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‘MAGIC POTION FOR MEMBERSHIP GROWTH?’

By Nancy Leonhardt, 2018-19 membership chair for District 6150, Arkansas, USA
From Rotary Voices, September 12, 2019

When it comes to membership growth, there are no magic potions. Our district was blessed to add
more than 65 new members last year, one of only four districts in our zone to have any increase. But
I can’t point to just one thing we did that achieved those results. Instead, planning, goal-setting,
follow-thru, and hard work on the part of many committed individuals were instrumental in the success we achieved.
My committee and I emphasized the importance of membership growth and engagement at every district event last
year. In addition, our membership committee undertook the following efforts:
§ Chartering a new club for the first time in the last 10 years. The Rotary Club of Little Rock Afterhours meets
at 5:30 p.m. on the first Mondays of each month, allowing members to attend meeting on their way home
from work. Additionally, members meet a second time during the month for a social, service project, or
committee meeting. Of the charter members, 31 are new Rotarians and 10 are former Rotarians, 55 percent
are female, and 53 percent are under 40.
§ Quickly and consistently acting on new Membership Leads. I reached out to each lead within hours of receipt.
I followed up with clubs to check the status of the leads that were forwarded to them to keep that dialogue
always going.
§ Encouraging clubs to set membership goals in Rotary Club Central and regularly reminding members of the
goal.
Six of our clubs worked particularly hard to increase their membership: Helena, Jacksonville, Jonesboro, Searcy,
Sherwood, and Stuttgart. Jonesboro’s membership chair, Brian Rega, is the club president this year. He had a club
competition (a horse race) to encourage growth.
Stuttgart’s membership chair, David Leech, an assistant governor, set a goal of 100 members by the end of the year
and constantly reminded the club of that goal. Both Brian and David where members of my team. The other four
clubs had presidents who “got” the membership message and encouraged the club on a regular basis.
So, in conclusion, the simplest message to clubs is this: Set a goal, share the goal, keep the club updated,
offer encouragement along the way, and celebrate at the end.

‘WHAT'S MORE VALUABLE TO YOUR CLUB'S EXISTENCE
MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT OR RETENTION?’
Adapted by: ArticleBase.com, Clubrunner Newsletter
Recruitment is the most important activity for club membership development and to secure its existence, right? Not
necessarily.
Member recruitment is definitely a key factor, but if you want your club to thrive, membership retention is the most
important piece of the puzzle.
Although many club officers may think that if new members are not joining, the livelihood of the
club will not survive. However, in order for new members to join, it’s necessary to have a solid
foundation of members which will always stimulate membership growth. Here are three reasons
why retention is more important than recruitment:
1. Get retention right and you will have built the basis for recruitment. High retention rates
are the signal that you have happy, satisfied members. These members tend to share the
club success stories with others, automatically creating a grassroots recruitment campaign.
The point: start with retention, and follow with recruitment.
2. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" is certainly true for service clubs. It's true not
only because it takes less effort to keep a member than find a new member, but also it is less
expensive to retain a member than recruit a new one.
The point: recruitment often gets the attention, but retention will make your treasurer much happier; ultimately,
the membership numbers will make your club executives happier, too.

3. A low retention rate is a signal that you have serious underlying problems in your club. Recruiting members
is primarily a function of great marketing, but member retention is a function of both marketing, and more
importantly, a great membership experience. If you can't keep your members, then you are wasting money
recruiting them until you fix the problem that is causing members to leave.
The point: if you can't retain, recruitment will burn through prospects because they won't remain.
The bottom line is that recruitment is important for your club, but retention must be your first priority. If you master
the art of member retention, then recruitment will be fun and easy, leading to success for your club.

Rotary on the Move November 2019 Page 4