Supporting small clubs to increase their impact

For more than two decades, Rotary has embraced innovative club models – from e-clubs to hub-and-spoke mergers – to adapt to members’ needs and expand its capacity for service.

WORDS: Jennifer Scott. RI Director 2025-27.

For more than 20 years, Rotary has been promoting different club models to encourage clubs to adapt to how members prefer to meet and how prospective members prefer to volunteer. The e-club model was initiated in 2000 and the first club, Rotary eClub One in District 5450, chartered in 2002. The e-club pilot was launched to explore how the internet could be used to retain existing members and attract new ones.

So, how did the concept begin?

“Life for Rotary eClub One did not begin with a grand revelation. Building the online Rotary club was a political not a technical challenge,” writes charter member John Minter.

In Boulder, Colorado, on a snowy March morning in 1999, the D5450 membership chair called the district internet chair and asked, ‘John, can we put a Rotary club on the internet?’ Jim Hanifin simply wanted help expand district membership. Thinking of resources that could be tapped, I decided it was worth a shot. I answered, ‘Why not?’, failing to realise I was jumping off a bridge without a bungee cord. That response was the beginning of the thread that brings us to this moment.”

In his article on the Rotary eClub One, John makes a special note of the contribution made by the late Chris Joscelyn from Australia.

In 2001, the Council on Legislation allowed the RI Board to admit up to 200 clubs with flexible constitutional provisions, specifically for the pilot project. The 2010 Council on Legislation recognised Rotary e-clubs as part of Rotary International, following the six-year pilot project, and other models began to take shape.

The satellite pilot model was approved at the 2013 Council on Legislation (COL), allowing Rotary clubs to sponsor these satellite clubs. The model was designed to offer a more flexible way for individuals to join Rotary, particularly those who might not have been able to form or join a traditional club. The model was formalised at the 2016 COL, where clubs were also granted more flexibility in how they operate including meeting frequency and attendance, meeting format and different membership types – which led to flourishing different club models.

Cause-based Rotary clubs are a relatively recent development, gaining traction to engage new members and focus service efforts on specific causes. These clubs, unlike traditional clubs with a broader focus, bring together individuals passionate about a particular issue, like the environment or education, to address it collectively. This approach allows for a more targeted and impactful approach to service, while also attracting individuals who may not have been drawn to the traditional Rotary model.

A new concept is Rotary companion clubs, a type of satellite club. These clubs operate as part of an existing Rotary club (the ‘host club’) but offer a different meeting structure or focus. They can be impact clubs focused on specific community needs, cause-based clubs focused on a particular issue, or specialty clubs for a particular field of interest.

Although the above models are providing versatile opportunities for expansion, they do not always meet the needs of existing small clubs.

Club mergers are one way for small clubs to continue, by pooling their resources of people, projects and public relations. A bigger base of talent and funds can lead to bigger projects, a wider network and more to offer from the club experience.

A standard merger, however, entails one or more clubs merging with another club, with one club handing in their charter and moving operations to the club selected to continue (although they can all agree which charter to keep and operate under). This could mean a change of meeting place and time for one or more of the clubs, which may be a barrier. Of course, clubs can agree on a totally new centre for operations if they choose.

Over the past few years, PDG Ian Scott (yes, my husband) has been developing a club model to support small clubs that want to remain active and sustainable so they can continue to support their communities.

So, let’s examine this different approach, offered by the Rotary Club of Greater Blue Mountains, NSW, and formed in July 2025 using a novel way of merging. The Rotary Clubs of Blackheath, Central Blue Mountains and Katoomba merged into a hub-and-spoke model, where the members continue to meet at their preferred venue and frequency. The ‘hub’ in this case is the entity, Rotary Club of Greater Blue Mountains (the club), and the ‘spokes’ are the various meeting places. There is only one club board and ‘spokes’ just need to have a coordinator to ensure the meetings are set up. Projects, resources, funds and fundraising are all shared. Each spoke still operates under the club’s sole name, the Rotary Club of Greater Blue Mountains.

Hub-and-spoke requires goodwill, cooperation and a firm understanding that what we ‘have’ belongs to Rotary and is for the benefit of community, not individuals or groups of members.

The Rotary Club of Greater Blue Mountains now has a stronger base from which to expand its reach. New ‘spokes’ can easily be added if groups of people (even only two or three) wish to focus on a cause or interest. Some prospective members are considering focusing on wombat rescue, others are developing the concept of a peacebuilding ‘spoke’. The club is looking forward to the new opportunities and growth that lie ahead.

These models are all different ways of implementing our Action Plan. As RI President Francesco reminds us, membership expansion and retention isn’t about numbers, it is about growing our capacity to serve, to lead and to create
lasting change.