I think one of the reasons motivating people to join Rotary is to give something back to the community by making the community a better place to live. Or in simpler terms “giving something back”. This is one of several motivators for joining in addition to networking, building leadership skills and social interaction.
The key behind accomplishing what a Rotary Club does is membership. Without motivated membership a club will not have successful leadership, fundraising or service projects. This is one of the reasons clubs globally have a Membership Chair.
Over the years/decades the membership of Rotary International has seemed to be stagnant at about 1,220,000 people. With approximately 120,000 people joining Rotary every year and approximately 120,000 people leaving Rotary every year. The Rotary geographic population center has been moving from North America and Europe to Africa and Asia.
If you look theoretically at what would happen to Rotary globally if no new members joined, the organization would reach zero members in ten years. (1,220,000/120,000 = 10)
If you look at CMIRC through the same lens, the club has approximately 20 members with a hopeful gain of 10 members per year to replace the approximately10 members we lose every year. The same calculation (20/10 =2) would indicate approximately 2 years until membership equaled zero.
So why do so many people leave? It would appear not to be a case of the club not meeting member expectations but primarily one of having a highly transient English-speaking population in Chiang Mai. People leave due to changing personal situations.
But where does the primary responsibility lie within a club regarding membership? I would suggest it is NOT the Membership Chair. It is NOT the Membership Committee. It is NOT the Club President. The ultimate responsibility lies with each and every individual member of a club.
In our club some members have been in Chiang Mai for many years and many for many months. The longer termers may have seen their circle of friends shrink over the years. This has been my personal experience based on aging and a transient population. The newer termers are freshly arrived and in the process of exploring their new community and forming new acquaintances and friendships. They are probably engaging with people who are like them and their circle of friends is growing.
Consider our Payup University Rotaractors: They used the April 30th CMIRC Social Night as a recruiting tool and also a chance for fellowship and to enjoy free pizza just ahead of studying for their exams. Several prospective Rotaract members attended and had a good time. Maybe they helped CMIRC to look a little younger and hip, also! Perhaps we should invite them to more CMIRC functions.For all of us, I would suggest that when we meet someone resident in the Chiang Mai area or moving to the Chiang Mai area, we engage them with a short two-minute sales pitch on Rotary and what CMIRC does in our community. Invite them to attend a meeting. If there first answer is “no can not attend” make the offer to invite them whenever there is a meeting they might find of interest.