David Harmon, in addition to being District Governor Nominee for 2023-24, is the current District 9640 Membership Chair, and membership was the principal subject of his presentation. "When building a vibrant, successful Rotary club, why is membership important?" he asked. "Let's ask ourselves: How relevant is your Rotary club in the area?" David cited his own club, Ballina on Richmond, as an example. "It is a different club today than it was a few years ago. Membership is a barometer. People age, new members need to come in so the cycle continues. Take your eyes off it and before you know, you will lose momentum" he said.Many service organisations (not just Rotary) do surveys: The major reasons why people join? 1. Community Service in their town, 2. Fellowship. David outlined his '4 R’s: Renewal, Regrowth, Retention and Relevance.
Renewal: start new club! Regrowth: crucial to keep the cycle going. Corporate membership. Retention: If you don’t have projects to engage members, you lose them. Walk around area: what does Surfers Sunrise do?
David outlined his plan: in 2018, when he came in as President, he asked 'What can we do to modernise it?' For the past 15 years it was fundraising club. Then they would give it away, which helps build the recipient's organisation, but didn’t do anything for our own club. So, Ballina on Richmond changed from a fundraising club to a community centred club. Its core objectives: Define causes and projects in our town that connect to the community and engage members. Let's sell ourselves, share with the community what we do, via multi media, social media. 80% of effort went into that.
A copy of David's PowerPoint slides is now on the Download Section (in PDF format)
Relevance: One of the major decisions was to make Domestic Violence the core project for next 5 years. We asked the Mayor to close the main street of Ballina for an exhibition for people to learn about DV. Initially, he point-blank refused, but we kept chipping away. The Mayor is now a major supporter of the concept. Robyn (who is a professional in Education) started in schools from the Queensland border to Ballina, getting the information into all high schools - our budget was $12,000 to deliver the program.
PDG Andy connected DV with the rest of the District and ultimately was published world wide. The Baton Rely caused the community to take notice. It appeared in TV news, and the newspapers.
In addition to Corporate Membership, we also have Partnerships to build profile. Ballina on Richmond now has formal partnerships with multiple government organisations, including NSW and QLD Police. Easy to do at club level as club is autonomous, difficult for District. Train club members as facilitators – refer Robyn. If you are in doubt about what a scourge DV is: in David’s home town Ballina, 75% of Police work relates to DV! At least 1 in 4 women experience DV. Worldwide issue. 3 of their members joined due to their DV campaign.
A very current major issue is the recent flood damage: accommodation is one of the major problems - imagine: it costs as much as $4,500 / week to rent 3 bedroom unit… And instead of material donations, get vouchers. “Sometimes you think you know what people want…” Don’t give us materials, but vouchers instead. Door knocking to determine needs.