Club visits have been a time honoured requirement for a District Governor. Living on the "Coast" has meant spending every second week away from home, and it's been a most enjoyable experience.
I had endeavoured to visit as many clubs informally in my president elect year, to gauge what I might expect and prepare myself for the year ahead. I was not prepared to find in my first week just 5 women members in three of our largest clubs (171 total). My own club has almost 50% female membership.
As we travel around, Rae and I have tried to see if there are factors that might influence membership patterns. With a few exceptions, those clubs that have changed the culture and flexibility of their club meetings are attracting not only more female members, but a great diversity of age and ethnicity. Removing what Rotary International President Mark Daniel Maloney calls "barriers to membership" appears to be working. Some of those clubs are small, but engage in really relevant community work with little income.
Having a large charity or membership doesn’t guarantee success or relevance. I suggest we don’t have a membership problem per se, but a membership imbalance issue. Address the fundamentals, and in the long term, our clubs will grow.
Mark Huddlestone in his book "Creatures of Habit" asks clubs the question- what is your most successful project, the one you are most proud of? Is it raising funds, or is it community service?
If it is raising funds he notes, then it might not be community service, and that we are told is one of the reasons people join Rotary.
The guest editorial David Campbell in the November Rotary Down Under magazine raises this very issue. Those clubs he notes who raise funds and distribute the proceeds, may lack relevance and connection to their members and community, and are struggling to attract younger members. Many of those clubs, especially in his home country Australia, are fading away.
Rae and I have just been this month spent 5 days in Christchurch at the 2020 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA).
It's one of our most successful programmes, and has given almost 2500 young adults leadership skills and the confidence to take up community challenges. We are told these are not the leaders of tomorrow, but today. They are keen to join us for mentorship, leadership opportunities, to develop public speaking skills, and to contribute in international projects. We have the responsibility to ensure those aspirations are met.