Value your assets

September/October 2025

Welcome, to our September/October edition of Rotary Down Under! I say ‘welcome’ quite intentionally. For this edition, we collaborated with the Rotary International South Pacific and Philippines Office and the Rotary South Pacific membership teams. When you’ve finished reading this eloquent and inspiring editorial, flip over your magazine and dive into the not always uplifting world of Rotary membership… but trust me (I’m a journalist), everything (almost) you read here is!

But back to ‘welcome’. We have included not quite half of the membership related articles we received from clubs and districts (stay tuned… they are not MIA). We enjoyed so many inspiring stories of membership methodology, club growth and member retention.

I can confidently extract four words from all these submissions that have underpinned your membership success stories.

Engagement. Relevance. Flexibility. Welcome.

So many new member stories credited the experience of feeling welcomed and engaged to their decision to ‘sign on the dotted line’. But I would like to take ‘welcomed’ one step further. Valued.

Not long after the release of the new-look Rotary Down Under and RDU.ONE, I received an email that… well, honestly gave me the warm fuzzies. But on a more serious level, it gave me a deep sense of pride and validation. I would like to share it with you, because I think it is something all Rotary clubs should consciously consider: validation.

“I have just read the Rotary Down Under magazine and found it all very inspiring. I’m a newish member (less than a year) and in some ways I’m still finding my way. However, your editorial said everything so well I feel that things have fallen into place. I edit our club newsletter, but did not feel a direct connection between that and the service projects our club is involved in. But if I see myself as a partner in telling stories, then I guess that is just as important as being on the ground in Timor-Leste. Thank you to you and all your extended team for the achievement that is RDU.ONE.”

As I said… super warm fuzzies, but an incredibly powerful message. Value your members and what they bring in a big or small way to your club and Rotary on the grand stage. They’re your most valuable assets!

Meagan Martin
Editor, Rotary Down Under