The Rotary year is off to a busy start! It is a great coincidence that August is Membership and New Club Development Month in Rotary. If you have heard or talked to me, you know that growing and retaining members is my highest priority for this Rotary year. All service projects and fundraising flows from our members!
We need to continue to attract and invite others with a heart for service and high ethics to join us. Just as important though is the need to retain new and experienced members! We must help our new members find their passion in Rotary. New members were very motivated when they joined - we need to build on that motivation by understanding and meeting their expectations of their Rotary experience.
Is everyone in your area able to attend your meetings? Does a busy professional and family life limit their availability? Consider starting satellite clubs - groups of people who are members of your club but meet at a time and place that fits their busy lives.
Many who would like to serve with us lack the time or flexibility for regular meetings. Consider IMPACT memberships and IMPACT satellite clubs (view PDF) for those potential members who want to serve our community and the world but do not have the time in their schedule for meetings.
On October 19th, we will have a Club Experience Summit at Paradigm at Mentor High School to share experiences from Rotarians to make our meetings more engaging, listen to our growing clubs on how they became more attractive and engaging to new members, and hear from brand new members on why they were attracted, why they joined and what will keep them in Rotary.
A highlight of this will be to hear from a handful of clubs in District 6630 which have had a net growth of 25-50% in the last couple years. Overall our district adds roughly 170 new members each year. We also lose about that same number or slightly more. These clubs not only added a great number of new members but also retained the new and experienced members! We all need to learn from their experiences! Join us on Oct. 19. Registration will open at 9:30 AM. The first session will start at 10 AM. We will wrap by 1 PM. Hopefully most of you will then be able to join us to celebrate the learnings and our success in eradicating polio at Collision Bend in Euclid immediately after the summit at our Pints to End Polio there!
Dale Smith
District Governor 2024/2025
Rotary International District 6630
Past-President
Rotary Club of Mentor
The Magic of Rotary
330-968-7683m