Activate your Rotary club to attract members

Rotarians are world leaders at making a difference. So how better to ensure we continue to do good in the world than by connecting with more volunteers, activating them into members, and nurturing them into community leaders?

During my term as district governor, my team and I helped clubs do exactly that. District Service Director Lili Teichman worked with clubs to develop meaningful, hands-on, and convenient projects to attract new volunteers, while the district collaborated with FORaMEAL to hold the Big Difference food packing event in Federation Square on May 27 – the eve of the Rotary International Convention in Melbourne, Vic. More than 1,000 people turned up to help assemble 100,000 emergency relief meals for people affected by disaster in Ukraine, Türkiye and Syria.

To turn participating volunteers into members, we encouraged clubs to offer membership through innovative satellite clubs. We also chartered the Rotary Activate Victoria Club to provide flexible membership options to volunteers that can act as a path to membership of established clubs.

More than half of the club’s charter members expressed their interest in joining Rotary by visiting www.rotary.org/join, Rotary’s online membership leads tool. We then invited these individuals to join Rotary Activate as it was the best fit for them.

Rotary Activate Victoria Club gives members the opportunity to participate in impactful yet accessible community projects, while developing their leadership and vocational skills and meeting lifelong friends who share their values.

The club’s membership experience incorporates contemporary volunteering preferences by focusing on:

• Spending the bulk of our time volunteering together on community projects rather than meetings; the latter being held primarily online with no strict attendance requirements.
• Discovering what cause drives each of our members and connecting them with experienced Rotarians who can help them have an impact in their area of interest.
• Charging a $28/month subscription to soften the impact of membership fees.

I’ve always said there’s a place for everyone in Rotary. Rotary Activate offers community-minded volunteers the opportunity to check out established clubs and find their best fit, while already enjoying all the benefits of Rotary membership.

For more information on how to turn volunteers into Rotary members, visit www.growmyclub.org