Within President-elect Ray’s “Top Ten New Ideas for Clubs and Districts”, he encourages clubs and districts to adopt new membership approaches to help with recruitment and retention. Below is an idea to consider.
STAR (Special Training for Action in Rotary)
The STAR program was developed by the Rotary Club of El Paso, Texas, USA, in 1976. It is a method that can be used to involve and engage new members while preparing members for club leadership positions. Clubs are encouraged to adopt similar programs with a goal of promoting member retention through involvement, information and education. Since new members enter into a club on a consistent basis, the program can be repeated every year, or as often as needed. In addition to serving as a vehicle for Rotary information, the STAR breakfasts help new members get acquainted with each other as well as becoming familiar with a few of the club’s more experienced Rotarians. This is an opportunity to establish a small group atmosphere and foster an inclusive and inviting setting by catering to questions and discussions. In a large club, this can be a very effective tool for promoting fellowship. The following STAR guidelines can be adapted for use by your club:
● Each new member is placed on the STAR Committee and requested to complete a questionnaire of their interests and skills and provide a photo. The new member’s biographical sketch is then presented in the club’s weekly bulletin. New members are distinguished by a red star pasted on their Rotary badge with a red ribbon attached, and experienced members are encouraged to sit with them at club meetings and become acquainted.
● Hour-long STAR breakfast meetings are held once a month. All new members are encouraged to attend these meetings for one year.
● The STAR Committee is made up of past club and district leaders.
● All club members are invited to attend at any time to update themselves on Rotary information and to meet the new members. In addition, members of any other clubs in the district are welcome to attend.
● Typical meetings may feature a welcome to first-time attendees, recognition of new STAR graduates, announcements of upcoming club and district activities and events. Program topics could include each of the five Avenues of Service, club history, club community and international service projects, club foundation projects, The Rotary Foundation and the programs of Rotary International. Programs could be presented by directors or committee chairs responsible for the topic being covered.
RI Zones 25-26 Rotary Coordinator News
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Great RI Resources
Several new newsletters and updates have been released by RI in the last week, including:
Membership -- http://echo4.bluehornet.com/hostedemail/email.htm?h=1103b5802d87ed5c26519218cd1ab1e5&CID=10400000720&ch=FA43541787531ED32779EADA772541DC
Vocational -- http://echo4.bluehornet.com/hostedemail/email.htm?h=b09a2630d6c3a268755e5c546d42d572&CID=10371115753&ch=C33374A7871A4C45EA8A9C6CBCCE5227
New Generations -- http://echo4.bluehornet.com/hostedemail/email.htm?h=1363bc5ec456d2f786821fdeb695a37a&CID=10335228557&ch=CF631B38CE4603B6DD32E87EB761D29F
You will find lots of good information and ideas in these links. Take time to get familiar with all the aspects of Rotary. How can we use the individual and combined interests and expertise to work together for the purpose of helping to build DYNAMIC Rotary clubs?
Judi
Membership -- http://echo4.bluehornet.com/hostedemail/email.htm?h=1103b5802d87ed5c26519218cd1ab1e5&CID=10400000720&ch=FA43541787531ED32779EADA772541DC
Vocational -- http://echo4.bluehornet.com/hostedemail/email.htm?h=b09a2630d6c3a268755e5c546d42d572&CID=10371115753&ch=C33374A7871A4C45EA8A9C6CBCCE5227
New Generations -- http://echo4.bluehornet.com/hostedemail/email.htm?h=1363bc5ec456d2f786821fdeb695a37a&CID=10335228557&ch=CF631B38CE4603B6DD32E87EB761D29F
You will find lots of good information and ideas in these links. Take time to get familiar with all the aspects of Rotary. How can we use the individual and combined interests and expertise to work together for the purpose of helping to build DYNAMIC Rotary clubs?
Judi
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Next Generation & Rotary Membership.....Say What??
Sooo.....just how does the new 5th Avenue of Service, New Generations, relate to Membership? Consider this:
1. Is your club actively involved with the youth and young adult programs of Rotary? Is it enough to write a check to send a camper to RYLA?
