Turning the tide on membership decline

Faced with declining numbers, the Rotary Club of Belmont, WA, has turned the tide by embracing a whole-club approach to membership growth.

WORDS: Elizabeth Newton-Faas. Rotary Club of Belmont, WA.

I TOOK on the challenge of being president for the Rotary club of Belmont, WA, for 2024-25. When I joined the club six years ago there were 24 members and it gradually dropped to 17. One of my goals as president was to increase membership back to 24. I started with no membership director and no-one wanted the role. I introduced the concept that we are all responsible for membership.

I adopted a six-step plan to achieve my membership goals.

Step 1

Attend the Presidents Elect Training (PETS) for District 9423 – not just attend, but participate, ask questions and make connections with other experienced presidents who were undertaking the role for their second or third time. I came away feeling supported, but was surprised we weren’t taught what to do if someone was interested in joining our club.

Step 2

Research and build our club’s toolkit. We designed an information/introduction email and a welcome letter; updated our external newsletter; committed to our weekly internal bulletin; kept a list of upcoming meetings with guest speakers, social and volunteering opportunities; kept spare copies of RDU magazine; kept RDU new member kits on hand; ensured the induction speech was ready; and brushed up on the rules.

Step 3

Get our thinking caps on – who do we want as members? I sent out some bulk emails. I wanted a local shire member, 10 were available so surely one would say yes, and a local politician (using their trade/profession). We need more people with the heart and time for volunteering, so I tried retirement/lifestyle villages. We invited our most recently resigned member back as an Honorary member. We have been encouraging reciprocal membership and advertising for those seeking large funding donations or club backing. Next will be targeting specific businesses that may want to increase their corporate/social responsibility.

Step 4

Review our meeting structure and guest list – is it exciting enough to attract new members? We added in more volunteering opportunities – foodbank, tree planting and Cleanup Australia day. We made sure that our guest speaker lineup was organised at least a month or more in advance. We ensured our social nights were at varied venues with varied food options. Although it is now only necessary to meet twice a month, to ensure people can choose which two meetings to attend, we have something organised nearly every week.

Step 5

Increasing our brand awareness and visibility by supporting community events. We recently had our trailer repainted for our weekly pre-used goods market and have been handing out our newsletter. We supported the local art awards (something not done previously), which meant meeting other corporate sponsors, and have the club advertised in the community bulletin. I nominated our club for a community award, and we won. We have board members attend the local Belmont means Business Breakfast events for networking. We have increased how often we post on Facebook to almost weekly and LinkedIn more often. We have started advertising our market on the radio and are endeavouring to publish a newspaper article.

Step 6

Make the most of prospective member enquiries that arrive via rotary.org as well as emails to our secretary or via our webpage or Facebook messages. Follow-up and contact past enquiries when we have something that may interest them. Continue to follow up new prospects, keep inviting them to meetings and ensure when they attend that existing members talk to them, share their story and listen to what interests them.

So how did we go? Let’s just say that we are on our way – the downward slope has come to an end and membership is increasing. If you wish me to share our documents or if you have any other ideas to help, please email president@belmontrotary.com.au