A new resource is available from Rotary International to help you get to know prospective and new members: Member interest survey
Submitted by Barbara Mifsud, Regional Membership Officer, RI staff
This Rotary year, we’ve heard President Jennifer Jones talk about how we play a vital role in creating club experiences that are welcoming, inclusive and enjoyable for current and prospective members.
She talks about how we need to know what new and prospective members expect from us and what they want to get out of their Rotary involvement to create a memorable experience.
She suggests using an entrance interview or survey.
The Member interest survey is a new resource available from rotary.org/membership to help. It’s part of the updated Membership assessment tools.
Getting to know new and prospective members early on is helpful for everyone. If you understand someone’s background, interests and what they want to contribute, you can determine whether your club can offer what they want and how to involve them in ways they’ll enjoy.
You might even find opportunities for them to help your club grow. Surveying new and prospective members gives you feedback on any factors that might prevent them from joining or fully participating.
You may also discover ways your club can be more flexible and accommodate more people.
- Download: Member interest survey
- Watch: President Jennifer Jones’ membership message
Recent research confirms that the club experience is what matters most to our members. Use this helpful one-pager to enhance a meaningful experience.
Submitted by Barbara Mifsud, Regional Membership Officer, RI staff
Recent Rotary research confirms that the club experience is what matters most to our members. Everyone plays a part in making sure that members have a fulfilling and enjoyable experience.
Use this helpful one-pager called What makes up the club experience (English), (French) to build an experience that not only attracts new members to our clubs but retain the ones that we have.
When members feel welcomed and included, are given opportunities for personal growth and leadership development, are able to make meaningful connections, and are contributing to service, they are more engaged and more likely to remain active in their club.
Looking after members by showing them comfort and care should be the priority for all club leaders. Knowing the needs of your members and making changes in your club to address those needs creates a more positive environment for all.
Rotary offers resources that can help:
- Member Interest Survey — Getting to know new and prospective members early on is helpful for everyone. Use this survey to learn about their preferences so you can meet their expectations.
- Member Satisfaction Survey — A satisfied member is an engaged member and engaged members make clubs vibrant. Distribute this survey regularly to all members in your club and respond to their feedback to empower them to shape the club experience.
- Exit Survey — Understanding why members leave gives your club the opportunity to address any issues that are causing members to resign.
Being open to change can be challenging, especially for clubs that have well-established ways of doing things. But when members feel heard and understood, they are more likely to feel valued and cared for and to be active in their clubs.
Starting new clubs is essential for expanding our reach and growing Rotary. Use Starting a Rotary Club to learn what you need to do to form a club.
Submitted by Barbara Mifsud, Regional Membership Officer, RI staff
New club development is an essential part of Rotary International’s membership development plan.
We know from research that regions where membership is growing are also where new clubs are being established.
Why start a Rotary club? They help:
- Expand our reach: new clubs help us to accommodate different demographic groups and give people who previously may not have been able to – or chose not to – a chance to join us
- Enhance participant engagement: with new style clubs we build our clubs around members and their needs, rather than the other way around
- Deliver a more focused impact: new clubs help us pursue new project possibilities and partnerships with organisations in our communities, which means we increase our impact
- Ensure Rotary’s sustainability: new clubs mean that all the good work we have done continues into our second century of service
An estimated 88% of new club members, are new to Rotary, which puts an end to the myth that new clubs lead to ‘poaching’ members. If anything, they may save members who were planning on leaving anyway.
Starting a Rotary club demystifies the new club development process by showing you how you can start a club in nine straightforward steps – from identifying an opportunity, recruiting charter members through to submitting the application form and beyond.
Starting a club is a Learning Centre course that walks you through the process of starting a new club, whether it's a Rotary, Rotaract or satellite club.
Rotary Club Models is a two-page matrix providing information about different club types, formats and models that you can use to attract new audiences.
Nurturing new clubs is a Learning Centre course for new club supporters and outlines what you need to do to help a new club grow and thrive.
Resources for starting new clubs lists all the resources you might need when starting a club, in the one place.
Use this general overview to make evidence-based decisions about where to focus your club’s membership efforts: Club membership profile.
Submitted by Barbara Mifsud, Regional Membership Officer, RI staff
When we make decisions about where to focus our membership efforts or formulate a membership development plan, it’s essential we base those decisions on facts.
At this time of year, in the lead up to the new Rotary year, incoming club officers are making decisions about their club’s future direction as they set goals.
Membership goals should be top of mind, seeing as expanding our reach and enhancing participant engagement are two of the four strategic priorities which make up Rotary International’s Action Plan.
For better outcomes, we need to avoid decision making that is based on ‘gut feeling’, assumptions or ‘intuition’. Rather we need to focus on data and experiential evidence.
For example, a club may think they have an issue with attracting new members. When they look at statistics over the last 5 years, they see they attract members, but have a larger issue with retaining new members. They can adjust their goals to not only focus on the important goal of attracting new members but look for ways to better retain new members.
Club membership profile provides an accurate picture of a club’s membership in a historical perspective. It provides:
- 10 year membership trends
- Comparison to 1 July start figures over last 5 years
- Demographics such as age, gender and alumni
- Existing and new member retention rates
- Membership gains or losses for new, readmitted, and existing members
- Membership terminations by years of membership
- Reasons why members left the club, as reported by club officers.
Who can access?
- Every Rotarian or Rotaractor for their own club
- Club officers for their own club
- District officers for each club in their district
- Zone leaders
How?
- Go to Rotary Club Central in My Rotary
o Rotarian, Rotaractor and club officers
o District and zone leaders
Also available is a District membership profile.