The following testimonial from John Bosco is outstanding. The Nordonia Hills Club is a fantastic example of how to grow membership by 60% in a 12 month Rotary Year. How did they do it? John Bosco said "How did we get so many new members? We asked people to join Rotary and they did".
THE ROTARY CLUB OF NORDONIA HILLS
During Rotary year 2019-2020 the Club added approximately 15 new members. The Club went from 25 to 40 and even with the Pandemic we have retained all but 3. 2 moved out of the area and 1 was not a good fit.
How did we get so many new members? We asked people to join Rotary and they did. Getting new members, to join a club that has become stale or set in its ways, requires trying something new. We not only asked community leaders to join us, but we tried to find out the real reason they have not joined in the past.
Many told us they had never been asked or they did not know what Rotary did. That was easy to remedy. Some, especially the younger generation, were concerned about the financial obligations and the time commitments. We tried to make Rotary affordable by changing how we charged for meals. Our regular members were prepaying for meals, so we allowed the younger members to only pay for the meals they ate. We were able to do this because we did not have to commit to a certain weekly minimum. We also waved a portion of the dues for 1 year if it would help someone on a fixed income or if they could contribute to the club in other ways such as putting our club in the local newspaper and online every week.
In other words, we were creative. We were not afraid to go to the Board of Directors and say, let us try something new to increase our membership”. Most of the time they said yes, and it has paid off.
We added a new member last month because she was following our club on Facebook. She asked to attend a few meetings and then she wanted an application. She is not only highly active, but she is inviting one of her friends to join our meeting next week.
People have many misconceptions about Rotary. It is not like it was when I joined in the 1970’s. For example, a member is not asked to leave if they miss a meeting or two anymore. There are many ways to be a good Rotarian even if you can not attend every meeting. Rotary is no longer just a “Men’s Club “ either. Rotary membership is open to community leaders and others who want to help make the world a better place. We must be enthusiastic participants and tell our friends and acquaintances about Rotary.
I was told a long time ago to let people know that Rotary can help someone fulfill their passion. That is very true and also much easier to attain with the help of a worldwide organization.