2. Might there be potential Rotary members who would be attracted to an organization that works with young people?
3. Are the whereabouts known of the alumni of our New Generations programs (Rotaract, RYLA, Interact, Youth Exchange) -- do we keep in touch to know when they might be ready to join Rotary? (Ten or fifteen years can go very quickly!)
4. Are we mentoring the New Generations groups so that they might have the resources and assistance that only we can offer to them?
Following is an article from this month's "New Generations Newsletter" (available on the RI website):
August is Membership and Extension Month. The success of Rotary depends on the commitment and hard work of its club members, and the same applies to Rotary’s youth and young adult programs: Interact, Rotaract, and RYLA. Successful programs retain their current participants and stay connected to alumni while seeking out new and creative ways to grow.
When reviewing your membership and extension activities, ask yourself the following questions:
• How do you recruit new club members or program participants?
• Has your Interact or Rotaract club developed a membership strategy or membership goals for the new Rotary year?
• How can your Interact or Rotaract club keep members engaged and motivated all year long? What is the average meeting attendance throughout the year? How can you improve this?
• How can you better stay in touch with RYLA program alumni? Do alumni get involved in supporting future RYLA programs?
• How do you select your club projects or fundraisers? How can you better leverage the interests of club members when developing these service activities?
• What kind of presence does your club or RYLA program have in your community? On your campus?
If your club has a membership plan in place – or any specific strategy that you have found effective – and you’d like to share it with others, please e-mail it to ryla@rotary.org.
Include the New Generations regularly in your club activities and participate in their activities. We are their mentors and they are our FUTURE!
1. Is your club actively involved with the youth and young adult programs of Rotary? Is it enough to write a check to send a camper to RYLA?
2. Might there be potential Rotary members who would be attracted to an organization that works with young people?
3. Are the whereabouts known of the alumni of our New Generations programs (Rotaract, RYLA, Interact, Youth Exchange) -- do we keep in touch to know when they might be ready to join Rotary? (Ten or fifteen years can go very quickly!)
4. Are we mentoring the New Generations groups so that they might have the resources and assistance that only we can offer to them?
Following is an article from this month's "New Generations Newsletter" (available on the RI website):
August is Membership and Extension Month. The success of Rotary depends on the commitment and hard work of its club members, and the same applies to Rotary’s youth and young adult programs: Interact, Rotaract, and RYLA. Successful programs retain their current participants and stay connected to alumni while seeking out new and creative ways to grow.
When reviewing your membership and extension activities, ask yourself the following questions:
• How do you recruit new club members or program participants?
• Has your Interact or Rotaract club developed a membership strategy or membership goals for the new Rotary year?
• How can your Interact or Rotaract club keep members engaged and motivated all year long? What is the average meeting attendance throughout the year? How can you improve this?
• How can you better stay in touch with RYLA program alumni? Do alumni get involved in supporting future RYLA programs?
• How do you select your club projects or fundraisers? How can you better leverage the interests of club members when developing these service activities?
• What kind of presence does your club or RYLA program have in your community? On your campus?
If your club has a membership plan in place – or any specific strategy that you have found effective – and you’d like to share it with others, please e-mail it to ryla@rotary.org.
Include the New Generations regularly in your club activities and participate in their activities. We are their mentors and they are our FUTURE!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
How to create OUTSTANDING GROWTH in your Rotary Club!
From time to time, I find an excellent "best practices" idea. Following is a report from the Rotary Club of Springfield, Oregon (D511)) who had a spectacular year of bringing in new members in 2009-2010 and seems well on their way to having another great year. Read on.........
Rotary Club of Springfield, 2009/2010
Membership Co-Chairs: Jim Eckman and Ronda Schleicher
In reviewing the success of our club’s membership growth for the year, there are two factors that have contributed to our achievement. First, our club moved our meeting place to a very attractive facility in Springfield. Our members feel good about bringing prospective members to our new location, The Holiday Inn. Second, our Membership Committee and Co-Chairs are actively engaged and membership is always in front of the club. We worked diligently at forming an active membership committee that is diversified – from past presidents to those just completing the red badge process. We formed our committee at the beginning of the last Rotary year and the following are highlights of what we implemented during the year:
1.Membership Committee meets regularly – once a month!
