As we all work to identify ways to meet Rotary’s number 1 priority – GROW ROTARY – it’s always helpful to look for ideas from districts across our zones and consider “copying” and “adapting” great ideas that have been tried and work! There are no plagiarism police in Rotary and in fact, Rotary offers a safe zone for “borrowing” and “adapting” to meet a specific club or district’s need. We’re all members of the global “membership committee” and growing rotary is a team sport.
Today’s example of a membership campaign that has been tried and shown to succeed is from D 7930 (Northeaster MA and Salem, NH) and it’s got a catchy title known as Gain and Maintain! The author of Gain and Maintain is DMC Peter Majane – feel free to reach out to Peter for follow up discussion and additional materials. Peter and the D7930 membership team rolled out this program to their 45 clubs in 2021 and are still going strong with it today, tweaking as needed along the way.
The first component of Gain and Maintain is educating all the clubs about alternate forms of membership including these membership types offered in D 7930: the Service Membership, Corporate, Senior active, Family, Spousal, Young Rotary Leader, Introductory, Trial/Associate and Honorary. A new Rotary member can join clubs using any of these membership types and can join as a “Virtual Member” – meaning they don’t necessarily need to be in the same location as the club they join. Talk about flexibility and OPTIONS!! The clubs were then encouraged to reach out to former members and invite them to join in a meeting via Zoom with the idea being to see if they can be “re-engaged” to join as a virtual member using one of the flexible membership types.
The next feature of the Gain and Maintain campaign is encouraging clubs to consider and develop ways to make their club’s culture a more diverse and inclusive model. There is a disconnect between how Rotary clubs see themselves and how they are seen by others. Shifting that perception will allow clubs to attract younger professionals: for example, can clubs make their dues more affordable (maybe exclude meals); should clubs consider replacing isolating traditions (praying, singing, fines) with more inclusive ones; should the meeting time be reconsidered to allow for members who are working full-time; do the speakers reflect the club’s community? Are there robust opportunities for leadership training and development and for mentoring? Clubs are encouraged to consider action items to help promote evolution into the future while still embracing the aspects of what each club is doing well.
The next topic of the Gain and Maintain is looking for ways to create new clubs! Create a plan: determine geographical areas for new clubs; develop a strategy to identify target member groups; create a marketing plan; hold informational meetings. Once a new club has organized, continue mentoring and supporting the new club. One example of new clubs D 7930 is actively working to create is a club for alumni of RYLA, Interact, and Rotary Youth Exchange.
The last two features of Gain and Maintain -- actively following up on membership leads that come in through both RI and the district’s website and capitalizing on Rotary’s partnership with local Toastmaster Clubs.
One example of a club in D 7930 that has thrived during the Gain and Maintain campaign is the Rotary Club of Lynn, MA. Because of its efforts with Gain and Maintain, the club has shown 31% growth in this Rotary year. How did they do it? First, they started a satellite club that meets in the morning before work and attracts many members that cannot attend the traditional lunch meeting. They were also able to reduce the amount charged for dues for this club. They also replaced the frequency of the traditional meetings in favor of more service projects. Members are reporting that they love the flexibility and the structured volunteer opportunities. There has also been a focus on corporate memberships, including the Police Department, the Fire Department, and the Lynn Public Schools. “The Chief of Police is not just an active and engaged Rotarian himself, he is engaging his officers in community service using Rotary as the structure and guide to meaningful community engagement.” (Lynn Rotary Club President Ray Bastarache)