RESPONSIBILITIES ALL COMMITTEES THE MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

  • Attend your district training assembly

  • Educate club members on how to attract new members and keep them involved

  • Working with the president-elect, select and prepare your committee members

  • Conduct classification surveys

  • Create subcommittees as needed (for example, for identifying potential new members, member engagement, new member orientation, mentoring)

  • Look at your club’s meetings, projects, and other activities and assess what it offers new members

  • Meet regularly and plan activities

  • Develop a membership action plan to improve member satisfaction

  • Set committee goals to help achieve the club’s goals for the year and monitor progress toward them

  • Conduct club assessments to ensure that membership development and retention efforts succeed

  • Manage your committee’s budget

  • Sponsor newly organized clubs in your district, if you choose to Work with your club’s other committees and your district committee on multiclub activities or initiatives

  • Report committee activities and progress to the club president, board of directors, and the full club

  • Determine what else your club expects your committee to do

The role of the club membership committee is to actively attract and engage members. Having engaged and active club members makes it possible for your club to serve communities at home and around the world. It is members who support Rotary’s work and who develop into leaders. 

 

YOUR CLUB’S MEMBERS

Make sure your club reflects the diverse professions and cultures of your community. Not only will a diverse club attract potential candidates, it will also provide the skills and experience your club needs to make a positive change in your community.

 

ATTRACTING NEW MEMBERS

  • Attracting new members should start with Rotary alumni in your area.

  • Our program alumni are powerful advocates for Rotary, potential members and donors, and additional resources for service. Develop an action plan for keeping alumni connected to your club as members, donors, or resources.

  • Club officers can generate a report of names, program details, and contact information for all former Rotary program participants associated with their district on My Rotary.

  • Encourage alumni to register with My Rotary to keep their information up-to-date. In addition to maintaining contact with alumni, your club’s members should talk to business and community leaders, young professionals, recent retirees, and women in your community who might be a good fit for your club.

  • Find more ideas in Strengthening Your Membership: Creating Your Membership Development Plan. 

 

RETAINING CURRENT MEMBERS

Keeping members should be a top priority for your whole club, but especially your committee. Find ways to improve the member experience by regularly asking members about their interests and what they would like the club to do. Make sure members are informed, involved, and recognized for their contributions. Track trends in project participation and engagement, length of membership, social activity, and contributions to The Rotary Foundation to reveal concerns that may need to be addressed.

Whether members decide to stay or go is affected by the club experience, which is shaped by all members.

 

Work with your committee to develop goals and a detailed action plan for achieving them. Then get your members on board and let them know what they can do to improve the club experience. Although your committee leads the club’s membership efforts, recruiting is the responsibility of each member. Encourage all members to ask friends, family, business associates, and other community members to join leaders to exchange ideas and take action

 

DIVERSITY

Your club’s membership should reflect your community in terms of profession, age, gender, and ethnicity. Survey club members on their professions, gender, and ethnicity and compare the information to that of your community. Being diverse provides a club with a wider range of experience and knowledge that is useful for its service efforts. Membership diversity can also make it easier to attract prospective members. Rotary policy prohibits limitations on membership in Rotary clubs based on gender, race, color, creed, national origin, or sexual orientation. See RI Bylaws, Article 4.070.

 

STEPS TO RECRUITING AND RETAINING A MEMBER

The process for cultivating a Rotary club member often includes the following stages:

Identify.

Identify members of your community who are a good fit for your club.

Use the classification and membership diversity assessment in Member Assessment Tools to determine how well your club represents the professional diversity of your community.

Then target recruiting efforts to help your club better represent the professional community.

Introduce. Introduce prospective members to Rotary by telling them about:

• Your experience as a member

• Why you joined and why you’ve stayed

• Your club, its projects and activities, and its impact in your community

• Rotary and our commitment to eradicating polio

• How they can get in involved in club activities Enthusiastic, engaged members are more likely to attract prospective members who will become involved and active themselves.

 

Compile a club brochure that can be presented to visitors. You can find customizable templates in the Brand Center.

 

Before inviting a prospective member to join, invite him or her to attend your club meeting as a guest to get a feel for what you do and what it is like to be a member.

If the prospective member continues to show interest and is deemed to be a good fit, proceed to the invitation.

 

Invite.

When you invite a prospective member to join, make it personal.

Learn the person’s interests and expertise and suggest activities and projects that might interest him or her. Finally, submit the proposal to your club’s board of directors, along with reasons for proposing the candidate. Induct.

Do something special when new members join.

Hold an induction ceremony or a social gathering and invite family members to attend.

For a sample induction ceremony program, refer to New Member Orientation: A How-to Guide for Clubs.

During the event, ask new members to talk briefly about themselves, their work, and their families.

Make sure that all club members personally introduce themselves to each new member.

 

You could give new members the following items:

• Rotary pin

• Membership card

 • Club information (for example, a club brochure)

• Name badge

• District directory

• The Rotarian or a Rotary regional magazine

 

Work with your club administration committee to see that the new member and sponsor are recognized on your club’s website and newsletter.

 

Inform and orient.

Tell new members about your club and Rotary, including:

• How to get involved in the club’s activities and projects

• Your club’s culture

• What to expect at meetings

• How to create a My Rotary account on Rotary.org

 

Consider scheduling a new-member orientation program that extends over several sessions.

See New Member Orientation: A How-to Guide for Clubs.

 

Involve.

An involved member will feel a part of the club and will make Rotary a priority in his or her life.

Make sure all club members are involved somehow.

Consider these suggestions for involving new members:

• Assign new members to a committee or give them a role at club meetings.

• Have a new member serve as a delegate to the district conference. Some clubs assist the new member by paying part or all of the registration fee and costs of the conference.

• Have all club members who join during the same Rotary year work together on a project.

• Encourage new members to attend a Rotary International Convention or host visiting Rotarians for a meal or other activity.

 

Earn sponsor pins by recruiting new members to your club.

Learn more in the New Member Sponsor Recognition Program brochure.

 

 LEAD YOUR CLUB: MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

• Ask new members to find two or three potential members within their peer group.

When new members promote Rotary to their friends, they become more enthusiastic themselves.

Consider the best ways to involve members without overwhelming them with too many assignments.

 

Educate.

Members who feel informed and involved are more likely to stay actively engaged. Keep members aware of Rotary news and updates on club and district initiatives.

For example:

• Hold club assemblies to chat about what members like about the club and what they want to change.

• Have a multiclub social with a presentation on a Rotary topic to continue new member education. Find courses on a variety of Rotary topics in the Learning Center.

• Contact regional leaders — your Rotary coordinator, Rotary public image coordinator, regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, and endowment/major gifts adviser — and invite them to talk to your club about regional Rotary initiatives.

• Get a group of members together to participate in webinars held by Rotary International. Register for upcoming webinars or listen to recorded webinars at www.rotary.org/webinars.

• Have your club trainer give newer members leadership training to develop potential leaders and for their personal development.

 

Use Leadership Development:

Your Guide to Starting a Program.

For more ideas, see Strengthening Your Membership: Creating Your Membership Development Plan.

Use your club and district websites, social media sites, weekly meetings and emails, and club newsletters to share information from your district governor or Rotary International.

Rotary publications like The Rotarian or Rotary regional magazines are also excellent continuing education tools.

Encourage members to visit Rotary.org and to connect with Rotary’s social media pages to stay current on events and resources.