Membership Corner - October 21

Posted by Thomas Sturiale 
 

You are Membership Chair!!

Membership - The President of your club has just asked you to chair the Membership Committee. 

After you accept the challenge, you think "Oh my!  What do I do? How do I do it? Where do I start?".

 
  Here is a suggestion for you to try:
 
1.  Set a Goal for your club.
  • We will double our membership from 40 to 80 in the next three years.
2.  Develop Objectives.
  • We will add 1 - 2 members per month during the next three years.
  • We will increase the diversity of our membership to reflect the local community.
  • We will increase the retention rate of new members from x to y.
  • We will streamline the approval and induction process for new members.
  • We will engage all new members in a committee activity immediately after induction.
3.  Develop a Strategy.
  • The Membership Committee will consist of 5 members and will meet once a month.
  • We will develop a Rotary Value statement describing Rotary and our club's goals and accomplishments.
  • We will develop a target list of prospective members reflecting the diversity of our community.
  • Two person teams will contact prospective members to review Rotary and their interests.
  • We will maintain a continuing record of all contacts, status and results.
4.  Develop an Tactical Action Plan.
  • The committee will gather all the tools, brochures, publications and associated background information required.
  • Each person (or two person team) on the committee will have a specific set of contacts to make and when they will do it.
  • The chair will report progress to the club once a month.
  • Each new member will be assigned to a senior member for mentoring.
Goals, Objectives, Strategy and Tasks (GOST) - This is a hierarchical process developed by Texas Instruments in the 1960's and is still used by corporations today.  It helps you think about what the overall goal is, specifically what you trying to achieve, how you are going to accomplish it and who is going to what by when.  It is a process that is much more effective than exhortations from the podium about every member bringing in a new member, etc, etc, etc.  It does take some upfront work but after going through the thinking process, members are committed to making it happen. 
 
Membership Chairs - gather your teams, start meeting, develop your own "GOST" and take action.  There is a big job to do.  Get started!
 
 Tom Sturiale - Membership Chair District 7910