Membership growth starts with an invitation.
That invitation could be to a prospective Rotarian
to join in on a Rotary Zoom meeting.
Some clubs may remember the "membership drives the bus" mantra. Without a doubt membership recruitment and retention is still the primary focus of Rotary leadership everywhere. Please know that as this years District 5790 Membership Chair, committee members are available to speak at your Rotary meetings. Contact us at lpetrash5790@gmail.com to arrange a membership committee speaker. In the meantime, please share the following with your members. Congratulations to the 5 clubs mentioned in this story.
Membership: It all starts by ASKING!
PDG Larry Petrash, District Membership Chair
Remember!! Members who are welcomed, engaged/involved, informed, and recognized, who perceive the organization is benefiting them, will not only continue as members, but will want to share the experience with friends and business acquaintances.
The Good News: Our district is now, and has been for many years, a standout district in our Zone. This is as compared to 22 or 24 districts in the zone. That’s great. BUT—we must grow! I joined Rotary in 1978. As long as I can remember our world membership has been 1.2 million members.
The Not So Good News: Through March 16, 2020, only about 29% of our clubs are in growth mode. 71% of our clubs are staying about even in membership or declining in membership. This has been persistent for too long. We can, and, we must, turn this around. It will take all of us working toward this goal. Nothing is more important to Rotary and to your clubs.
Membership is a process, not an event! What we’ve been doing is not working, i.e., we’re not growing! To continue doing it is insanity. We ALL agree on that point! We must do something different. That difference is Marketing. There are four P’s in marketing: Have a great product; sell at a good/reasonable price; have a presentable store front or place; and promote, promote, promote. Promotion is our “weakest link”! That is what we need to do that’s different.
Marketing is the activity and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large (our prospects). What’s valuable is what we Rotarians do every day in our communities, and, in the world.
Retention is the most important part of the membership process, if you want to grow. If you lose 1 member, to grow, you must recruit 2 members. So we really need to understand why people, who once said “yes” to membership, get to the point of saying “no” to membership in Rotary. What you allow is what will continue! The solution rests with YOU, the Club Presidents, Club Membership Chairs, Club Foundation Chairs and Club Public Image Chairs. Their committees, must be actively learning why Rotarians leave their clubs; they must be actively recruiting (continuously ASKING non-Rotarian peers to join), creating and working projects (District & Global Grants), informing the community of the “good works” of local Rotarians, thus creating a positive public image, which encourages new members to join to be a part of something bigger than themselves and facilitates “giving back” to the community. You see, we already have motivated buyers (Rotary prospects); we just need to find them by asking qualified prospects to join in the FUN of Rotary!
We can’t say this too often:
Remember!! Members who are welcomed, engaged/involved, informed, and recognized, who perceive the organization is benefiting them, will not only continue as members, but will want to share the experience with friends and business acquaintances. It all starts by ASKING!
Kudos to the following clubs, who have more members as of March 16, than they started with on July 1, 2019:
E-Club District 5790 International with 31 New Members
Trophy Club with 11 New Members
Mineral Wells with 10 new members
Honorable Mention:
Kennedale with 5 New Members
Wichita Falls S/W with 4 New Members