Creating a fantastic Rotary experience for our members can be easy, enjoyable and rewarding.

Article by PDG Julie Mason, ARC Rotary Foundation, PP Pauline Stewart, ARC Public Image and PP Jodie Lowe, ARC Membership.

As your club kicks off the second half of its Rotary year, here are some tips from The Dream Team (Zone 8 Assistant Rotary Coordinators Julie Mason, Pauline Stewart, and Jodie Lowe) for some simple ways your club can get off to a great start.

Check in with your members early in the year – Give them a call or have a social event where people can chat, give their ideas for social events, service projects and how to make the Rotary experience more relevant for members.

A member satisfaction survey can be a brilliant way to understand the health of your club. You can read more about this in the “Enhancing the Club Experience” document which can be found in My Rotary’s membership resources.

Be social.

We work really hard but it’s important for us to have fun as Rotarians too. Make sure your social events are inclusive, affordable, and family friendly.

Be prepared to try new approaches.

Do you have to have weekly meetings? What if once a month you did a service project and follow it up with lunch together afterwards and have a casual Rotary meeting then?

Intergenerational communication.

Not everyone wants to receive club communications in the same way – some like emails, some like text messages and others might prefer a closed social media group. Have those conversations to find out what people want.

Understand what people want from Rotary and deliver it.

Some want weekly meetings; others are more interested in hands on service opportunities and some Rotarians want the opportunity to attend meetings online. When we create flexible Rotary models, we give our members confidence that Rotary can fit around their busy lives.

And be prepared to share the fun activities and projects your club is undertaking to the wider community in a positive way that demonstrates the inclusivity of Rotary.

Take some great pictures of members and friends having fun and being involved in some of your Clubs favourite events and activities. Make sure the images are clear and in focus, with one or two people (rather than a big crowd) featured – that way your community members can identify with what they see and feel that they would like to be part of what is happening. Making set shots look unplanned takes practice but will give you better images to use to promote your Club. Colour and movement are the key, together with happy faces! Use your social media channels to reach out into the wider community and encourage your Club members to share to their personal pages, share into community groups and other pages you follow. Using # tags can link your images to others with similar interests and always remember to use #peopleofaction as one the tags. Finally use your Club’s signature logo (created in the Brand Centre) on all your posts to proudly show who you are.