Associate and corporate memberships, passport, satellite, and hybrid clubs: These are just some of the innovative, flexible models that clubs have designed recently. Our panelists talk about the challenges, benefits, and lessons of designing a club experience that works for every member.
Join us if you believe your club could benefit from becoming more flexible and you:
• Want to host some meetings online but aren’t sure how
• Have heard about corporate memberships and want to learn more about how they could benefit your club — and community
• Are wondering how a satellite club might allow more prospective members to engage with and expand Rotary
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• How often will we meet?
• How long will we meet?
• How many people will join us?
• What features are most important?
12. 1 2
“What good is an idea if it remains an
idea?
Try. Experiment. Iterate.
Fail. Try again.
CHANGE THE WORLD.”
Simon Sinek
13. 1 3
Dan Ryan
District Governor
Indiana, USA
dryan@netdsb.com
CORPORATE & FAMILY MEMBERS
14. 1 4
A PAGE FOR BIG BOLDBULLET ITEMS
TO CLUBS TO MEMBERS
New members Flexible attendance
requirements
Expanded impact of projects Professional development
New networks, skills and
expertise
Corporate social responsibility
BENEFITS
15. 1 5
A PAGE FOR BIG BOLDBULLET ITEMS
CORPORATE MEMBER TYPES
OPTION 1 OPTION 2 OPTION 3
CORPORATE
MEMBERS
Primary Senior
Member
Additional associates
(max 3)
Primary Senior
Member
Additional associates
(max 3)
Max 4 employees per
company
ATTENDANCE Flexible Flexible Flexible
DUES Senior Member pays
full dues
Associates pay cost
of meals
Senior Member pays
full dues
Associates pay
$10/month
Dues to be
determined by club
All pay same
amount
REGISTERED
WITH ROTARY
Senior Member
ONLY
All members All members
16. 1 6
A PAGE FOR BIG BOLDBULLET ITEMS• One additional family member listed as an “active member”
• Shared attendance requirements, minimum 50% of meetings
• May opt for the cost of just one Rotarian magazine monthly
Primary Member Family Member
Pays annual dues One-time initiation fee, TBD by club
(often $25 if implemented)
Donation to the Foundation
(if a club policy)
RI and District dues
Donation to the Foundation
(if club policy)
FAMILY MEMBERS
22. 2 2
• Declining membership
• Millennials looking to volunteer
• Existing structure was time and cost prohibitive
DID YOU KNOW?
31% of former members worldwide
list cost and time restraints as the
main reasons for leaving Rotary
OUR CHALLENGE
23. 2 3
• 8 charter members
• Aged 30-45
• 2 meeting/month
Relaxed meeting location and culture
Joint socials and service with
sponsor club
OUR SOLUTION:
25. 2 5
MORE CHANCES TO FIND ROTARY:
• Recently retired
• Developing leaders
• Small and/or rural communities
• Shared passion for service
• WHERE AREN’T WE?
26. 2 6
The challenge of being a parent is to help offspring
take control, and allow them to be different
BEST PRACTICES:
• Let satellite members lead
• Let them be different
• Be a good mentor
….and mentee
CHRIS: 18:00
Welcome everyone! I am Chris Etienne from the Rotary Club of Petoskey MI. I want to thank you all for taking the time to be with us today to connect on a very important subject matter – Membership Models for the Future of Rotary.
If you are joining us, chances are you:
Want to host some meetings online but aren’t sure how
Have heard about corporate or family memberships and want to learn more about how they could benefit your club — and your community
Are wondering how a satellite club might allow more prospective members to engage with and expand Rotary
Now a question for you: What does your Rotary look like in the future? For me, to achieve the thriving and inclusive Rotary I see in the future will take a willingness to be innovative, seek out diversity, and adapt to changing needs. By doing this, we can continue to enhance our member’s lives while keeping Rotary relevant into our second century.
So, the topics that we will cover today, do they work?
E clubs
Satellite clubs
Family, associate, other membership categories
Stay tuned to learn more…
I want to start out by saying that everyone will get a copy of the slides and recording of this webinar within 48 hours. And you should feel free to type in your questions as we go along. We will do our best to answer as many as we can at the end of the webinar, but we also have staff experts ready to answer questions as well. And if we do not get to your question we will follow up over the next week.
