Improving Club Meetings

Burnsville

We reinstated Icebreakers at weekly meetings.  One Rotarian has five minutes to share a little about himself or herself--where you went to school, when you got married, what you've done in your career, why you became a Rotarian, etc.  In this manner, new members gradually become familiar with veteran members, even if they don’t sit at the same table or attend the same Rotary functions.

Rogers

All visitors are greeted with a handshake or a hug. Each week, Rotarians sing familiar tunes a cappella (albeit off-key) and try to make visitors feel welcome by making fun of themselves.

Our Fine Master asks Rotarians for happy news, and whoever gets up to share has to put money in the "kitty." To garner more fines, sometimes general themes are announced, such as: “Whomever isn't wearing a Rotary pin, pay $1."

We have an excellent speaker recruiter who publicizes speakers 2-3 months in advance, so members can play their schedules accordingly.

City of Lakes

People will join Rotary for service and all of the right reasons,  but they won't stick around if they don't have fun in the process. Our best practice is to have every week's meeting be a little bit different than the previous and offer something of value and fun to each person in the room.

Each meeting has to have a great speaker or program that is well promoted. Your club website is the nerve center of your club communications; it needs to be current to keep club members and guests aligned to what is coming up. However, don't neglect face-to-face communication: word-of-mouth and personal invitations will get visitors to your club. Each member has to feel that club growth is their responsibility, not "someone else's job."

Eagan

The Fine Master is a key part of the fun of our club. It tends to be high energy and lots of good-natured fun.

We review attendance records to identify any members that may have attendance issues.  We try to incorporate everyone in at least one activity.  Each member should make a personal commitment to help grow membership.  Everyone joins for different reasons and we are all busy, but if you believe in Rotary, it is easy  to invite friends  to consider joining.  

Shakopee

We have a Song Master, a Fine Master and our club president typically tells a funny story--we want meetings to be fun, relevant and have great programs so members feel the time is worthwhile. The club president makes sure we start and end on time.  We assign program resposibility to each club member, which generates some excellent programs and keeps members engaged. We include a quote of the day often tying into the program, time of year or upcoming Holiday.

Redwood Falls

We've been told by members who have transferred in from other clubs that we are very welcoming to newcomers.  As an example,  when we had a Rotarian deployed to Iraq, we tried to stay connected to his family and to him, and rejoiced when he returned.

We don't overload our members with a lot of projects, but those we do, we do well.  We often try to enhance other organizations' projects, rather than create something from scratch.  For example, our club was a primary donor to a group called Friends of the Animal Shelter as they worked to raise money to build a new facility.  One of the leaders of this group is also a Rotarian who very much appreciated our club getting behind his project. We point out to prospective members that this is one of the benefits of joining a social networking organization such as Rotary: We can help each other...not just in our professions, but also in our concerns.

There are a few key club members who set the tone to reach out to newcomers or those who may seem less connected to the group.  Every few years we rotate through all members, inviting one to tell about themselves for five minutes or so at each club meeting. 

We have excellent weekly programs on a very broad range of topics. It is a source of pride that Rotarians are often "the first to know."  For example, because the local superintendent of schools is a member of our club, we were the first in town to tour the new school. We try to host a high school exchange student every couple of years and have hosted numerous Group Study Exchange teams.

Don't worry if not every member gets excited about the same things.  If you conduct a variety of projects during the club year, something will resonate with almost all members.