A Letter from Our Governor, August 2018  

District 6630 Family of Rotary:

 

I am privileged to have already been a part of so many different club events and as I began my official visits, I am finding energized clubs who are working hard, having fun and simply enjoy being with each other and have firm plans in place to do more. This doesn’t happen just by chance, but because we have engaged and informed Rotarians who have a passion for what they are involved in and are supporting.

 

August is Membership and New Club Development Month. This is something that is everyone’s responsibility – not just the president or club membership chair – and should be part of everything we do each and every month.

 

Rotarians are People of Action and the busiest people I know. As with anything, if we find the value in what we are doing, we make the time to do it. See this month’s “My Rotary Defining Moment” on page 3 - these are the types of messaging we should be sharing when describing what Rotary means to each of us. Many times the reasons we have stayed in Rotary are not why we initially joined.

 

See RI President Barry Rassin’s membership message on page 10 and the RI Membership Minute for August on page 4 that highlights many of the same ideas and tools that we have shared with our presidents over the past year. As a reminder, Rotary has a series of membership courses available in the new Learning Center and all these resources and more can be found at https://www.rotary.org/membership. Don’t forget to follow-up on those membership leads that are being forwarded to your club about individuals who have asked to be contacted by an area Rotary club to become involved.

 

During my visits some of you have heard me speak about the importance of seeking out our Rotary “alumni” to find out what they are doing and if Rotary is in their lives and if not, why not! On page 5 [of the August newsletter - CLICK HERE] is the launch of that initiative. Our youth who are the graduates of our programs and beneficiaries of our Rotary support are our future in the United States for membership growth. Let’s find them and then never lose contact with them again. In the September newsletter another “new” approach to membership extension in our district will be focused on. Interact is continuing its growth with three new clubs on the horizon and plans are underway to expand Rotaract in our district.

 

During this month we will be finalizing plans for a regionalized Membership Summit joining together with neighboring districts. This will be by no means a singular approach – we will follow this up with our own programming tailored just for our district. This cannot be accomplished in just one year as you all know – it will be a multiyear effort and beyond. A number of you have asked to see the agenda from our July “brainstorming” meeting and I have attached it so you can “make it your own” when doing your own strategic planning for membership development and engagement.

 

In the words of Paul Harris, Rotary’s founder, “This is a changing world; we must be prepared to change with it. The story of Rotary will have to be written again and again.” 

 

Be sure you take the time to write your own Rotary story – your own defining moment and your own INSPIRATION. Share this gift of Rotary with someone else.

 

As of press time, the Charter Celebration of the Rotary Club of Green of August 10th has just occurred and was an outstanding success! We were honored to have Rotary International Director Robb Knuepfer, Jr. in attendance to conduct the Charter Ceremony and induction of Charter Members. I was honored to induct President Kristen Lewis and her 2018-2019 officers. Congratulations Rotary Club of Green, Ohio USA! What an incredible way to start out Membership and New Club Development Month with this new addition to our Rotary Family that was a direct result of a partnership between our district and District 6650! I encourage you all to take a moment to reach out to and welcome them to Rotary.