2.The club is aware of our membership goals. This year our goal is to end the year at 115 ACTIVE members. (Note: the club increased membership by 13% and is looking for another 10% growth this year.)
3.To support and defray the costs associated with bringing in a new member, our club adopted a version of another club's “Free Lunch Program”. The club buys breakfast for the proposed member and the sponsor at the New Member Orientation breakfast. Also, when the new member is inducted into the club, the club buys lunch for both the sponsor and new member that day.
4.We made a minor change to our New Member Orientation. Our orientation was informational and relevant, but we now purposely wait one week before inducting a new member into the club. The purpose of this is to give the proposed new member time to really think about the commitments and obligations that come with Rotary and discuss this with significant others.
5.To help with membership retention and addressing the issue of members facing hardship in the midst of a recession we created a scholarship program. We created an “off budget” pool of funds, which are donated from members of the club at their discretion. The purpose of the funds are to help with annual membership dues and if necessary meals. We named this fund in honor of a member that passed away unexpectedly last year. Members of the club that are facing hardship have the opportunity to discuss their situation discretely with a select panel of Rotarians in the club. The fund is being used!
6.We always have membership in front of our club! Here are some examples:
a. Weekly membership moments in our bulletin
b. Recognize members with 90%+ attendance
c. Membership vocational minute – opportunity for members to share with the club exactly what they do in their classification
d. We formed a red badge committee to actively mentor all red badge members to see they complete their requirements in the allotted time.
e. Attendance – we have used different methods to reach out to members with attendance below 50% to encourage them to improve – letter from club President, post card from club Secretary and calls from past Presidents.
Do these ideas sound simple? Like Basic Rotary? YEP! But just proof that consistency in some of our basic skills will pay off great rewards - in this case, a club that is reaping the benefits of new Rotarians and new friends with whom to share Rotary service and camaraderie!
Rotary Club of Springfield, 2009/2010
Membership Co-Chairs: Jim Eckman and Ronda Schleicher
In reviewing the success of our club’s membership growth for the year, there are two factors that have contributed to our achievement. First, our club moved our meeting place to a very attractive facility in Springfield. Our members feel good about bringing prospective members to our new location, The Holiday Inn. Second, our Membership Committee and Co-Chairs are actively engaged and membership is always in front of the club. We worked diligently at forming an active membership committee that is diversified – from past presidents to those just completing the red badge process. We formed our committee at the beginning of the last Rotary year and the following are highlights of what we implemented during the year:
1.Membership Committee meets regularly – once a month!
2.The club is aware of our membership goals. This year our goal is to end the year at 115 ACTIVE members. (Note: the club increased membership by 13% and is looking for another 10% growth this year.)
3.To support and defray the costs associated with bringing in a new member, our club adopted a version of another club's “Free Lunch Program”. The club buys breakfast for the proposed member and the sponsor at the New Member Orientation breakfast. Also, when the new member is inducted into the club, the club buys lunch for both the sponsor and new member that day.
4.We made a minor change to our New Member Orientation. Our orientation was informational and relevant, but we now purposely wait one week before inducting a new member into the club. The purpose of this is to give the proposed new member time to really think about the commitments and obligations that come with Rotary and discuss this with significant others.
5.To help with membership retention and addressing the issue of members facing hardship in the midst of a recession we created a scholarship program. We created an “off budget” pool of funds, which are donated from members of the club at their discretion. The purpose of the funds are to help with annual membership dues and if necessary meals. We named this fund in honor of a member that passed away unexpectedly last year. Members of the club that are facing hardship have the opportunity to discuss their situation discretely with a select panel of Rotarians in the club. The fund is being used!
