In the “Opinion” of a Past District Governor, Rotary shall live or die with “Membership”!

Each year, Rotary International declares the month of August as “Membership and Extension Month”; 30 days when Rotarians are encouraged to pay additional attention to the subject of membership. Many documents on the subject will be newly prepared or resurrected for us to view and hopefully become inspired to rush out and find folks waiting in our path to be invited to join us in Rotary. This phenomenon has yet to be experienced by me in any case!

Rotary’s membership statistics are a bit alarming. Internationally, we sit at 1,227,563 Rotarians in 34,103 Rotary clubs with 196,000 being women. These numbers have not significantly changed over the past 10 years.

So .... what do we do? Whose responsibility is it to attract and invite folks to join Rotary?

This is my “Opinion” and “to do” list that may make a positive difference in membership:

• Is the culture of my club friendly & welcoming to each other every week, particularly to strangers and will I be proud to introduce it to a guest? If not, speak to members about your concerns and solicit their help. Every guest, speaker and non-Rotarian entering our club’s door is a potential new member!
• What is my club involved with that will be of interest to my invited guest?
• Does my club have an “active” Membership Committee of more than one Rotarian, meeting monthly who keeps membership matters top-of-mind among members monthly? RI’s Membership & Extension month of August is good however, if we are serious about increasing membership, our focus needs to be every month of the year.
• Membership retention and growth requires the attention of the club leadership, however it is also the responsibility of each Rotarian.
• It is simply a matter of “ask, ask, ask”.  As in any sales process be mindful that people will, by nature, lean toward automatically responding with a “no” answer. They can hardly wait for us to stop speaking so they can do that. So….. we must phase our question so that we get a “no” answer.  “Would you have any objection to accompanying me to my Rotary meeting? “No!” “Great we meet on Monday noon; I’ll pick you up at 11:30.”

Well, these are my ramblings and my “Opinion” about membership. In conclusion, success in growing our organization is the responsibility of each one of us; “If it is to be, it is up to me!”

   This year the Rotary Foundation is celebrating its centennial anniversary. “The Foundation” as it is commonly referred to, has grown from humble beginnings to one of the world’s most successful and respected charities.At the 1917 convention, outgoing Rotary President Arch Klumph proposed to set up an endowment “for the purpose of doing good in the world.”

   The Rotary Club of Kansas City made the first donation - $ 26.50. In 1928, it was renamed The Rotary Foundation, and it became a distinct entity within Rotary International. In 1929, the Foundation made its first gift of $500 to the International Society for Crippled Children.

   Today, the Foundation has assets of over $950 million. Charity Navigator has given the Foundation a four star rating with a score of 97.17, one of the highest rated charities. The Foundation has funded many successful programs globally with the battle to eradicate polio perhaps being the most significant and the one for which it is best known.

   This year, RI President John Germ is challenging every Rotarian to donate to the Foundation and is recommending a minimum donation of US$26.50. Many of you already donate to the Foundation either through Rotary Direct or when you pay your annual dues. I would like to invite those of you who have not yet donated this Rotary year to consider making a donation – Treasurer Uli will gladly accept your donation and make the contribution to the Foundation on your behalf.

   For more information visit the RI website or speak to PP Hendrik or IPP Christine your foundation point people within the Club.