How cause-based Clubs are growing membership in our district and how we have been able to form partnerships with agencies such as Police in two states because of our connection with social justice causes.

Article by DGN Dave Harmon, Ballina on Richmond Rotary, D9640

How did espousing social justice causes accelerate membership growth in D9640?

Early 2019 Ballina-on-Richmond Rotary leadership decided to modernise our club by breaking away from traditional style Rotary projects to connect with social justice causes. We wanted to make a difference in our small town, in Northern NSW in Australia. 

Collectively we wanted make it a safer, more inclusive and a more informed community. Our club made the decision to make Domestic and Family Violence our primary cause. We identified 3 areas. Advocate and Raise awareness of Domestic and Family Violence, commit to delivering the Respectful Relationships education program in our local high schools called ‘Love Bites’ and provide support for women and children escaping Domestic Violence.

We activated this program in November 2019 with a peaceful community walk down our main street saying “NO to Domestic and Family Violence.” Over 800 community leaders and school students joined the Rotarians. We commenced delivering Love Bites in our Local High Schools and provided support to an independent charity helping women escaping Domestic Violence in Ballina Shire. 

These actions attracted many community and political leaders to take notice of our Rotary Club as an organisation that felt the pulse of our community and wanted to join Rotary. Our membership grew rapidly from 34 to 53 within 18 months. Our recent 100 years of Rotary in Australia Baton Relay presented our District with a fantastic opportunity. In discussion with IPDG Andy Rajapakse about adopting Domestic and Family Violence as a District campaign, he grabbed the Baton with both hands and made our Baton Relay one with a cause, ‘Rotary Says NO to Domestic Violence’. This initiative had a dramatic effect on clubs in our District.

This cause energised clubs. It engaged their members and community. It provided clubs with an identity. It provided relevance to the local community as the rising rate of Domestic Violence across our District 9640 was a topic everyone was aware of. We created impact, increased our public image, expanded our reach, increased our ability to adapt and enhanced participant engagement. Our District and our clubs experienced unprecedented media coverage and word of mouth of Rotary’s relevance in our communities. You may ask, “what did this achieve?” 

The Rotary Club of Ballina-on-Richmond grew its membership last year from 34 to 76 members to become the second biggest Rotary Club in NSW and the 6th largest in Australia, in a town population of 10,000. Our District 9640 grew its membership by a net positive growth of 169 to 1346 in the 2020-2021 year to be the 25th largest growth in the Rotary world. We attracted 107 new Female members to our District in 2020-2021 to record 38% females and 79 members under the age of 40 and to record 10% under 40’s in the District.

The single defining factor behind this growth is our clubs and district adopting social justice causes. 3 of the 11 new clubs we formed in our District since 2018 adopted social justice causes as, Domestic Violence and Homelessness as their primary focus. It is interesting these clubs have experienced the most growth in our District this year. 

The Gold Coast Corporate Rotary Club has grown by net 15 members this Rotary year from 27 to be 42. Gold Coast Passport Rotary with 35 members, 25 of them are under 40, is now the world’s 6th largest Passport club out of 65 clubs.

Another positive outcome of our clubs identifying with Social Justice causes is the collaboration and partnerships that have grown as a result. District 9640 was invited by NSW and QLD Police to partner with them to have “Rotary & Police say No to Domestic Violence” dual branded umbrellas available in first respondent Police cars on the beat. We provided 300 umbrellas to the Police. We are creating impact, and building a positive public Image for Rotary. If we want to remain relevant and connect with our communities, we need to adapt and be fluid. Today’s Rotary is different than yesterdays. 

Today’s Generation Z and Millennials are passionate about social justice and environmental causes. If we are to attract them to Rotary then we must be seen adopting these causes. If you want to learn more, feel free to contact DGN Dave Harmon on dharmon22361@gmail.com or IPDG Andy Rajapakse on andyrajapakse@gmail.com in D9640.