So a little background for you…I recently finished a three year term as a Rotary Coordinator and had the pleasure of working with clubs in 16 districts throughout Zone 29 as they thought about how to adapt. I am excited to report that many experimented and adopted these various new membership opportunities to grow their clubs and make them relevant and attractive in their communities.
As a Rotary Coordinator, I provided support and expertise to help create stronger, more dynamic and more effective clubs. Rotary Coordinators focus their activities on supporting and strengthening clubs, including innovative engagement of members and new member attraction strategies. In addition, our focus is on volunteer activities, networking, support for youth programs, young professionals and Rotary Alumni, as well as emphasis on diversity including women and ethnic groups.
Today we have a team presenting to you on various membership models that are in place now and are the focus of membership for the future of our organization. It is necessary in many of our communities around the globe to change-up our Rotary clubs to become more attractive and relevant. Don’t you agree?
Our goal today is to provide a unique perspective on innovative and flexible membership models for our Rotary clubs.
It is a pleasure to facilitate this session along with my colleagues:
Jodie Sparks, Past District Governor from Australia
Dan Ryan, District Governor from Indiana, USA
Mike Darragh, District Governor-elect from Florida, USA
CHRIS:
Let’s see how much you already know about flexibility. Which of these changes is your club allowed to make? Select your choice by clicking with your mouse or keyboard and make sure to hit “submit” so we see the answer:
Changing your meeting schedule, as long as you’re meeting at least twice per month
Meeting online, or a combination of in person and online
Not require members to attend every meeting, providing them more flexibility depending on their schedule
Create new membership categories, that might have different dues and requirements
Or, all of the above?
(React to responses)
Today we will share about three models that we most hear about in expanding our Rotary membership, and consider how a modified membership model could boost membership in your Rotary club. But aside from these three, please understand that there are hundreds of innovative ways for Rotary clubs to meet and operate, consider the opportunities! Put on your thinking cap, be creative, think outside the box, or better yet, throw the box away! In other words, there are so many new ways to do Rotary, some of which we will share with you today. And we will leave time at the end of this session for your questions.
Please recognize that no club has to make any changes, “some of you are sitting here and thinking my club is not going to change.” And that’s ok.
However, many of you may wonder, “how can our club embrace changes and become more attractive and relevant?”
What are your options? Please know that you have many options. Be open to change and embracing new ideas!
Maybe your club could start a satellite club, or your club could sponsor a new club, or look at Rotaract in a different way.
So now you see a photo of a passport. What’s that all about? Have your heard about the concept of a Passport Rotary Club. You ask, what is this?
There are various Passport Clubs that have been chartered around the world. One example is the Rotary Club of Greater Sacramento Passport One in California, USA. This is a group of local individuals who want to make a difference in their community in a way that fits within their time, talent and finances, as well as with their family, work and life commitments.
To do this, the Club only holds an "in-person" meeting every other month. Sometimes they even hold joint meetings with other clubs in the area!
In addition to these in person meetings, members are encouraged to engage in humanitarian service - however that works best for them. In October, for example, members of the club participated in a food packing event with “Feed my Starving Children.” The founding principle of the Rotary Passport Club is to make Rotary fit your life. The Passport Club members are full Rotary members, with the same privileges and rights as Rotarians in traditional clubs.
Membership in the club provides a passport to visit and work with any other Rotary Club in the world and to take part in activities, programs and service projects that interest and engage you. This Club is designed for former Rotary members, youth, alumni and others who find a traditional club doesn't fit their life.
The passport option is just one of many to do what works for your members and community. Please remember however that all clubs are required to meet at least twice per month which can be online, in person, service or socials related, or a combination of all of these.
Let’s jump in to some more ways you might create a club experience that works for all your members:
It is my pleasure to introduce our next presenter, Jodie Sparks. A past Rotaractor, Jodie was Governor of District 9465 in 2011-12. Jodie has vast training experience, including serving as a training leader at the 2018 International Assembly. Jodie has been a part of her zone training team since 2016, and will take on the role of Zone Training leader later this year.
