I Was A Fly On The Wall…

 
For the third consecutive PETS (not as a PEN or PE) I have been the proverbial fly on the wall during membership breakouts. Our recent PETS had a focus on member engagement for new and seasoned Rotarians. Most of the sessions in which I sat consisted of clubs of 30-100 members.
 
As I’ve stated before and I will continue in an unwavering fashion, I believe that all clubs regardless of size face the same challenges surrounding membership. It’s the magnitude of impact that differs due to the size of the respective club that changes things up a bit or a lot.
 
Some of the membership success stories and the challenges were not new to me. One important topic was communication with club members. I am as guilty as anyone in having email be my first method of reaching out to my fellow Rotarians (club and district). Other methods are the weekly club meetings, newsletter (print or electronic), website, phone and 1-on-1 conversations. We need to have consistent and varied ways of communicating and reaching out to our current and future members.
 
I heard from a couple people that there needs to be at least two people on the membership committee at the club level:
  • one who does the administrative duties (members packets, surveys, demographics,..) while following up with prospective members and
  • one who focuses solely on retention and engagement of current members (new and seasoned)
This strategy is valuable because it takes the stress off an individual for doing ALL things membership which could be an entire article in and of itself. No matter how passionate one is about membership and the responsibility of its oversight, it’s great to be part of a functioning  and productive team for a critical role in a Rotary club. I am as guilty as anyone for at my club I am the only formally designated person for Membership. Shame on me. My bad for not forcing this issue with the club leadership and my fellow Rotarians. But, if the passion for working on membership does not exist with someone, I will not pressure them to take part for it’s more important to keep them engaged and passionate.
 
Speaking of passion -- Another important strategy or insight for engaging members is to match up an individual’s passion with an activity of the club. This could mean that the passionate individual will need to search outside the club to contribute his/her talent and time (with another club’s project or at the district level) or even better, introduce a project at the club level and run with it. Regarding passion, it was shared that, over time, one’s passion may evolve or even change. This is neither good nor bad; however, it’s important to be asking your members about their interests on an annual or similar basis. This demonstrates interest in the individual member which should yield better and sustained engagement. According to one participant “an Engaged Member means Someone Who Wants To Actively Participate.”
 
There will be more to come in future articles about membership engagement that will include use of the MyRotary section on the Rotary.org website. If you do anything after reading this, login to your MyRotary and check out the interest Groups that exist in which you can learn and participate.
 
By Debi Bush
D5450 Membership Chair and Denver Cherry Creek Rotary
membership@rotary5450.org