In the past two months, my message has been about attracting more service-oriented people to Rotary and to share our work in serving others. My request is for every Rotarian to invite two people to experience Rotary twice. By giving them a glimpse into who we are and the great work that we do, they have an opportunity to join our team. With the new membership options, the prior barrier of cost is beginning to evaporate. In August, the concept of re-inventing Rotary and finding the balance or Time-Talent-Treasure for new members, a plan to introduce Service Memberships to clubs was developed and has been presented to many of the club presidents. The quick calculator helps clubs determine the cost of membership, define club meeting expectations, and service hour commitment that provide the elements that help a member make a difference.

One of Rotary’s biggest problems is retention. We add a reasonable number of new members every year, but we lose even more. Over the past three years, total district membership has decreased 150. Our new membership initiative, 150 by 6/30, is committed to reversing this trend.

To date, we are up 14 in 2 months, and the pace is improving. Manchester-Essex, Stoneham and Topsfield-Boxford-Middleton all have increases over 10%.

But how do we effectively retain members?

Don’t you think that any new member who received this support would feel a strong bond to their new club and want to remain a member for a long time? If you think so, provide dollars to support other members who have great project ideas. The people and organizations you serve will receive dollars, service hours and impact beyond the dollars contributed.

The trend in Rotary seems to be to offer more hands-on service that provides direct impact and less fundraising events to make cash donations to organizations. Partly because there is so much competition in fundraising today, but also because our membership is trying to balance family, work and Rotary. Design your service program to whatever works best for your members and community, and you will build a vibrant club and fulfill the theme – Rotary: Making a Difference.

The first official visit was this morning at the Rotary Club of Arlington and I look forward to meeting the great Rotarians at all the clubs in District 7930 in the coming weeks!

See you soon!