District 6400 Membership Chair and Past District Governor, Paul Sincock, spoke to members about membership. He began by saying that among Rotarians in North America there has been a steady decline in membership. Projections for District 6400 indicate that numbers could be down to about 1,300 members in just 2 years. Two years ago, he said, membership in the district was about 1,600. This impacts not only our district but the RI Zone we're in as well. If North American would lose substantial numbers of members and therefore it's influence worldwide, the current HQ which is now in Evanston, IL could end up in another city in the world, Paul said! Quoting former RI President Barry Rassin, he said "Rotary clubs have to change to be relevant, They must be flexible." Look back to 1905 and you'll see that five gentlemen from Chicago started Rotary. "Today, we have the first ever female president of RI and in two years we will have another", Paul said. He shared with us the study done recently by our Zone in answer to the question: What makes a successful Rotary Club. The survey reported that the 5 things that make clubs successful and help them grow:
- Strong Leadership
- Active in the Local Community - Many Events & Service Projects
- Visibility in the community - Strong Public Image
- Active, Intentional Membership Engagement
Paul then spoke about club visioning and strategic planning. "If you have a plan, you move forward". District resources are available for both of these areas, he said. New clubs attract new members. Existing clubs, of course, fear competition but the bottom line is - "we'll get more people in Rotary! There may be some shuffling of people but that's okay." So, we should not fear the creation of new clubs. There are such things as Companion Clubs and Satellite Clubs that can be formed. All work well together. Paul urged clubs to focus on their "alumni". That might include a club's scholarship recipients who we need to find out where they are today and talk with them to see if they might want to return and become part of our organization.
Paul shared important data about our specific membership. Our club's average, he said, over the past 5 years has been 51.8 members. The Adrian Noon Rotary Club started this Rotary year with 46 members. On average, this club typically lose 8 members. Our club goal is listed as +1 by the end of the year which means we would like to see 47 members by June 30, 2023. To get to that number, Paul said, taking into account of the anticipated attrition of 8, we will need a total of nine new members between now and June 30.
Paul suggested we do a health check and even consider conducting a member satisfaction survey along with another visioning meeting conducted by members of the district committee. He also suggested that members become involved in Rotary Action Groups. Paul said that we need strong and effective social media sites on which to advertise who we are. We need to increase our presence in this community. He closed by challenging each of us to identify three people and invite them to Rotary. Thank you, Paul, for a fine presentation.