Dear Rotarians ,

Membership retention and membership development are of great importance to Rotary, for the future of Rotary and for the expansion of Rotary's good works. Various clubs have been successful in retaining their existing members and in attracting and retaining new members. Those successful clubs, and districts, are a good source of ideas on membership development. Here are some observations / ideas that you might find useful in your district and in encouraging your clubs:-
1] A strategy used by some successful clubs is to identify potential members and invite a number of them along to a club meeting so that they are all there at their first meeting and first experience of Rotary at the same time. This gives them a "comfort zone" knowing they are not alone as a new person to the meeting and an opportunity to relate to each other - perhaps even start bonding as a group. It is worth encouraging clubs to try this approach and to contact successful clubs to get further ideas on how go about it.
2] Some clubs decide to have a membership drive and a typical approach is to ask all members to look around for potential new members. In some cases the Rotarian casually asks an acquaintance if they'd be interested in coming along to a club meeting. And they leave it at that. They probably think they've "done their bit". Without a follow-up approach by the Rotarian the acquaintance quite likely feels that the Rotarian was only making polite conversation and that there really wasn't a genuine desire to have them along to a meeting, so they don't go to a meeting. The Rotarian needs to follow through on the invitation and even offer to pick up the invitee and shout them the cost of the meal (or the club picks up the cost) and involve the potential member to make them feel welcome and involved in the fellowship. And members need to be welcoming and mix with potential new members.
3] Resources: a) The RI website has many useful ideas and much information that can be used by governors and presidents to encourage clubs in membership retention and in attracting new members. I request you to take 5 minutes to look on the web site at the sections mentioned below and I believe you will be convinced of the great value of these resources. A useful section in the RI website can be accessed using the following link:- http://www.rotary.org/membership/resources/membminute.html .
This provides archive copies of a regular email newsletter offering ideas on retention, recruitment and development. It is a good idea to quickly browse a couple of the recent newsletters to see what ideas they offer. b) The Membership page on the RI web site contains a menu which leads to other useful resources and information. The most useful menu item is the Membership Development Best Practices Exchange which can be accessed from the menu, or by using the following link:- http://www.rotary.org/membership/resources/practices.html .
The Best Practices Exchange is updated regularly and contains successful ideas submitted by Rotary clubs and districts around the world, including ideas on retention and development of existing members, attracting new members and orientation of new members. It is well worth a visit for those governors keen to retain and grow their membership. I sincerely hope this extra support provided by Club & District Support is of use to you in your membership development efforts.