Jodie is passionate about ensuring that people have equal access to opportunity, both in the work she does with Wheels for Hope, an organization dedicated to changing lives through mobility, and in Rotary, by working to sponsor and mentor a club that meets online. Welcome Jodie.
SPEAK SLOWLY AND CLEARLY
We have certainly seen a lot of changes, since Paul Harris and his 3 colleagues started Rotary in 1905…and we know need to continue to evolve to stay relevant and attractive to future Rotarians.
If we could pay a visit to every one of Rotary’s 34,000 plus clubs, we’d see members from all different backgrounds, speaking just about every one of the world’s languages, attending a meeting unlike any other in the Rotary world – as our diversity, our adaptability and our flexibility is what keeps us relevant.
SPEAK SLOWLY AND CLEARLY
We hear a number of reasons why people don’t join Rotary – but how can we make Rotary more accessible and attractive to more people?
So what are some of the barriers to people joining (and staying in) Rotary??. It may be
Location/ Accessibility
No Rotary Club/too small to support a Rotary Club
Mobility Issues
Cost – weekly meal costs
Both younger people and Retirees
Husband/Wife/Partners
Time – When Clubs Meeting
FIFO / Shift Workers
Parents of young children
Examples
Grey Nomads
Frequent Work Travellers
Work relocation – want to
SPEAK SLOWLY AND CLEARLY
How can we make break down the barriers and make Rotary accessible to more people?
One option is to embrace some of the tools that are now available to us –one being the ability to meet online.
There are a lot of similarities between traditional and online meetings:
Host/Chairperson – should be there first and the meeting ‘set up’
Interesting and Engaging meetings
Things to Consider
Technology
Compatibility across all formats
What do you want it to do – presentations/share files for Guest Speakers/Committee Meetings
Many programs/tools offer free trials
Equipment
what are the minimum requirements that your members will need (Computer and Internet)
Webcams and Noise Cancelling Headphones
Protocols/Training/Guidelines
Avoid checking your emails, surfing online, texting, making side conversations/outside distractions (children/pets/phones/doorbell).
Eating/drinking
Wear appropriate outfit
The Mute Button is your friend
Communication outside of meeting (ie Facebook Group/E-Newsletter – Rocket Chat)
Opportunities to meet/be involved/engaged
Social meetup – rotate location/days/times
Hands on Projects – Tree Planting
Joint Meetings/Scatter Meetings/Joint Projects (Tag Along)
District, Zone and International Events
Funding
Fees…do they need to be higher as you are not meeting in person
How will you cover the costs for the technology and other general costs with no raffle or fines
SPEAK SLOWLY AND CLEARLY
There is no shortage of options when it comes to the technology that can support an online meeting. Here is just a small list of options that are both free, and have payment options that range from $14-60/month depending on your needs. When thinking about which technology to pick, start by answering a few questions:
How often will we hold online events?
How long will our meetings or events be?
How many people will be at each meeting or event?
What features are most important to us?
SPEAK SLOWLY AND CLEARLY
JODIE:
So now that you know a little more about online meetings, what is the next step you will take in breaking down the barriers to membership?
Talk to our club about holding online meetings
Develop online meeting protocols
Research the technology options that might work best
Hold our next meeting on Facebook live
(React to responses)
SPEAK SLOWLY AND CLEARLY
We go to Rotary because we want to be there…because meetings are interesting, because the projects are fulfilling, and because we know our work will make a difference.
No matter what your Rotary meeting looks like – there is one common denominator - meetings need to be enjoyable, engaging and fulfilling – and provide flexible options to meet the changing world we live in.
There is no right or wrong type of meeting and nor does one size fit all
Not everything you try will work – but that doesn’t mean you should not try something different!
Your future Rotary meetings may look exactly as they do today…or they may look totally different. They may be a hybrid of types, locations, times and styles…..the way your club meets is entirely up to you.
Just think….your next Rotary Club meeting may be from your lounge room, office or Dining table at home. It may be your office at work. It could even be an airport lounge, local café, the bus/train or a community centre.
