A Message from The President

about awareness and

Rotary's Public Image

Dear fellow Rotarians,

When I planned for my travels during my year as Rotary president, I decided that intercity meetings would be the most effective way to meet Rotarians. I urged clubs in a city or a region to merge their weekly meetings into one evening meeting. I offered to be the main speaker and to mingle with Rotarians before and after the event. I also planned to visit areas where a president had never been or had not been for a long time.

I had great expectations for these meetings. Now that I have experienced a large number of them, I must say that they have far exceeded my expectations. Rotarians and their spouses have been extremely kind and appreciative. They have greeted me with open arms, talked to me, laughed with me, embraced me, and just made me feel at home from the very first minute.

I went to these intercity meetings hoping to encourage Rotarians to continue their excellent work for our organization and to encourage less active members to participate more extensively in the future. I have mostly talked on Rotary topics that provide an international perspective. And I have listened. I have listened and learned what Rotarians want from Rotary leadership. This is of great value to all of us, because if the board members are to do good work in the boardroom, it is essential that we all know what the Rotarians want from us. They want a lot of things, but public image is one concern that stands out.

There is tremendous frustration among Rotarians that Rotary is often forgotten in the media. Rotary International seems to be forgotten almost on a regular basis when the polio eradication initiative is mentioned in the media. Not always, but often. And Rotary is not just PolioPlus. It is so much more. It is Rotarians serving daily meals to children who otherwise would go hungry. It is Rotarians helping blind people tap into the digital world. It is Rotarians running orphanages for children who have no homes. It is Rotarians helping out in national disasters. It is Rotarians drilling water wells. It is Rotarians educating people to provide a foundation for a better life. The list can go on.

But we could do a better job in letting the world know what we are doing. That is why I have appointed a Public Image Resource Group, under the leadership of Rotarian Mary Margaret Fleming (District 5230, California, USA). This group has been very well received by Rotarians all over the world in helping us to tell the Rotary story. I have seen an improvement on the local level in our public image. Let us capitalize on this effort for years to come and let us together through Service Above Self continue to show the world the great leadership of Rotary International.

Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar
President, Rotary International

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

2005-2006 DISTRICT AWARDS

Several awards will be presented at the 2006 Rotary District 6760 Annual Conference to be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Jackson on May 4-6, 2006.  Awards will be presented in the following categories:
  
> Best Bulletin for small, medium, and large clubs;
> Outstanding Achievement for small, medium, and large clubs;
> Outstanding New Project, one award;
> Outstanding Continuation Project, one award;
> Four Avenues of Service, one award each, for the areas of Club,  Community, Vocational, and International service;
     
In addition, three (3) awards (based on the size of the club) will be calculated from the Monthly Attendance and Membership reports recognizing the highest:
 
•  Club Attendance;
•  Membership net increase;
•  Percentage membership increase;
  
Finally, there will be two (2) District Conference Attendance Awards presented which will be based on the percentage membership of the club attending the conference with the addition of bonus points for the mileage traveled.  One award will be presented to a club with less than 40 members and another to a club with 40 or more members.  Please submit your bulletins, club reports, and a description of any project you wish to have considered for an award in writing to:

Dee Ann Culbreath
54 Torrey Pines Drive
Jackson, TN  38305

Notes about Submissions: Each entry will need to be submitted on a separate sheet of paper and 4 copies of each entry should be provided for judging purposes.  Deadline for Submissions:  The deadline for entries is Friday, April 14, 2006.  The District Awards Committee will make its selections on Saturday, April 15, 2006.

DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR

PRESIDENTIAL CITATIONS

CLICK HERE to Review 2005-2006 Criteria

Eligible Nominees

Rotary clubs in good standing are eligible to receive the award. Eligibility requirements are revised on an annual basis, but are generally based on service activities within the Four Avenues of Service.

Selection Process

District governors must endorse and submit nomination forms to RI World Headquarters.

Deadline for Submission

April 15, 2006

More Information

If you have questions about this award, please contact RI Programs staff.

District Conference

AUCTION ITEMS NEEDED

The Rotary District 6760 Conference is right around the corner. Each
year, a highlight between the sessions is the diverse Silent Auction. We need your help to make this year's auction the biggest yet! What
treasures do you have that you can donate? Each Rotary Club in District 6760 is asked to contribute at least one item for the Silent Auction at the District Conference.

WHAT:    Any new item, gift card or gently-used item with statewide

              appeal (recommended value of $50 or over)

WHEN:   May 5-6 (Auction bidding will close mid-day on Saturday)

WHY:     All funds raised by the Silent Auction will support The

              Rotary Foundation

HOW:     Step One: E-mail suzielindsey@comcast.net to tell us

              what you're bringing:

Your Name ________________________________
Club Name ________________________________
Item  _____________________________________
Dollar Value  _______________________________

Step Two: Bring the item to the District Conference at the DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center in Jackson or send it to the
conference with your Assistant Governor.

Thanks for your participation,
Mindy Tate
Silent Auction Chair
Suzie Lindsey
Annual Giving Chair

A Business Approach to Membership

Consider this scenario: Your company has an employee attrition rate of 40 percent. For the past month, two of your best employees haven’t shown up for work and haven’t returned your calls. And now, your biggest revenue stream is posting losses.

As successful business people and professionals, Rotarians would immediately recognize these warning signs and take immediate action to address them.

