District 9810 Rewards Project, a different perspective!

Article by PP Peter Behm D9810 Public Image and Communications Chair 2022-23

When District Governor Ken Miller and I first discussed the benefits of commencing a District 9810 Rewards program, the most important aspects were to incorporate benefits for both the District and clubs.

The genesis of the idea was to award points based on at least six activities undertaken by the clubs. Depending on how many points your club earnt, clubs would have the choice of everything from club embroidered hoodies, polos, caps, mugs and pens, all paid for by the District.

Points were designed to reward behaviours, promote a variety of service projects, and share the camaraderie of being in Rotary. The 12 prime targets were rewarding increases in a club’s membership, to encourage a visit to other clubs, to get Rotarians to register for the District 9810 Conference, complete a myriad of Service Projects, improve your club’s website and even to invite a District Chair to your meeting as well as other activities.

There was however, one unique benefit which surprised us. Visiting other clubs was seen as a thing of the past. However, in my own club of Noble Park – Dingley and I am sure in other clubs, visiting other clubs to gain reward points reinvigorated the membership. By earning points for every club visited meant we had a reason to visit another club. Every club visited treated us like friends. They genuinely welcomed us into their fold, gave us a chance to talk about our projects and club.

Each member of the club would report back and tell: 

• What they liked about the club
• Guest speakers that we could include for our own meetings.
• Some of the projects they ran successfully
• Getting to know them as people for reciprocal visits or combined meetings
• How it felt different to our meeting and where we could improve

My own club members have attended at least 15 clubs along the way and provided some great insights.

From a District perspective, in the 10 weeks since the project commenced, we have 10 clubs achieving points toward their own targets. Three clubs have earnt more than 10,000 points and one club, the Rotary Club of Maroondah has earnt the distinction of being the first club to have ordered polo shirts and caps for every single club member. What an honour it is to see their club President Wendy Scott, proudly provide the rewards to all members.

It's more than a feel-good story, it’s a chance to refresh all clubs regardless of their size. I was informed that even the newly inducted members of the Rotary club of Belgrave enjoyed visiting other clubs and get involved in a variety of projects.

If you ask the Rotary clubs already involved, I am sure they would say the project proved the right motivation will succeed in enjoying the greatest parts of Rotary – Having fun, working to help the community, and learning from each other!!