Rotary Membership: Think Differently Rebecca Holloway Regional Membership Officer August 2016

Engaging Your Club’s Members OBJECTIVES: COL changes and impact Adjusting to change Engaging Your Club’s Members Supporting Your Club: Best Practices and Rotary Resources + Tools

COUNCIL ON LEGISLATION 2016

COUNCIL ON LEGISLATION 2016 Flexibility in membership types E-Clubs and Rotary clubs Dual membership for Rotaractors Flexibility in meeting frequency, format, and attendance Clubs may now offer additional membership types that are desired in the community, such as associate, corporate, family membership or others. It’s no longer necessary to specifically label e-clubs versus traditional clubs. Regular clubs can have online meetings and e-clubs can meet in person.  Rotaractors who meet the qualifications of membership can join a Rotary club while remaining Rotaract members, so they can begin to build relationships with Rotarians and experience what it would be like to be a member of that particular club. The RI Board and Council representatives agreed that individual clubs should be able to determine the best day and time for their meetings, whether to count service projects or social events as meetings, or even choose whether to gather in person, or meet online.   In all honesty, a lot these things were happening long before these changes were made at COL, but I think it means something when the organization as a whole agrees that we need to make these options available to meet the needs of our members.

ATTENDANCE AND RULE OF 85 Ability to change rules! Clubs may relax or tighten attendance requirements. Rule of 85: If your age and membership of at least 20 years =85, you can be excused from attendance policies!

IMPACT? WE’RE THINKING DIFFERENTLY… So, what’s the real impact? In realty, the impact is yet to come and we aren’t totally sure how quickly we will see the impact of these changes in membership. It could mean increased service projects and thus a better public image. It could result in higher retention rates and member satisfaction. I could mean an increase in perspective members and overall membership growth! A combination might be the best bet! With additional flexibility we are becoming more relevant with what our external research is saying about what our current and prospective members want.

“What if we don’t change at all – and something magical just happens.” I think this image is a really critical after we’ve just discussed the COL changes. If Rotarians and their clubs aren’t evaluating their club experience and whether or not some of these change opportunities could bring value to their experience, nothing will change. Source: www.123rf.com

BEST PRACTICE: EVALUATE YOUR CLUB Club Assessment Involve your members Everyone’s opinion matters Seek out a facilitator Obtain feedback: face-to-face interviews written or electronic surveys informal discussions focus groups Be open to making changes The end result is that your members are your customers. And unless you know what your customers want, you can’t possibly satisfy their needs. Encourage your Club leadership to take time, right now, to evaluate their club and their member satisfaction. That information is key to deciding whether or not change is wanted or necessary. It’s also a very easy way to find out what the majority of the club wants. We all know that one stubborn person in the room who is outspoken and makes change difficult. Do you know that person? Well, if you perform a survey and that person is actually the outlier and not a part of the majority, that could be a very simple way to overcome Club assessment is a useful strategy to keep current members engaged and active while also ensuring the club is attractive to prospective members. Taking an objective look at a club regularly can reveal both its strengths and the areas that need improvement. It is extremely important to involve club members, who are a valuable resource in the continual effort to keep a club fresh and vibrant. It may be beneficial to clubs to ask a trusted person outside of the club, such as an assistant governor or district membership chair, to facilitate the club assessment. Popular ways to obtain feedback from members are: face-to-face interviews, written or electronic surveys • informal discussions, with small and large groups held in a location other than your usual meeting place, focus groups with members, prospective members, or non-Rotarians in your community. In order to ensure that club assessment is successful, it’s important to be open to making changes based on the feedback and involvement of members. Club evaluation is most effective if club leadership and members begin to make changes soon after feedback is gathered. Once you request opinions from members, they will be eager to see what changes will be made based on their recommendations. If none are made, members are not likely to be motivated to participate in club evaluation in the future. Rotary has wonderful resource to assist clubs in going through the process of evaluation called Membership Assessment Tools. This publication, is full of evaluation tools that can help clubs assess diversity, its ability to attract new members, member retention, and even member satisfaction. This publication is available on the shop.rotary.org, or on rotary.org as a free downloadable PDF.

RESOURCE: MEMBERSHIP ASSESSMENT TOOLS Variety of assessment tools available Modify based on the need of the club Collaborate with Membership Officer/Committee Involve club members in determining goal and future of club Interviewing club members — especially those who are leaving — can yield useful information to aid your retention efforts. Often, a personal conversation between the exiting member and a member he or she trusts can bring out additional information that is beneficial for club planning. The membership satisfaction questionnaire in Membership Assessment Tools is designed to identify what club members like most about your club as well as what they believe could be improved. Ask members to complete the survey, and share the results at a future club meeting. Discuss the findings with your club members, talk with them about changes that can be made, and involve them in implementing those changes. Reference the Exit Survey in Membership Assessment Tools--- to understand why members leave and determine if changes can be made to prevent the same issue from causing other members to leave.

RESOURCE: ROTARY CLUB HEALTH CHECK 11/5/2017 RESOURCE: ROTARY CLUB HEALTH CHECK Rotary Club Health Check Tool for club leaders to take their club’s pulse Includes checklists to quickly diagnose what needs extra attention Suggests resources and ideas that can help remedy problem areas

BEST PRACTICE: CREATE A VISION FOR YOUR CLUB After you determine the current state of your club, your next step is to discuss and formulate a vision for your club. Creating a vision means deciding what you want your club to be like in three to five years. Taking the time to create a vision can make your club strong, active, and attractive to new members. Involving club members in this process gives them a sense of ownership in their club, an understanding of the club’s goals for the future, and motivation to work together to achieve those goals. At this point you can decide whether or not you want to make decision that reflect the new forms of flexibility surrounding membership post-COL.

RESOURCE: STRENGTHENING YOUR MEMBERSHIP Use this guide to: Create a club membership development plan Develop strategies and best practices Track your progress towards membership goals Outlines steps to create a membership development plan Provides strategies, best practices, and tools

BEST PRACTICE: ULTILIZE RESOURCES Membership leads: How many of you have already used Membership Leads? Has anyone gained a new member as a result of memebrship leads? This is a relatively new program and we are seeing tremendous numbers of prospective members. It’s basically a way for people in your community to express their interest in joining Rotary. They fill out a form online and it is filtered down to the club level by the district.

MEMBERSHIP LEADS Who has access? DG’s, District Executive Secretaries, and DMC’s get emails when a new lead comes though the system – though all district leadership should be able to access membership leads.

MEMBERSHIP LEADS STATISTICS 400% increase in submissions Top 5 countries: US, India, Brazil, Canada, France 33% female (current women in Rotary 20%) Largest age group 30 – 39 (34%) Top interest sources: family member or friend, media

RESOURCE: CONNECT TO MEMBERSHIP LEADS 11/5/2017 RESOURCE: CONNECT TO MEMBERSHIP LEADS For club and district leaders Explains how membership leads flow from rotary.org to clubs Details responsibilities for managing leads Links to how-to guides online

MEMBERSHIP RESOURCE GUIDE 11/5/2017 MEMBERSHIP RESOURCE GUIDE

Questions? Thank you! Rebecca Holloway, RMO George: Questions? Rebecca Holloway, RMO Rebecca.Holloway@rotary.org +1-847-425-5608