Now, consider this scenario: Over the past three years, your Rotary club has inducted 10 new members only to see 4 of them leave. For the past month, two of your most active members have missed the weekly meeting, and the club secretary’s repeated voicemail messages to them have gone unanswered. And this year, because too few club members volunteered, your club’s most important scholarship fundraiser barely brought in enough money to cover operating expenses.

Surprisingly, many Rotarians aren’t as quick to recognize these alarming parallels in their clubs. Or if they do, they fail to identify the underlying causes — or worse — ignore the symptoms altogether.

So how can club leaders and members apply their business and professional expertise to membership challenges facing the club? Perhaps, it’s time to start thinking of Rotary clubs a little more like businesses.

Bringing a business mind-set to membership

When busy professionals and business persons choose to accept the invitation of club membership other important aspects of their lives are reprioritized to make room for Rotary.  It, therefore, somehow feels like it should be more organic and require less effort than maintaining a growing business or profession. Rotary is supposed to be work mixed with fun and fellowship, not just work.  And, it certainly can be, and should be. It simply requires the commitment of the club leadership together with the whole club membership.

Just like a business, a Rotary club has a vision, a mission, and a product. It has income and expenses and administrative tasks. Every year, club members elect a board of directors who are accountable to the club’s stakeholders: fellow club members and the many beneficiaries of the club’s service activities.

And just as businesses conduct strategic planning sessions, gap analyses, and 360-degree evaluations, Rotary clubs should develop plans for change that will not only prevent further disrepair but also increase the strength of the club. One way to do this is by organizing a club assembly solely dedicated to club assessment.

An assessment-focused club assembly

To prepare for the assembly, begin by asking club members to volunteer for organizational roles and tasks. You’ll need individuals to moderate the meeting and plan the day’s agenda. Other volunteers can arrange for an off-site location, meals, and meeting supplies. Encourage board members to shake off their yoke of responsibility for the day and think of themselves once again as non-elected club members.

On the day of the assembly, the moderator should begin by underscoring the importance of an objective and thorough assessment of club operations and member satisfaction. This should be followed by an overview of the day’s agenda:

Activity 1:  Select club characteristics for evaluation – Many clubs have chosen from these characteristics:
•        Weekly Programs
•        Project Selection and Execution
•        Recruitment Procedures
•        Pre-induction Orientation
•        New Member Orientation
•        Continuing Member Education
•        Leadership Development Cycle
               
Activity 2:  Select task force members to evaluate each characteristic – Moderator asks for volunteers to task force groups to evaluate each of the chosen characteristics.

Activity 3:  Develop assessment evaluation plans – Moderator instructs task force groups to consider how the following, and more, impact the club characteristic they are evaluating:
•        Weekly programs
•        Speakers
•        Service projects
•        Fellowship events
•        Average club member age
•        Male-to-female ratio
•        Classifications
•        Cost of membership
•        Time commitments for meetings and service projects
•        Organization of club and meetings
•        Perceived value of service projects
•        Communication
•        Recruitment

The moderator should remind club members to be as objective as possible in their evaluations, and remind them that the purpose of the club assessment is to work together to identify opportunities to make the club more relevant to its members and the community.

Activity 4:  Review of fact finding methods -- Moderator highlights strategies such as:

•        Question-and-answer sessions. Suggest that task force groups take the program at an upcoming meeting and facilitate a question-and-answer session from the club members to each other and to the Board members.

•        Surveys. By allowing respondents express their opinions confidentially, surveys can provide detail that may not be accessible in a more public forum. Suggest to task force groups that they survey current and resigned members, and consider surveying or interviewing individuals proposed for membership but who declined the invitation. The feedback may be difficult to hear, but the insight gained from their responses may provide the invaluable piece of evidence that turns a club from average to outstanding.

•        Focus groups.  Someone who’s been in the club for less than 3 years will likely have a very different perspective from a 15-year veteran. Suggest to the task force groups that they should look at the club characteristic from different member perspectives by conducting informal focus groups with these members, away from the club setting. This allows them an opportunity to voice their opinions in a supportive environment.

Activity 5:  Develop a structure for reporting progress to the entire membership – Some task force groups may be able to complete their evaluation in a few weeks, others may need a few months.  To keep interest and commitment high, the moderator should ask for a schedule from each group showing the dates of upcoming club meetings during which they will report their progress.

After the Assembly

Once the evaluations are complete, and the task forces have presented their findings, solutions should be encouraged from the entire membership and implemented.

In the workplace, the best results are accomplished with the assistance of many hands and minds.  The same is true for maintaining a healthy, vibrant club.  Getting all members of the club involved in its care spreads the burden of responsibility over many shoulders and many minds, and has proven to improve membership retention.  It also makes the work of the club fun.

By bringing a business mind-set to their clubs, and by using some of the same evaluation and survival strategies, Rotarians can position their clubs to attract the best potential members, retain experienced members, and remain relevant to the needs of all members and the community they serve.

Club assessment resources

For additional club assessment strategies, take a look at chapter 1 and appendices 1-4 of the Membership Development Resource Guide (417-EN). This RI publication includes activities such as the Membership Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Planning Guide for Effective Rotary Clubs. It can be ordered for US$3 or downloaded for free at www.rotary.org.

Also, go to Membership at www.rotary.org for these membership resources:
     •        Retention Model
     •        Termination Profile
     •        Club Inventory
     •        Membership Development Best Practices Exchange

Source: Membership Minute, March 2006