needs of members – NOT, the needs of your club. When I analyse membership traits of Districts, I can forecast
losses and club closures, with so many weaknesses exposed that clubs and Districts continually fail to address.

If we want to make Rotary a community force, resilient and able to scale-up and take on any challenges there are
three simple steps to get the ball rolling.

1. start with a stock take – enter demographics on ‘My Rotary’ to show us what assets we actually have – yes,
the members are our assets.
2. set some goals based on what we have, what we need to do, or can do with those assets.
3. Follow up My Rotary leads – people knocking on our door wanting an invite – some have been waiting for
years, and for some reason are still receptive to contact!

A strategy should include using the network of support – your Assistant Rotary Coordinators, membership, social
media and training chairs along with the support of Trudy and Barbara at RI. Local and international projects have
access to RAWCS (Rotary Australia World Community Service) and the Rotary Foundation, to pool resources
effectively – not just during a crisis!

Strategies can be an exciting gateway to realise new opportunities for your club and members. Rotary has the
network, we are people of action, people making a difference, people with a gift to the word, people of
inspiration, people opening opportunities, people connecting the world, and people serving to change
lives, people serving humanity. All these traits come from our obligation to ‘Service above Self’.

Rotary is blessed with many valuable resources and culture of dedicated people with passion and knowledge to
change the world; despite this, we need to continue to encourage membership growth, and foster agility and
flexibility in our clubs and Districts to adopt a pro-active approach, to attract like-minded members, through
personal contact and marketing.

‘LET’S MAKE ROTARY AN ORGANISATION OF CHOICE’

Excerpts from an article by Rasheeda Bhagat from Rotary News
On the priorities during his year as director, the incoming RI Director A S Venkatesh says, “We have to ensure that
Rotary becomes an organisation of choice for people to join. Right now, we are marketing it. We should reach a stage
where people choose Rotary and aspire to join it. We should be able to pull them into Rotary rather than push Rotary
into the community.”…
… But we still need to do a lot of work on sustainable membership growth. Growth we have, but
we need to make it sustainable. His analysis shows that in a 7–8-year period we lose as many
members as we add. Had we not lost anybody we would have doubled in eight years.
… “When I was a Rotary Coordinator for a three-year term 2010-13, my analysis showed the
interesting fact that about 80-85% of people who left Rotary had not even contributed a single

dollar to TRF. “If one contributes even $100, he has a sense of ownership and will bother to find
RIE Director out what has happened to his money, how it is being spent. He becomes a stakeholder. So, I tell
A S Venkatesh club presidents, make everybody contribute at least $100, and your membership will sustain.” …

Rotary on the Move June 2021 Page 6