2017-02-01 Should you be in Rotary?
Should you be in Rotary?By Jay McCall - RC of Presidio, District 5500 Growth & Membership
Rotary depends upon three elements: leadership, membership and stewardship,
Each embraces the other. They are intertwined for the success of Rotary.
When we have strong leadership we have strong membership. Leadership realizes that membership is the first priority. The more hands, the more community impact.
When we have strong membership we have strong leadership. The pool of potential leaders is ample for the best to be chosen to lead. Better choices for success.
When we have strong membership we have strong stewardship. More sources are available for donations and fund raising. Projects and programs are better funded.
Eleven years ago I presented the ten benefits of membership at a program for potential members at the Marana Rotary Club. A couple was present who were winter visitors and residents of Dove Mountain. They asked me to consider chartering a club in their area as the gated community was almost built out.
I hesitated, as I remembered the bank president in my hometown, who participated in our Savanna, Illinois Rotary Club, but when he retired, he immediately quit, but still lived in town. I remembered also a doctor when I was a member of the Casas Adobes Club, who when he closed his practice, immediately resigned, but still lived in town. Both were members but never Rotarians.
Also I felt the residents of Dove Mountain had good incomes, could sit back, play tennis, golf, travel or pursue an avocation in which they always had an interest.
I went ahead anyway. My original trepidation was wrong. The Dove Mountain club quickly assembled with the help of a prior Rotarian and a potential member. It chartered with 22 members, 19 had been prior Rotarians. Two had not been able to belong because of career time commitments during working years. The third was a financial planner.
It was an “ah,ha” moment. The Spirit of Rotary, the spirit of serving humanity was embedded in their lives. It inspired me to go on to charter the Foothills and Presidio clubs. This volunteer spirit and commitment of service needed to be developed in younger men and women.
The Foothills club grew quickly as members brought in new members to reach the 20 members needed to charter. Of the 23 members chartering, 3 had been prior Rotary members of which 2 were reactivated.
Another “ah ha” moment, the 20 members had never been asked. Men and women in the prime potential membership range of 30 to 45 years of age. Successful in business and career, but had never been asked to look at Rotary benefits.
Dove Mountain had chartered quickly, and Foothills chartered quickly, I was ready for the third as I saw the need for a club back downtown in Tucson.
I struggled as those I knew had moved or retired. Luckily I ran into a Rotarian and friend of University of Arizona days and Casas Adobes membership. He asked me how it was going. After relaying the struggle of not creating the synergy of the Foothills club he gave me some names to contact.
The first name contacted was a major mover, who saw the advantage of having a Rotary Club downtown in his efforts to revitalize the area. He offered his boardroom and assigned a key staff member who knew potential members to assist in formation.
From that point the Presidio club quickly chartered with 32 members. Here again successful business owners and professionals in their 30’s and 40’s who chartered, 30 had never been asked to visit a Rotary club.
My wife Cathy was a keynote speaker at the District 5550 Sascatchewan Rotary Conference recently. At one of the banquets, I sat next to a young woman from Tompson, Manitoba, a town of 5000. She and a friend had joined a club a year before of 13“old white guys” of which 6 or 7 came to a meeting.
She saw the many facets of Rotary, she and a friend caught the “Spirit of Rotary.” They and a couple of members listed the potential members they wanted as members and who should be in the Tompson Rotary Club.
As she sat there, she was the incoming president of a 32 member club. What an inspiration, what a “novel” idea to identify who should be members and invite them to be members. Just asking seems to work.
Four elements have come together that make it never before so easy to recruit for Rotary.
(1) The new flexibility available for club meetings and a focus on local projects.
(2) The creation of materials and attitude to attract young men and women professionals with an emphasis on leadership development.
(3) The growing realization that boomers are retiring and looking for meaningful engagements in a new phase of their life.
(4) Social media such as Facebook, Linkedin,Twitter and other media groups where you can look at profiles of individuals for their potential interest in volunteer service.
We are all to be applauded for the time, talent and treasure we expend at the many levels of Rotary participation and the support we provide for local and worldwide projects and programs. Yet there are basic questions we need to ask ourselves regarding our Rotary endeavors.
Are we sharing the “Spirit of Rotary” with others? We must be enjoying our Rotary activities or we would not be spending our time, talent and treasure.
With the many facets of Rotary and opportunities to participate in community projects and programs, potential members can find an area of rewarding participation.
Ask yourself, if you are not sharing, why are you in Rotary?
This begs the next question: Should you be in Rotary?
Basically, look at the word “membership.” The first two letters are “me.” Reminds of a familiar motivational refrain: “if it is to be, it is up to me.”
Rotary needs membership, Rotary needs leadership, Rotary needs stewardship. Membership is the key to provide leadership and stewardship. Full personal participation as a member is bringing others to the table to share the “Spirit of Rotary.”
There are hundreds, thousands, millions who need to be asked. They have never been asked to visit a Rotary club, to look at the personal, career and humanitarian values of being a member of the most prestigious volunteer service organization in the world.
Just Ask!
Jay McCall is a member of the Presidio club, a Rotary member of over 50 yeas and currently serves as membership faculty of the Arizona Tri-District Leadership Academy that expands the Rotary knowledge of those considering district leadership roles.
Jay has a meeting presentation titled “Should You Be In Rotary?” He can be contacted at 520-909-9375 or jmccall415@msn.com to schedule.