Dear fellow Rotarians,

I embarked on my road to Rotary thanks to George Campbell, a dear friend and mentor who taught me the importance of civic responsibility. My former boss saw a potential leader in me and I thank him for his guidance. After starting down that road, I met many other Rotarians walking the same path. They offered me their help, shared advice, and made sure I kept moving in the right direction.

I am the person I am today because of Rotary. To be a member of the Rotary family is to be a part of something much bigger than yourself. It means that you are a member of a diverse, worldwide team whose members together have provided extraordinary service to humanity.

As we celebrate Membership Month this August, I hope you reflect not only on your road to Rotary, but also how to help set others down that road. As club and district leaders, you set the example for your fellow Rotarians as active, engaged members of our organization. You not only play an important role in inspiring current members, but also in attracting new ones. There is a potential Rotarian in anyone who cares about their community and strives to make the world a better place. Finding a new member can be as simple as inviting someone you know to your next meeting or engaging Rotaractors and alumni.

 

Providing you with the materials to help cultivate and maintain membership is something Rotary is striving to do, now more than ever. Clubs can use our new Rotary Club Health Check and Membership Assessment Tools to identify their problem areas and develop strategies to address them. Also available is Impact Begins with You, a regionalized brochure for prospective members available on shop.rotary.org. As part of our Membership Month celebrations, Rotary is offering a 20% discount on orders of this prospective member brochure (up to 20 packs of 5) through August 31.

The membership flexibility legislation approved during the 2016 Council on Legislation provides clubs with the freedom to determine how meetings are held, who is invited to join, and what defines engagement, which can help them grow into vibrant, successful clubs. You can read more about what some Rotary clubs are doing here. There are also new videos on membership flexibility that help better define and explain what clubs can now do, which are available here.  

I hope that on 11 August, at 10 a.m. Chicago time, you and your fellow Rotarians will be able to join me and Rotary Vice-President Jennifer Jones for a Facebook Live video chat. We’ll be talking about the importance of membership and taking questions. More information is available on my Facebook page.

This Membership Month, I want you all to remember that you are helping build a team that can and will strengthen your local community and make the world a better place for all who live in it, because Together Everyone Achieves More.

Thank you again for all that you do for your clubs and districts, and that you will continue to do all you can to be part of Rotary Serving Humanity.

Sincerely,
John F. Germ
Rotary International President, 2016-17

 
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