6.We always have membership in front of our club! Here are some examples:
a. Weekly membership moments in our bulletin
b. Recognize members with 90%+ attendance
c. Membership vocational minute – opportunity for members to share with the club exactly what they do in their classification
d. We formed a red badge committee to actively mentor all red badge members to see they complete their requirements in the allotted time.
e. Attendance – we have used different methods to reach out to members with attendance below 50% to encourage them to improve – letter from club President, post card from club Secretary and calls from past Presidents.
Do these ideas sound simple? Like Basic Rotary? YEP! But just proof that consistency in some of our basic skills will pay off great rewards - in this case, a club that is reaping the benefits of new Rotarians and new friends with whom to share Rotary service and camaraderie!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Rotary Training Talk for July
Here's the link Rotary Training Talk for July. It's loaded with great leadership ideas about training and how to create Bigger, Better, Bolder Rotary clubs!
Especially interesting are some of the links to the RI Website where you can learn about other clubs "Best Practices" and "Solutions" to common club concerns. "Add your input to help create a Rotary knowledge base of best practices and new ideas that will help Rotarians around the world improve their clubs and their service to the community."
www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en.../training_talk_1007_en.pdf
Especially interesting are some of the links to the RI Website where you can learn about other clubs "Best Practices" and "Solutions" to common club concerns. "Add your input to help create a Rotary knowledge base of best practices and new ideas that will help Rotarians around the world improve their clubs and their service to the community."
www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en.../training_talk_1007_en.pdf
"Say Hello" - Best Practices
The Rotary Club of Sherman Oaks Sunset, California, USA has implemented a successful program tied to International Mother Language Day since 2009. The project celebrates Rotary's World Understanding Month and UNESCO's annual International Mother Language Day (in February, but can be implemented any time), and encompasses all five Avenues of Service.
Volunteers teach 11- and 12-year-old students (New Generations Service) how to say Hello, Thank You, Please, Peace, and Love (Community Service) in 44 different languages (and still adding) (International Service). The translations were gathered from many sources; Club Members include natives of Japan, Bangladesh, and India. A frequent visitor to the Club from RC Stockholm-Borgen, Sweden provided Swedish. Everyone in the Club was involved (Club Service) in tracking down friends who could provide translations. A former Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar pitched in, as did Rotarians in Israel, Thailand, and Ghana.
Thinking outside the box, Project Chair and 2009-2010 Club President Mel Powell contacted an old friend, Bob Miller, the Hall of Fame television announcer for the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings, and obtained translations from Kings players native to Latvia, Slovenia, and Slovakia. "The Kings have a Swede and a Russian as well, but we were already covered, "explains Powell. "The team went on a winning streak after we got the translations, with our translators scoring some key goals, so Rotary must be good luck."
During the second year of the program, the presentation yielded a surprising result. After Rotarians taught three languages chosen based on the students’ history studies, a student raised his hand and asked to teach classmates his birth tongue, Farsi, and he came up and did so. That evening school principal Claudia Moreland, a member of the Rotary Club, arrived with tears in her eyes—“that boy is not a good student, is not popular, never raises his hand or wants to be singled out”--but our Rotarians moved him enough to want to volunteer, because here was something he could do that his classmates could not, so he could teach them.
The project caught the notice of the publications department in Evanston and was featured in Rotarian Magazine’s World Roundup in late 2009. Any Club in the world can implement this project, and Sherman Oaks Sunset is happy to share our collection of languages.
Want more information? Contact Mel Powell at rotarymelpowell@aol.com
Volunteers teach 11- and 12-year-old students (New Generations Service) how to say Hello, Thank You, Please, Peace, and Love (Community Service) in 44 different languages (and still adding) (International Service). The translations were gathered from many sources; Club Members include natives of Japan, Bangladesh, and India. A frequent visitor to the Club from RC Stockholm-Borgen, Sweden provided Swedish. Everyone in the Club was involved (Club Service) in tracking down friends who could provide translations. A former Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar pitched in, as did Rotarians in Israel, Thailand, and Ghana.
