Membership Development

A basic factor that strongly affects membership is the club’s fundamental attitude towards growth. The records of Rotary International show that an average club losses between 10% to 15% of its members every year. And yet, in many clubs, there are always members who will say: “Our club is about the right size now. Why make it bigger?”

Those who ask this question should be asked in return: “Would you have been recruited into this outstanding club if those who were already here had this very same attitude about growth?”

It is a misconception that the quality of a club’s membership is sacrificed by growth. Often the reverse is true. New young men and women with fresh ideas, enthusiasm and energy can propel a club in to greater heights.

“Growth is the only evidence of life.”

Our very own Past R.I. President Mat Caparas has aptly re-stated this growth dictum for Rotary. He said: “We aim to increase our membership in clubs and in Rotarians, for any living thing that ceases to grow has started to die.”

Having now laid the importance of membership growth, let us tackle the question of how should we undertake the process of membership development in a Rotary club. To effectively undertake a process, a few basic steps are suggested:

First Step, there must be a “Structure” to implement the process. A club must have an active Membership Development Committee. However, there oftentimes is a misconception that this committee has the sole and exclusive task of recruiting new members. In reality, the task of recruiting new members is ideally the responsibility of each and every member in the club.

The Second Step in the process is to update the club classification list. Rotary is unique because of the “One-Man-One Classification” principle. The Classification Principle insures that the club includes a representative of every worthy and recognized business, professional or institutional activity in the community. In this way, each club strives to become a true cross-section – a melting pot of the community.

The Third Step in the process is setting up the membership records. The Membership Committee of a Rotary club functions almost like the personnel department of a business firm. A “201” file- an individual folder for each member which contains his bio-data, photo, and a chronological record of the positions held in the club since his admission should be at the disposal of the membership development committee.

The Fourth Step is to observe the procedure for admission of members as provided in the club Constitution and Bylaws.

With the basic system in place, the Membership Development Committee will now be ready to take the Fifth Step – which is to create a Plan of Action for the current Rotary year. The Plan of Action must begin by the setting of a realistic and quantified goal stating how many new members the club aim to recruit. Then the plan should adopt an appropriate method for recruiting members such as the “Five-for-One Plan” which is explained in detail in the R.I. Manual of Procedures and the Membership Development Manual.

The Making of a Rotarian

The successful Rotary club is not only one which has many members, for this is merely a quantitative achievement. What is more important is ultimately the “quality” of the individuals who have joined the Rotary club. Have these individuals absorbed the precepts and ideals of Rotary? Have they improved themselves and in so doing, increased their capacity to serve others?

The ultimate goal of membership development in any Rotary club should be – “Personal Growth” for all its members. Personal growth in three major areas: Managerial skills, Personality Improvement and SelfActualization. By being involved, Rotarians become more effective individuals in whatever they do. They learn how to set and achieve goals, how to manage time better, how to plan more realistically. They acquire a project orientation and in effect become effective project managers. Most important, they learn how to persuade fellow volunteers to serve in a variety of ways.

Most individuals usually devote their lives to their dreams and ambitions for knowledge, wealth, power and success. When they join Rotary, they soon realize that there are other finer values to pursue not only knowledge but also wisdom, not only wealth but also charity, not only power but also compassion, and not only success but also humility.

Wisdom, charity, compassion and humility are some of the finer values and lasting goals of life journey. And these are the real goals of membership development in Rotary.

Digested from: The Rotary Leader Handbook

Webmaster's Comment:
This article, written in 2007 and based on the Rotary Handbook of that year, may contain information that is no longer fully current. Nevertheless, its enduring message remains clear—the importance of continually bringing new energy and “new blood” into every Rotary club.