| IS OUR CLUB THE IDEAL SIZE ? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By PDG Chris Offer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RI Membership Development & Retention Committee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I often hear "our club is the ideal size." Alas, this often means that the club is apathetic
about membership growth and they mean we don't want any outsiders to join us. There is no ideal club size. In fact, most of us, whether our own club's membership is 30 or 100, are sure that our club is the ideal size. Rotarians seem to prefer the status quo to the unfamiliar, even if something different might be better. Their reluctance to recruiting new members and resistance to helping their club grow is a significant obstacle to the growth of Rotary. Perhaps what is most distressing is the Rotarian who opposes membership development in their own club, and impedes the formation of a new club. Perhaps some Rotarians are not interested in membership development because an influx of keen, energetic members bringing new life, new views, new interests, pose a challenge to what is now a comfortable place to sit at Rotary meetings. The average size of a Rotary club worldwide is 38.5 members. In Australia the average club size is 29 members and in New Zealand, the average size is 40 members. The country with the highest average club size is Italy with 56 members. The USA has an average of 49 members. Worldwide, 159 Rotary clubs have more than 200 members. Of the clubs of this size, 136 are in the USA. Five clubs, all in the USA, have more than 500 members each. They are San Antonio, 695; Seatle, 678; Fort Worth, 569; San Diego, 543; and Birmingham, 550. There is one large club in Australia, Melbourne with 249 members. The members of these clubs feel that their club is the right size. While the USA has the largest clubs, cities in other countries claim the greatest number of clubs. Seoul, leads with 159 Rotary clubs and a membership topping 4,500. Tokyo has 138 clubs with more than 9,000 Rotarians and in Taipei there are107 clubs. We do know that when a club is under 20 members it has difficulty operating effectively, finding a club president each year and filing al committee positions. Almost 25% of the Rotary clubs in the world could not charter because they have less than 20 members. There are more than 800 clubs with less than 10 members. The challenges of a small club are that they do not represent the classifications in their community, the types of service projects they can undertake are limited, and they frequently convey a poor image of Rotary to speakers and visitors. There is membership 'burn out' as al members must do every task. Clubs under 20 members need special attention from the District Membership committee, the AG and the DG. One strategy is to appoint a special representative of the Governor to advise and steer the club in ways to increase their membership. This Rotarian needs to be diplomatic but candid with the club. Clubs must be told where change is needed in their meeting venue, leadership style, altitude to club fellowship and service projects. A rechartering celebration when the club meets their goal of 20 or 25 members can serve as an incentive to the members. The Governor can represent the clubs charter or create a district phoenix award. The solution for some small clubs is to amalgamate with another club. This may be the best strategy to keep the members in Rotary. Clubs should never restrict membership growth. Rotary needs a quantity of quality members. A Rotary club is "the right size" when every person who is qualified for membership in the community has been invited to join Rotary. More members mean more hands to do more service. More members mean more support for The Rotary Foundation. More members mean new ideas, more enthusiasm and support for Rotary projects. My club is not the right size - yet! |
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| Publicity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What an amazing opportunity that clubs throughout the world have been provided with. It is not very often, that we in Rotary are provided with the opportunity to apply for funds specifically for our Promotion. The Public Relations Grant is one such initiative of Rotary. If you haven't looked at this as a sensational opportunity to develop your club image in a positive manner. Approval examples provided include:
The new and effective `Pull Up Banners' look fantastic- perhaps this is something you could consider reviewing. What about the opportunity for `Billboards' in your community-WOW!!! |
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| PP Phil Macdonald Chair District Public Relations Committee Rotary Club of Myrtleford (M) 0407 490 800 Email: pr@rotary9790.org.au |
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