Just as many clubs are changing the time or day of one meeting per month you may wish to think about holding one online meeting per month, or even look at holding your Board or committee meetings online as an introduction.
I would like to leave you with a thought from Past RI President Sakuji Tanaka from our Zone Institute in 2011 "As Rotarians we look for the opportunities in difficulties, not the difficulties in opportunities"
Thank you
CHRIS:
Two models that have become very popular around the Rotary World are Corporate Memberships and Family Memberships, both of which enable a Rotary club to offer a more flexible membership experience. Both of these membership types can increase the club’s membership and expand the club’s network in the community.
It is my pleasure to introduce to you Dan Ryan. Dan is currently serving as District Governor for District 6540. He has served as District Membership Chair, and perhaps more important to this discussion, has also served as the New Club Chair for the past few years, re-forming two new clubs, and forming two others. He has found that flexibility with membership models has been key to growing membership with new clubs, and his own club has established a model for corporate memberships, gaining several members, and growing from 30 to 45 members with 7 corporate memberships.
Please welcome Dan!
Corporate and family memberships provide the opportunity to gain members a club wouldn't normally get. The best example of this was in the formation of a new club. They, along with any other new club I have helped to form, were anxious to have the local school represented, but the school superintendent stated she could only make one weekly meeting due to other responsibilities, but could the assistant school superintendent attend in her absence?
The members were excited to have two dynamic school leaders in their club. It was an easy decision to allow corporate memberships.
The primary incentive is in regard to attendance. Given the example of the school superintendent, between the two of them, they only have to attend two meetings monthly. However, we note that although the attendance requirement is less, the value the member gains is tied to their participation, which can include club projects, committee meetings or club social events.
When I first approached a local company regarding a corporate membership for my club, the senior executive advised they had not joined when previously asked due to attendance. When I advised of the corporate membership, he became interested and said the company was looking for an avenue for younger executives to learn social responsibility and giving back to the community. I also pointed out that his employees would get to know the movers and shakers in town as they were Rotarians. Not only did that company join with two members, but they also owned a subsidiary, a car dealership, that sent four members. And our club went from a club size of 35 to about 50 by having 6-7 corporate memberships.
As the District Membership and New Club Chair, I attended a Zone Membership Seminar where the traditional corporate membership was being utilized as a pilot program. This option, the first shown here, had a Senior Executive as the Rotarian, and as many as three Associates as part of the corporate membership. However, this option did not allow for the Associates to be known outside of the Club; they were not listed as members by Rotary International.
The advantage was that there were identified members, usually younger, to meet attendance requirement, and for succession. There were also more hands for club projects and fundraisers, and perhaps donations. It also opened the door for mentoring - both ways - the new member learning about Rotary, and the established member learning what is important, of value, to the new member, to make the club more attractive.
The disadvantage was that the Associates were not know to Rotary, so the second option has the Associate paying District and Rotary International dues, and therefore has the rights and privileges of any Rotarian - to receive the Rotarian magazine and attend District and International events, but limited to not being able to be an officer of the club.
The final option has each corporate member paying regular dues, with flexibility for attendance and meal costs. Each is a Rotarian with full rights and privileges of membership.
The family membership also came about, coincidentally, at the same new club meeting as the school superintendent. A young married man expressed interest, but due to his children's activities, knew he could not make more than one monthly meeting. The same was true of his wife, but if they could have a family membership, each could attend once monthly. Since the club had already exercised flexibility regarding corporate memberships, this was an easy option for them to endorse. And that is the key to both of these membership models: flexibility.
CHRIS:
Thank you Dan! As you can see, in one District, they have figured out how to accommodate their members by developing several new membership types, all with varying levels of access and opportunity. And every club who is looking to make a change should start by asking themselves a set of questions:
What membership issues do we expect this membership type to address?
What are the potential drawbacks to this type of membership?
Are members who hold this type of membership active or honorary Rotarians?
