Let them know you care

Three ways to show new members they matter.

Jeff Stefek, president of the Rotary Club of Pflugerville, US, has seen his club grow 50 per cent since he joined in 2010. He says that’s because the club’s leaders strive not just to attract new members, but to make them want to stay.

“It’s something that’s top of mind. We bring it up on a weekly or bi-weekly basis,” Jeff says. “Our longer-standing members are always looking for opportunities to make sure everyone feels included and engaged.”

If your club is trying to grow, you probably talk a lot about bringing in new members. But what about helping those new arrivals feel welcome, involved and truly part of the family? Rotary’s research suggests many clubs are falling short in this crucial mission. Only 72 per cent of new members surveyed recently said they had a mentor to help them get acclimatised, with even lower rates reported by women and members older than 70. And only 50 per cent said their club experience met their expectations.

To turn new members into forever members, focus on friendship.

“We’re not just here to serve; we’re here to connect,” says club membership chair Barbara Najera. “When members become your friends, when you choose to spend time with those people in or outside of your club, retention kind of takes care of itself.”

Here are a few more of the club’s tips for welcoming new members.

01. Get together more, and make get-togethers more fun

The Pflugerville club offers lots of opportunities for members to hang out.

“We’re part of a community of people that share the same passion, and you don’t learn that if you’re just sitting in a chair every Wednesday, listening to different speakers,” Barbara says. “You often learn it outside of meetings, whether you’re getting your hands dirty or doing socials or fundraisers.”

Jeff and the club’s social chair make sure to schedule a service activity every month and a purely fun event at least every other month – activities like a pool party, a tapas cooking class or an escape room. At such events, “you’re able to engage one-on-one, find out what’s going on in members’ lives, and really develop those relationships,” Jeff says. Plus, these gatherings give members ways to connect even if they miss a meeting.

02. Standardise your methods, but take a personal approach

The Pflugerville club has created a set of best practices for orienting new members, and Jeff makes sure everyone knows what to do.

“If you walk through the door as a new member and we’ve never met you, you will immediately be bombarded with attention to make sure you feel included in that room,” he says. “It’s a job for every member of our club.”

The club’s leaders have created a series of follow-up emails to send visitors after each meeting they attend. And before members are inducted, Barbara makes sure they know all the ways to get involved.

“I tell them what all our club’s committees do, what the responsibilities are, and the last question I ask is, ‘Which of these do you feel most connected to, do you want to be a part of?’ And I will not go to bed at the end of that day without connecting them to those committees’ chairs.”

03. Make onboarding a game

Many clubs give new members a list of orientation activities, such as going out to lunch with another member, serving as the greeter at a meeting, or registering for an account on the My Rotary website, which is full of resources. The Pflugerville club puts a fun spin on it with a new member bingo card. It has 40 squares with different tasks.

“They only have to complete 10, but they can win prizes with different bingos,” Barbara says. “That’s how we keep them engaged. By the end of it, they’ve hopefully connected with past presidents and Paul Harris Society members, visited other clubs in our district, and gone to district events.”

Ultimately, Barbara says, you have to make new members feel like they matter.

“Never let somebody sit by themselves. Never let somebody walk into a room and not have somebody talking to them,” she says. “Because we all want to belong, right? We all want to be a part of something.”