Every August when Rotary celebrates membership month, many of us start looking at Membership numbers.

Article by PDG Andy Rajapakse, Zone 8 Assistant Rotary Coordinator - New Style Club Specialist.

Every August when Rotary celebrates membership month, many of us start looking at Membership numbers. Rotary is a membership organization. So, let's make a habit of looking at our numbers every month like a sales manager of a car dealership. Membership is our primary source of resources, skills and income to clubs, districts, Rotary International, and RDU. Clubs are the only place where one can join Rotary, Rotaract, or Interact. Our clubs are the sales funnels to attract and retain members. Clubs are our showrooms. If our clubs are like brand new car dealerships attractive and offering choices, then many will walk in the door and want to join Rotary. I believe our members give their valuable time and skills to creating a positive difference in the lives of those people who need our services. We all enjoy and value the opportunities our club offers us to be people with a purpose.

• It surprises me then, why did almost 5,000 members resign from our Rotary clubs in Zone 8 in 2022-23 year? That’s 14 members leaving every day.
• It’s a 15% loss of our total membership of 31,412 from 1 July 2022.
• Of those who left 344 were in Rotary less than 12 months! Only about 20 left from new clubs formed in 2022-2023. All others left from our existing clubs.

• In 2022-23 we formed only 7 New Clubs in Zone 8. But Terminated 35 Rotary Clubs. In the same year, neighboring Philippines in Zone 10A formed 45 new clubs.

• In the last 5 years we in Zone 8 formed only 48 new Rotary clubs but terminated 154. In the same period, the Philippines started 160 new clubs and terminated only 47.
• Last Rotary year 8 Districts in Zone 8 recorded net losses of 100+ members, 6 in Australia and 2 in New Zealand. In 2022-23 our Zone 8 net loss was 1,521 members. In the 2021-22 year, our Zone 8 net loss was 1,262 members.
• Today Zone 8 has only 29,000 members and 1,232 Rotary clubs. Australia has about 22,500 Rotarians in 990 clubs. NZ has about 6,200 Rotarians in 235 Clubs. 

• 600 of our 1,232 Rotary clubs in Zone 8 have less than 20 members. Of them, 172 clubs have less than 10 members. Only 145 Rotary clubs in our Zone have over 40 members. The list below shows, only 7 clubs in Zone 8 have over 75 members. Imagine the positive impact on Rotary's public image, if we also had one large club of over 75 members in the big cities of Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Hobart, Auckland and Christchurch. 

• 51% of the 44 million people living in Zone 8 countries are female. 12 million people are under 30 years of age. But Zone 8 has less than 350 Rotarians under the age of 30. Their numbers have not increased since 2020. Female Rotarians in Zone 8 are less than 9,000. Is it that our Rotary clubs are not attractive to young people and females?
• Good news is, 23% of members attracted to the 27 new clubs we formed in the last 3 years in our Zone were under the age of 40 and 54% of the members attracted were female. 85% of the 600 new members in these new clubs were first-time to Rotary.
• It is clear that new Rotary Clubs are attracting a new demographic that traditional clubs are not able to attract or retain in large numbers.
• What is the power of attraction of these new clubs? They are like the Tesla Car. They have more member-centric cultures with flexible attendance and better member engagement. New clubs focus on causes relevant to the interests of new demographics, no rituals, fines and heads and tails. Challenging club experiences for younger members, modern technology for communication, welcoming club environment, cost-effective and a friendly atmosphere creating a desire to belong.
• The new clubs are not taking away happy and satisfied members from existing clubs. Retention is not a growth strategy. Every new club attracts 20+ new members. How many of our existing clubs had a net growth of +20 members in a year?

For me as the champion of having started the largest number of new clubs in Zone 8,  this crisis is an opportunity never to be missed. Having seen this crisis coming early this year, we as two current Zone 8 Assistant Rotary Membership Coordinators and current Membership Co-Chairs of Zone 8 Regionalisation Pilot, PP Tony Heyward from New Zealand and I took action to arrest this alarming membership decline.

We handpicked a team of skilled Rotarians who had formed a new club in the last 5 years, to create a “New Rotary Club Start-Up Team” for our Zone. The photos show how this team came together in Sydney this July, with the support and sponsorship of the Zone 8 Regionalisation Pilot Team, for an upskill workshop. They were coached by PP Tony, RI Regional Membership Officer Barbara Mifsud, Rtn Susan Bendedyka and me.

This A-Team has One Purpose and one Direction. “To set a new trajectory in expanding Rotary’s Reach across Zone 8 by urgently starting new clubs.” Strategies of trajectory are different as we craft a new path based on an unanticipated future very different from today. Together we have drawn a 90-day action plan to keep us focused and will use modern technology to communicate and track our progress. These 12 enthusiastic frontline new club start-up specialists are now ready to team up with our Rotary District Membership Chairs, District Governors, Assistant Rotary Coordinators and soon to be appointed, Rotary Community Leaders to start new Rotary clubs. This will be our first experiment of having a new process for a Zone Team to start new Rotary clubs.

Please meet the “A-Team.”

• PDG Michael Buckeridge from Mackay QLD D9560
• PDG Jitendra Prasad from Brisbane QLD D9620
• DGE Stephen O’Connell from Aubrey VIC D9790
• PP Mathew Pharm from Perth WA D9423
• PP Mark Huddleston from Adelaide SA D9510
• PP Damien Leach from Adelaide SA D9510
• PP David Kenny from Jimboomba QLD D9640
• AG Raj Chand from Auckland NZ D9920
• PAG Susan Bendedyka from Aubrey VIC D9790
• Barbara Mifsud Rotary International Regional Membership Officer from Sydney NSW
• PP Tony Heyward from Wellington NZ D9940
• PDG Andy Rajapakse from Gold Coast QLD D9640.

If you have a positive mindset, marketing or sales expertise, enthusiasm, and time, please team up with these brave field marshals who are forming their own teams to reach untapped demographics of young people, Gen Z, females, corporate leaders, interest groups, cause groups, and other diverse segments of society in every corner of our Zone to attract them to experience Rotary, the same way you and I enjoy Rotary. It's not a battle of our Districts but a battle for the survival of our Zone. In the coming 90 days, we will form a new team to help with club culture transformation to increase retention and new member attraction in our existing clubs. 

Our team's one crazy big goal is to start 20 new Rotary Clubs in Zone 8 in the coming 12 months. We can do it. It is one new Rotary club in each of our 20 districts. To lead by example, together with A-Team member David Kenny and my DG Dave Harmon we chartered the first new Rotary club this year in Zone 8, this July in my district 9640. If anything is humanly possible, it is within our reach. Procrastination is the thief of opportunity. So, let’s be positive and proactive. Please join this new journey!

(Your feedback to E- andyrajapakse@gmail.com)