Thinking outside the box, Project Chair and 2009-2010 Club President Mel Powell contacted an old friend, Bob Miller, the Hall of Fame television announcer for the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings, and obtained translations from Kings players native to Latvia, Slovenia, and Slovakia. "The Kings have a Swede and a Russian as well, but we were already covered, "explains Powell. "The team went on a winning streak after we got the translations, with our translators scoring some key goals, so Rotary must be good luck."
During the second year of the program, the presentation yielded a surprising result. After Rotarians taught three languages chosen based on the students’ history studies, a student raised his hand and asked to teach classmates his birth tongue, Farsi, and he came up and did so. That evening school principal Claudia Moreland, a member of the Rotary Club, arrived with tears in her eyes—“that boy is not a good student, is not popular, never raises his hand or wants to be singled out”--but our Rotarians moved him enough to want to volunteer, because here was something he could do that his classmates could not, so he could teach them.
The project caught the notice of the publications department in Evanston and was featured in Rotarian Magazine’s World Roundup in late 2009. Any Club in the world can implement this project, and Sherman Oaks Sunset is happy to share our collection of languages.
Want more information? Contact Mel Powell at rotarymelpowell@aol.com
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Why Did They Really Leave??
From Paul Kiser, District 5190, PR Chair:
I have a challenge for every North American Rotary club that is at least ten years old:
Step 1. Look up all the new members that were inducted in the last three and a half years, excluding the new members inducted in the last six months (e.g; members inducted between January 2007 and January 2010.)
Step 2. Determine how many of those members left the club.
Step 3. Contact them (if living) and ask the following questions:
* Why did you leave the club?
* Why did you really leave the club?
* In a time when more connections with business people would be more critical, why didn’t our club offer this to you?
* What type of person would you recommend to join our club? (Age, gender, personality, etc.)
* What irritated/disappointed you about our club?
Step 4. Hold a Board Meeting to discuss the results.
Rule One is that no one is allowed to diminish or discount the statements of the former member (e.g.; “She never was really happy with us.” or “They just wanted to network.” or “He joined for the wrong reasons.”)
Rule Two is that no one on the Board who has served over three years is allowed to participate in the discussion for the first 30 minutes.
I think you’ll find the results interesting and tell you the public image that your club projects to others. Why? Too many Rotarians are looking for members who think, believe, talk, act, and look like the existing club members. New members who don’t fit the mold are the first to leave. The question is whether the club is ready to adjust their behavior to be more inclusive of business professionals who may not fit the mold.
The reason to limit the participation of long-term Board members is because members who have become entrenched in the decision-making process of the club tend to have too much say and tend to try to preserve the status quo.
Let me know what you discover about your club’s public image.
http://paulkiser.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/rotary-membership-challenge
I have a challenge for every North American Rotary club that is at least ten years old:
Step 1. Look up all the new members that were inducted in the last three and a half years, excluding the new members inducted in the last six months (e.g; members inducted between January 2007 and January 2010.)
Step 2. Determine how many of those members left the club.
Step 3. Contact them (if living) and ask the following questions:
* Why did you leave the club?
* Why did you really leave the club?
* In a time when more connections with business people would be more critical, why didn’t our club offer this to you?
* What type of person would you recommend to join our club? (Age, gender, personality, etc.)
* What irritated/disappointed you about our club?
Step 4. Hold a Board Meeting to discuss the results.
Rule One is that no one is allowed to diminish or discount the statements of the former member (e.g.; “She never was really happy with us.” or “They just wanted to network.” or “He joined for the wrong reasons.”)
Rule Two is that no one on the Board who has served over three years is allowed to participate in the discussion for the first 30 minutes.
I think you’ll find the results interesting and tell you the public image that your club projects to others. Why? Too many Rotarians are looking for members who think, believe, talk, act, and look like the existing club members. New members who don’t fit the mold are the first to leave. The question is whether the club is ready to adjust their behavior to be more inclusive of business professionals who may not fit the mold.
The reason to limit the participation of long-term Board members is because members who have become entrenched in the decision-making process of the club tend to have too much say and tend to try to preserve the status quo.
Let me know what you discover about your club’s public image.
http://paulkiser.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/rotary-membership-challenge
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