Rotaract in
Great Britain & Ireland
Club Membership
Officers
Training Pack
July 2006
Rotaract Club Membership Officers Training Pack
1
Membership Officers Training Pack
Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2
The role of the Membership Officer .............................................................................. 2
Getting Started ............................................................................................................. 3
Retaining your existing members ................................................................................. 3
4.1. Examining membership losses ............................................................................ 3
4.2. Finding out what members want from your club .................................................. 3
Attracting new members to your Rotaract club ............................................................. 4
5.1. Publicity ideas ...................................................................................................... 4
5.2. Freshers Fairs...................................................................................................... 4
5.3. Interest Nights...................................................................................................... 5
5.4. Places to get members ........................................................................................ 5
Buddy System for new members .................................................................................. 5
Membership ceremonies .............................................................................................. 6
Honorary Members ....................................................................................................... 6
1. Introduction
This guide has been produced by Rotaract in Great Britain & Ireland (RGBI) to provide advice on being a
Rotaract Club Membership Officer.
This pack is not a definitive guide to being a Membership Officer and you should always work closely with
your predecessor to ensure that the themes of the Club are continued.
If at any point during your year as Membership Officer you have problems speak to your Club President or
Rotary Liaison Officer.
2. The role of the Membership Officer
The Membership Officer is responsible for gaining new members for a Rotaract Club as well as retaining
existing members. It can be a very rewarding role and one that can really make a difference to a Club,
responsibilities include:
 Guard against cliques – encourage a united club
 Welcome new members, prospective members and guests
 Always be on the lookout for new members
 Ensure the Club regularly advertises for new members working with the Publicity Officer
 Respond to membership enquiries
 Pass on details of Club Members reaching 30 and leaving the Club to Rotary as potential Rotarians
Remember the Kickstart your Club Guide, available from the RGBI Website (www.rotaract.org.uk) contains
lots of ideas on ways to publicise you Club and gain new members.
If for any reason, a rift occurs between any of your Club members, take care in deciding whether you should
involve yourself (assess this by looking at whether any other members are being adversely affected), and if
so, how. This should always be done outside of meetings and great care taken.
Membership Officers Training Pack
2
3. Getting Started
Sometimes you can be so busy having a good time that you don’t notice that your Rotaract club might not be
in tip-top condition. Take a few moments to check through the list below (in no order of importance) at the
start of your year in office.
Is your club well organised and running smoothly?
Is there good fellowship, fun and all-round participation?
Is there an interesting and stimulating programme of meetings and events?
Is there continuing up-to-date information given to all members – including those without e-mail?
Are members of your Rotaract district team invited to visit the club?
Do the majority of members attend your club and district social events?
Do all members have a positive attitude toward the recruitment of new members?
Are new members welcomed and involved?
Do the majority of your visitors become new members?
Is attendance reviewed regularly?
Are absentee members kept informed of your club’s activities?
Does your club seek and achieve good publicity?
Is the average age under 26?
Are younger members encouraged to take on roles of responsibility within the club?
Are members encouraged to have a lower profile when they reach 30?
Does a member of your sponsoring Rotary club(s) attend the majority of meetings?
Is your club invited to sponsoring Rotary club(s) and Inner Wheel club events, and do you invite
Rotarians and members of Inner Wheel to yours?
Are members invited to join Rotary at 30?
Answering no to any of these questions should start alarm bells ringing, and it would be a good idea to start
addressing the areas identified. A bit of work now is much easier than trying to repair bigger damage further
down the line so follow the advice in this training pack and that in the Kickstart your Rotaract Club Guide and
you should solve any membership problems.
4. Retaining your existing members
Retaining your Rotaract club’s members is important. When we lose a Rotaractor, we do not just lose a
member, but also all the contacts they have. It is well known in the advertising field that it is far easier to get
business from an existing customer than to try and find a new one. The ideas that follow should help your
club to retain members, and of course, they will make your club more attractive to new members too.
