DISTRICT 5750 MEMBERSHIP NOTES JAN 2023
34 vs 32. 1688 vs 1721…. a net loss of 33. What do these numbers mean? All these numbers are directly reflective of the quantitative health of our clubs in our district. At the beginning of our Rotary year, 1 July 2022, we had 34 clubs and 1,721 members. As of 7 Jan 2023, we have 32 clubs and 1,688 members…. for a net loss of 33 members and 2 clubs. Ouch!
As I’ve traveled over the state visiting clubs and getting a feel for the membership dynamics of the clubs, I have been impressed and encouraged by the enthusiasm and the passion of membership chair people, not only to aggressively increase their membership, but, also to strengthen their clubs from within. There are a lot of great initiatives and strategies that clubs are using to retain their members, increase their membership, and to address our District’s net loss of 33 members; and we will break them down in upcoming newsletters.
I’d like to briefly talk about a RI led new member program, Membership Leads. Membership leads are sent to District Governors, assistant district governors and district membership chairs; however, as district membership chair, I am responsible for managing the membership leads for our district. Once I receive a lead, I will do the initial review of the candidate and I will make the initial contact. After the initial contact, I’ll update the candidate’s profile in my.rotary and assign them to the club’s membership chair that they are interested in. Since the start of this Rotary year our district has processed 12 membership leads with only two joining a club and three potential members
waiting to be assigned to a club. Percentage-wise, the numbers do not look good for getting new members through this program, but I attribute this to a lack of follow-up on my part, of which I will do a better job of managing moving forward. This is a wonderful membership tool to add to our tool kit; however, IMHO, nothing can take the place of personally inviting someone to our clubs.
waiting to be assigned to a club. Percentage-wise, the numbers do not look good for getting new members through this program, but I attribute this to a lack of follow-up on my part, of which I will do a better job of managing moving forward. This is a wonderful membership tool to add to our tool kit; however, IMHO, nothing can take the place of personally inviting someone to our clubs.
I look forward to visiting all the clubs in our district and I will shift my focus to visiting Alva, Clinton, Weatherford, Woodward and Kingfisher. If you have any questions, concerns and/or membership suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me at jmcquillar@cox.net or 405-659-2116.
Yours In Rotary,
James R “Chili” McQuillar