In his inaugural District Governor’s newsletter last month, DG Andy Rajapakse announced a “crazy big goal” to grow District Membership to 1,400. According to our District Website, we’ve had 1,208 members at the end of June. So, the goal is an increase of 192 members, or 16%, or about 4 members per club on average. But if we used the End of May total of 1,297 members, we’d only require 103 new members, or just 8%, or 2 members per club. Actually, hadn’t we lost any of the 200 members who left over the last 12 months… well, we’d be there already!“So, where are you going with this??” I hear you ask, “it’s normal to have a steep reduction in membership at the end of the Rotary year!” Normal? Sure, some of the 200 we lost may have left because they moved away. Some were called “to higher service”. But, the bulk of them decided that Rotary simply wasn’t “their thing”, not worth their time, effort and expense.
In business, losing a major account rings alarm bells. And unless they went bust, sold out or died, most likely it’s because they found your opposition more attractive. Your responsibility really. So what do you do? You go out to look for
another customer or two in a hurry, don’t you! If you do it correctly, you already have a clear picture of what your ideal customer is like. Then you will engage and literally pamper your new account to ensure they will stay with you.
Think back to the time when you were inducted into Rotary. Ever considered why you were proposed by your sponsor? What made you decide to join? Did you feel a sense of pride, of achievement, to be invited to join an organization of the highest international repute? You felt that your sponsor did “the right thing” by considering you to be potentially a good Rotarian. Yet, you felt a little bit overwhelmed, sort of “am I really up to this?”, didn’t you? And you definitely didn’t feel like that proverbial bit of spaghetti that remained stuck on the wall!
Well, your fellow members feel just like that. It is every club member’s job to engage with your fellow members, particularly with a new member. Engagement and involvement will realise their potential to become a committed and enthusiastic Rotarian. By the way: on Saturday 29th August, a Membership Summit is organised by DG Andy Rajapakse on the Gold Coast. Is our club represented?