4.1. Examining membership losses
Members leave for a number of reasons; some of these cannot be prevented, but many can: boredom,
lack of commitment, little involvement, no real knowledge of Rotaract programmes, arguments that have
got out of hand. If you have a member who has left recently, try to find out why by phoning them or
meeting up. If this isn’t possible, consider what happened in the weeks before they left:
What did your club do when this member stopped attending social events?
What did your club do when this member’s attendance fell?
What concern was shown?
What responsibility was given to the member to show them how valuable they were?
Think about the answers and try to avoid the same thing happening again.
4.2. Finding out what members want from your club
Is your Rotaract club programme boring? Are you doing the same old things? Have events become
nothing more than an opportunity for a few members to sit around and drink? Do members dash into
meetings and rush off at the end, not seeming to wish to spend time with each other (i.e. the joy has
gone)?
Events that make your Rotaract club’s programme more interesting are limited only by your members’
imagination. But how do you get them to look beyond the existing club at what you could be doing?
Membership Officers Training Pack
3
To focus everyone’s minds you could convene a special meeting to discuss this; ask all members, and
some useful Rotarians, to make a special effort to attend. It is better not to hold this exercise if there are
visitors attending the meeting as there might be some dirty laundry to be aired, although this can be
minimised and spun by skilful chairing! A flip chart pad is useful, along with paper and pens for all.
Ask everyone to spend five minutes writing down:
Three reasons why they joined Rotaract
Three reasons why they stay in Rotaract
Three reasons that would make them leave Rotaract
Use the results as a focus for subsequent discussions, and make sure that everyone’s reasons are
shared – including those of both quieter and newer members. Try not to let older and more vocal
members dominate. Negative reasons for belonging may emerge – a common one is “because this club
will fold without me being here”. Discuss these negative points first, to get them out of the way and allow
the club to focus on more positive reasons for belonging, and for taking things forward.
Hopefully your discussions will make members realise the reasons for joining and staying that we all
have in common, and also the different things that we get out of Rotaract. Use the reasons to plan some
new activities or ditch some old activities that no-one enjoys. Ask those who suggest new events to
organise them – don’t let all the work fall on one member. Set a date to revisit the outcomes in a few
weeks’ time.
More advice on membership retention is in the Kickstart you Rotaract Club Guide available to download
from the RGBI website (www.rotaract.org.uk)
5. Attracting new members to your Rotaract club
New members are the life blood for a healthy future, since they are full of enthusiasm, have new ideas, and
may well introduce new members themselves. All Rotaractors should want to share Rotaract, and it should
not just be left to the club’s Membership & Publicity Officer(s).
5.1. Publicity ideas
There are many methods of publicising your Rotaract club in order to attract new members. However,
more recently, we note that the most successful new membership gains have occurred when people
have seen Rotaract in action (e.g. see Volunteering, below), rather than being attracted by publicity
material on display or that has been given or sent to them.
The Kickstart your Rotaract Club Guide lists ideas tried by other Rotaract clubs and districts which have
met with success (although sadly there is no guaranteed sure-fire method that will bring new members
flooding through your door). The list is not exhaustive and is intended to show how many ways there are
to publicise Rotaract. If you come up with more ideas, please tell us so they can be added to the list.
Work with the Clubs Publicity Officer to achieve your PR goals throughout the year.
5.2. Freshers Fairs
This is a great event to publicise your Club to at Colleges and Universities and usually takes place during
the months of late September early October between 10.00am and 4.00pm. It is clearly important that
those manning the stand should make the most of this opportunity. It will be important to show that you
are well prepared and organised, as many university societies are not.
As well as explaining the purpose and opportunities of Rotaract, every attempt should be made to secure
the names and contact details of all those who show interest.
Advice on how to run a fresher fair are available from the RGBI website and you can hire a pack of
photos etc to have a good impact on your stand.
Membership Officers Training Pack
4
5.3. Interest Nights
Whether your Club has 30 members or 3 it is important never to take your eye off gaining new members
and therefore you should work on organising an Interest night at some point in the year.
Consider holding a ‘big bang’ event to recruit a mass of new members in one go. This can be a social
event such as ten-pin bowling, or an evening in a local pub which includes a short presentation on
Rotaract.
