Focus on Membership Development

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 PROCEEDINGS
Rotary Institute

Zones 23 & 24
San Diego, California
Sam Greene, Director/Convener

 Fourth Plenary Session:

“Focus on Membership Development”

  Mike Kutsuris, Past Rotary International Director, chaired a panel discussion on “Broadening Our Membership Base.”  Panel members were:  George Prather, Juan Vargas, Danny Kim, and Director Sam Greene. Kutsuris began the discussion with the assertion: “We cannot just dream—it will be too late. We must act.  Membership must become a priority in every club and every district.”

  Prather, a demographer and a Rotarian, provided information on the areas of the population Rotary serves and the areas from which we get our members. He showed us the age groupings in Rotary and how they would change in the future if we do not find younger members.   He provided graphic detail on the changes in the US population that will come about between 1995 and 2025.  The projections show that the White population will decline as a percentage in this country from 73% to 61%, the Hispanic portion of our population will grow from 10% to 17% and the Black portion of the population will increase from 12% to about 14%.  The implications for Rotary and any service organization are huge. (Editor’s note:  Getting more people from the underrepresented groups of our population is key to being a vital and relevant organization in the future The figures presented confirm that people in Rotary are an older and rapidly aging group.)  “I think every club President’s job,” Prather said, “should be to lower the club’s average age by five years!”

  Vargas, a San Diego City Councilman, talked frankly about race.  He said people are uncomfortable talking about race and yet the reality of race relations has to be addressed by all groups—not just Rotary.  He said people feel more comfortable in their  own group of people and he cited examples of how this has worked with the Latino Chamber of Commerce in the San Diego area. The concern was to benefit the ethnic group and the ethnic community rather that the whole.   He said Latinos like to be part of a group and that clubs with large Latino membership could nurture Latino business and professional people who might then move on into other Rotary clubs.

  Kim, a member of the Koreatown Rotary Club in Los Angeles, told how the Koreatown club was founded as a means of bringing Korean business and professional people together in a comfortable atmosphere.  They are now recruiting second and third generation members.  Community service would not be in their area without the Rotary club, he said.  The club is now also at the point where it wants to bring in other ethnic groups.  Previously it was not possible because of language barriers, but it now can happen as people in the club now have better English skills.

  Sam Greene had a number of suggestions:

            P Bring in additional actives in membership classifications.  Many club members may not be aware another person with their classification can be brought into their club.

            P Hold seminars at large industry complexes to let them know what Rotary is and does in order to recruit new members.  He cited an example that will happen soon in a major complex nearby.

PPPPPP

 

   Mike Kutsuris introduced the President-elect of  Rotary International Frank Devlyn of Mexico.  Devlyn shared some of his goals for the year, which commences July 1, 2000.  A few of these are:

            P Use proactive task forces instead of committees of people in Rotary who “do things.”  Cliff Dochterman will be coordinating the work of the task forces.

            P Use consultants (people in Rotary leadership) who have the expertise to help with specific projects.

            P Address world population concerns, especially through literacy programs for and education of the girl child.

            P Use the village banking concept to a greater extent in underdeveloped countries.

            P Develop and strengthen urban programs such as those for children who live on the streets in cities in many parts of the world.

            P Focus on job training programs for people with disabilities.

            P Launch a “sight savers” program to help prevent blindness.

            P Speed up disaster relief efforts by Rotary by establishing regional “storehouses” for emergency supplies.

            P Continue and strengthen our partnering with other organizations as we have done with “Polio Plus.”

PPPPPP

  Ann Parode, former chairperson of  the San Diego Community Foundation addressed the session on “The Role of Community Foundations.”  Her purpose:

1.      Acquaint Rotary leaders with community foundations and their potential as partners with Rotary clubs and districts.

2.      Explain the advantages of community foundations as an alternative to setting up club or district foundations.

  Parode presented a brief history of community foundations and explained  some of the benefits:

P Rotary clubs or districts can utilize community foundations to receive modest gifts without the expense and legal hassle of setting up a non-profit foundation.

P Community foundations are close to almost everyone.  There are 523 in the United States.

P Community foundations are set up to work collaboratively with organizations such as Rotary.

P Community foundations have grant-making expertise and can work together with Rotary on community problems.

P The fee the foundations charge groups such as Rotary for accepting and holding funds is low (1% per year).

P Funds can be kept in a “field of interest fund” such as “disadvantaged youth.”  These monies will then be only available for that specific purpose.

P Contributions from Rotary (including reserves) are controlled by the Rotary club board and the funds earn interest while they are “on deposit” for Rotary.

P Most foundations publish a catlog each year that lists funds to which people are invited to contribute.  This brings on-going Rotary projects or campaigns to the attention of individuals as well as estate planners, living trust lawyers, etc.

P Information is readily available about community foundations in your telephone directory or on-line at www.cof.org.

PPPPPP

  Jon Stillman, a Past District Governor and member of the Foundation staff in Evanston, continued the technology emphasis with a presentation on “Navigating Rotary’s Web Sites.”  With help from Rotarian and Webmaster Harriet Schloer of District 5110 in Oregon, Stillman took us online to the Rotary web page (www.rotary.org) and explained some of its features:

            P It is now possible to discover where clubs meet anywhere in the world.

            P You can download the forms you need. 

P Downloading emblems and Rotary artwork of all sorts is easy.

            P You can download the donor recognition form to present it on short notice.

  Jon invited Rotarian leaders who want to know more about the possibilities of web pages to check out the District 5110 site at www.district5110.org or contact Schloer at webmaster@district5110.org. 

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Home ] Download the Complete Proceedings as a Word for Windows Document ] Proceedings Prologue ] Carlo Ravizza Opening Dinner ] September 3 - Focus on Youth ] The Future of Rotary ] Rick King -- Wither Rotary Do We Grow ... or Die? ] [ Focus on Membership Development ] Class Reunions -- Frank Devlyn and the DGE ] A Different Way of Looking at Things - Sunday ] DGE Presentation Dinner -- and Cliff Dochterman ] Giving Credit Where Credit is Due ]  [Home]