My favorite part of each day is enjoying my cup of coffee and, today, it was made better with the August issue of the Rotarian. I loved reading the article by Geoffrey Johnson about membership! Geoffrey shares some fantastic strategies from the Rotary Club of Edina/Morningside where Tom Gump put together 10 tips for increasing membership. It’s a great article and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
As we start into our new Rotary year, I thought I would highlight the benefits of kicking the year off right with a strong membership plan. If growing membership is a focus for your club, you should ensure that everyone is involved and engaged in a clear plan for your club. There are resources available to you on Rotary International and a great start is the Rotary Club Health Check. Assess your club’s strengths, put an action plan in place, and think small! Don’t worry, you read that right. Think small! Small changes make BIG impacts when it comes to putting in a strong strategy for identifying prospective members, making it a warm and interactive experience, and bringing in new members.
Where to start? Find a time where your club can meet and focus solely on creating a membership plan. Send the goals in advance so everyone can be prepared to share ideas and thoughts. Involve everyone. Your membership plan should be something that your whole club is involved in creating. Appoint your membership chair or committee member to follow up on goals and update everyone. Is everyone supposed to bring a guest each month? Follow up on goals and find ways to recognize members that achieve their goals each month. Most importantly, have fun! Your enthusiasm will speak volumes.
Inspired by Tom Gump’s tips, I wanted to invite everyone to coordinate a membership planning session for their club and have fun doing it! Introducing ….
Coordinate a membership planning meeting with your club, take a photo, and be entered into a drawing!
To be entered:
- Your photo should have at least 60 percent club involvement and display that with the number of members in your photo
- Your photo should have your membership planning notes. This can be on a board, poster paper, or even individual paper notes
- Photos should be emailed to alimrodriguez15@gmail.com no later than Sunday, September 16
One winner will be drawn on September 20 and the winning club receives:
- Points to award a Paul Harris Fellow to someone in their club for leading in membership efforts!
- Their club highlighted in the October District Newsletter
- Muffins delivered to their club meeting to celebrate!!
Lastly, mark your calendars for membership webinars:
Generations of Rotary – Creating a Membership Plan That Speaks to All Ages
Date: September 20, 2018 at 6pm MST
Club Engagement – Best Strategies That Are Happening Now
Date: January 29, 2019 at 6pm MST