List some ideas and carry out a pro and con analysis to decide what best suits your club and the area
you live in. Choose the event’s venue with care: look at suitability, accessibility and its image amongst
young people. Remember the HogsHead chain of pubs will provide free food if you can guarantee a
minimum number of people!
To counter the ‘Oh but I can’t make this coming Tuesday’ reaction, you could hold an event on every
evening of a week and both days at the weekend. Obviously this requires a considerable time
investment by all members, but the results can make it worthwhile, and everyone’s had a great time
doing it!
5.4. Places to get members
Talk to everyone you know, ask them if they have children, grandchildren, friends, neighbours etc, who
are aged 18–30. Ensure that they are aware of Rotaract and its many qualities. RIBI sells credit cardsized “What is Rotaract?” cards that can easily be carried in wallets and given out to back the message
up and provide contact details for the nearest Rotaract club.
And don’t forget all those people who have been involved with Rotary’s youth programmes:
RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) candidates
GSE (Group Study Exchange) candidates
Ambassadorial & Peace Scholars
Interactors
Youth Exchange candidates
Young musicians/chef etc
Anyone your sponsoring Rotary club(s) has given money to
Schools/colleges that have taken part in any of Rotary’s youth activities programmes (target the
school leavers who are coming up to 18, and remember that they have older brothers and sisters)
6. Buddy System for new members
Some Clubs find it useful to operate a New Member Buddy System. An existing Club member, someone
who is enthusiastic and friendly, is assigned to a new member to make them feel welcome and act as their
main point of contact.
Ask them to contact a new member before a meeting to introduce themselves and find out if they want a lift
to the meeting. The “buddy” should meet the new member near the entrance to your meeting venue and
walk them in so they don’t feel as if they are walking into a room on their own. They can also answer any
questions the new member may have during the meeting.
After the meeting the “buddy” should call the new member to find out how they found it, if they have any
questions and if they would like to come to the next meeting.
Ease a new member in slowly and when they are comfortable the “buddy” can take a back seat and perhaps
help the next new member!
Membership Officers Training Pack
5
7. Membership ceremonies
Most Rotaract clubs have a requirement to be fulfilled before a visitor can become a member. For some it is
attendance at a couple of meetings, a social event and a community event. Others ask visitors to apply for
membership and it is discussed and approved or rejected by the club council.
Whatever a club decides, it is nice to make a ‘ceremony’ of making a new member, rather than just saying
‘you’re in’. You could, for example, present them with a certificate (an example is given on the RGBI website)
and a Rotaract pin.
Asking new members to complete an application form is a good idea. This helps the club to collect data on
how the person heard about Rotaract, and can also be used to help track down former members for the
club’s future big anniversaries. See an example application form in the Appendix.
Each time a new member joins, the club members should be issued with an updated member list containing
members’ addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and birthdays, you should work with the Club
Secretary on this.
8. Honorary Members
Once a member reaches the age of 30, or 31 if they are the Immediate Past President, make them an
honorary member of your club. This way they can still support the club and attend social events but do not
have to pay membership fees and don’t have the right to vote on Club decisions.
Remember to pass on the contact details of these Honorary Members to your Sponsoring Rotary Club, after
all they are now potential Rotarians!
Membership Officers Training Pack
6
Membership Application Form
Rotaract Membership Application
Name:
Surname
First
Middle
Date of Birth:
Home Address:
Office Address:
Telephone/
Mobile Numbers:
E-mail Address:
Occupation /
Area of Study:
Areas of Interest:
Community Service
International Service
Professional Development
Youth service
Club Service
2. Are you willing to pay member dues? Yes
No
3. The Rotary Foundation offers opportunities to Rotaractors (who are not children or
grandchildren of Rotarians) for study and travel abroad. Please indicate if you are a
child or grandchild of a Rotarian.
Yes, I am.
No, I am not.
I understand and accept the principles of Rotaract as expressed in its purpose and
objectives, and agree to comply with and be bound by the "Standard Rotaract Club
Constitution", "Rotaract Statement of Policy", and by-laws of the club.
Signature:
Date:
Rotaract club secretary should retain this form for club records.
Membership Officers Training Pack
7