Club In A Club How To Consistently Add Members to YOUR Club Keith Sorem, Glendale Sunrise Rotary Katie Friedman, Crescenta Valley Rotary

Healthy Things Grow The grass Your hair Your fingernails Your waistline

So WHY doesn’t YOUR Club GROW? 21. We’re too busy doing service projects 17. No one wants to join my club 8. We always have money left over at the end of the Rotary year, so what’s the big deal? 2. My President does not want us to grow Excuse Number What’s YOUR Number 1 Excuse?

What does your Club do BEST? Service Projects! Fellowship Events Club projects done before Repeat successful projects Meetings

The BEST Club PROJECTS are: Fun Promote fellowship Promote member retention Help the club to grow Are repeated Crescenta Valley Rotarians cook annually for Relay For Life, a community cancer fund-raising event.

Characteristics of Repeat Projects They are successful They get better each time More members get involved each time Participants look forward to the next one

Today You Will LEARN How gaining new members is a CLUB PROJECT How inducting new members and retaining them for at least two years is a CLUB PROJECT How a step-by-step procedure working time after time is a CLUB PROJECT How tailoring the project to your club’s needs is a CLUB PROJECT

Club In A Club History: developed in Australia Protocol: follows your club’s bylaws Procedure: simple to plan and follow Implementation: simple to carry out Follow-up: easy to fine–tune and repeat

FIRST, Form a TEAM Inform your club know that you are having a membership project planning meeting Explain the growing needs within the community demand that you expand the club in order to meet those needs Emphasize that Everyone in the club is expected to help

You will NEED SOMEONE to keep track of the prospects SOMEONE to put them into a database A Mail-Merge invitation letter, personally addressed and mailed A tracking system for responses you receive A phone call follow-up timeline

GATHER Names from the Club Quality first – people that you know who would make a good Rotarian Don’t pre-judge – consider someone you do business with or a family member Past members – they may be ready to return as an active member Think – who would make a good Rotarian?

The INITIAL PROCESS Enter all the names in the database Submit the list of names to the board Present the list to the membership for approval, per the club bylaws Write an invitation letter for club approval

WRITING the LETTER Contact: for templates of all documents Select a date for your invitation event Edit the brochure template about Your Club that you will mail with the letter

The LETTER States why you are writing them Refers to the referring Rotarian States the date/location of the event Includes a custom, TAILOR MADE CLUB brochure

Can the letter be tailored too? YES!

The INVITATIONAL EVENT A separate event –reception –lunch –dinner A regular club meeting An opportunity to invite other clubs and dignitaries to join and support your club

After the letters are mailed … the dialogue begins Referring Rotarian Confirms that the prospect received the letter Referring Rotarian Asks if they are interested in learning more about Rotary Referring Rotarian Shares, we do not need new members, we’re looking for people interested in serving their fellow man/woman The goal is to weed out, not recruit

Call PROSPECTS back Reminding and/or re-confirming their attendance Providing parking/driving directions Letting the Reservation Manager know –responses that said, “Not right now” –list of those who said “yes”

The BROCHURE Accompanies the letter Contains Full Disclosure Highlights YOUR CLUB Indicates attendance/financial expectations Asks for Call to Action - Yes, No, Maybe

The EVENT Showcase what your club does best Narrow the focus – 3 topics Select only dynamic speakers Do not talk about numbers (boring) Allow plenty of time for fellowship AFTER Start and End on time

Assign Sponsors Determine who should talk with whom before the event starts Schedule a follow up to answer questions Pre-schedule a fireside chat/orientation Invite them to attend the next club meeting

Interested guests Invite them to the next meeting Give them a copy of the Rotarian Ask what they liked about the brochure Ask if they have questions? NOTDo NOT give them a member proposal form to fill out!

Report the results Report those who attended to the database manager Report the guests’ level of interest After they attend the next meeting, have the sponsor complete the proposal form Invite them to a fireside chat

The Proposal Form

Attended at least one meeting/fireside chat

Club In a Club? What is the Club In a Club? The newest members of the club make up the Club In the Club They perform duties each meeting They perform a community needs analysis The Club helps execute the project

Give the CinC a Name Have a seasoned Rotarian CHAIR the group Have assigned duties (Red Badge-type) –Greeters –Hang the banners –Badge Box manager –Take attendance –Assist the treasurer

The Goals of CinC Systematic method of finding new Rotarians Makes membership a CLUB PROJECT Gives new Rotarians a purpose Helps new Rotarians fit in right away Can be conducted as often as needed

Six Weeks to New Members Week 1 - Form the team Week 2 - Ask for & collect prospect names Week 3 - Present names to the board for approval Week 4 - Present the names to the membership for discussion and any objections End of Week 4 - Mail the Letters and Brochures Week 5 - Follow up by phone and/or in person Week 6 - Have the meeting

We ask you, You ask us, What is NEXT? Questions and Answers Visit Membership Forumwww.rotary5260.org

We ask you, You ask us, What is NEXT? What help do you need? Complete the evaluation Follow up with those that pass up the opportunity to join now

You have Choices Do nothing Take action Get your club involved, asking for help GO DO IT! CELEBRATE! Repeat as often as necessary