What club dues will members of this type be expected to pay? If you think your club can’t afford to offer adjusted dues consider this: A recent survey conducted with members indicates that globally, the dues that Rotarians pay to Rotary International are less than 11% of the total cost of Rotary membership. (In fact, in most regions dues are between 1 and 6% of the total cost of membership.) This is especially relevant because “cost” is one of the reasons given by resigned members when they leave. This could be a great opportunity to look at the dues structure in place in your clubs and districts and to make sure you’re delivering continued value.
For more information, including sample bylaws, visit Rotary.org/Flexibility
CHRIS:
Another membership model that clubs are experimenting with is Satellite Clubs. Satellite clubs provide another option for creating new Rotary clubs. Mike will talk more specifically about his experience, but, a satellite club functions as a short-term, transitional step on the way to becoming a full, independent Rotary club. This allows interested persons to become Rotarians without meeting the requirement of having at least 20 persons to organize a separate Rotary club. Rotarians who are absent from regular Rotary club meetings can make these up by attending satellite club meetings. Some satellite clubs meet for a short term before becoming a separate club of their own and others meet for a more lengthy period of time as an extension of the parent club.
Mike Darragh is District Governor-elect, and a member of the South Jacksonville Rotary club since 1992. Mike is dedicated to improving the value that clubs offer to members, and in 2015 was instrumental in establishing a satellite club for 30-45 year-old leaders, with the Rotary Satellite Club of South Jacksonville.
Please welcome Mike Darragh.
(Mike has a brief intro)
MIKE:
Thank you Chris! I am going to talk about our experience with satellite clubs, but first let me test your satellite club knowledge with 3 True or False questions. If you don’t have the answers, that’s OK. We’re including an FAQ document at the end of the webinar to help you.
So….first question: To form a satellite club, you need 20 members. True or False?
(False, only 8 needed, but 20 are needed for that club to charter on its own)
(React to responses)
MIKE:
Okay, question 2:
Satellite club members are counted as members of the sponsor club until they decide to charter as a separate club. True or False?
(Yes, TRUE they are members of the sponsor clubs until they charter as a separate club)
This can be confusing. So let’s go through an example with actual numbers: if the sponsoring club has 40 members, and adds 25 satellite members, the sponsoring club now shows having 65 members. But when the Satellite separates and gets a charter as a new club, the sponsoring club drops back down to 40, and the new satellite club shows as having 25.
(React to responses)
MIKE:
Okay, FINAL question, for the big grand prize.
The question is: A satellite club can have a completely different dues structure, meeting requirements and meeting time from its sponsor club.
True or false?
(True)
(React to responses)
Okay, so now I’m going to tell you about the Satellite Club I helped start.
Okay, so now I’d like to tell you about the Satellite Club I was a part of starting.
What was our situation?
We had a 60 year old club with a proud tradition
We meet at lunch
And we have the mayor and other community leaders in club
We were adding members, but we lost more than we added—so we every year we had a 3-4 member net decline. Over 25 years, we dropped from 175 members down to about 90.
We’ve got a very strong Rotaract club filled with Millennials: they were great at volunteering, but they weren’t joining our club when they aged out of Rotaract.
So we put together a Focus group of Rotaract and other young leaders, and here’s what we found: There are two big constraints for 30-45 year-olds:
Taking almost two hours for lunch once/week is impossible
And Paying $1600/year in costs for lunch, charity, and other stuff is difficult
Rotary’s done some research and has found the same thing: about one in 3 members leave because of time and cost constraints.
A Satellite club
We actually defined the age of members as 30-45 year olds so it would be specifically geared for Millennials’ lifestyles
2 meetings/month
We meet in a restaurant (that serves alcohol) during happy hour (discounted drinks)
We gather around one long table so no one is left out. If extra people come, we just drag up another table.
Originally, we thought that the Satellite would have its own socials and service projects, and would join the Parent club in a few shared events.
Here’s where we are now, after three years:
The Satellite actually does just a few events on its own, but it takes part in a bigger menu of service and social events where both clubs take part.
We found that this allows Satelliters get more chances to mix with “gray-hairs” (“seasoned people like me”), and lunch club members have a LOT more fun at much more energetic socials and projects
…and we all mentor each other.
But our Satellite is just one example of what Satellites can be.
I wanted to give you some other examples that have worked on our Zone:
Retirement communities. Baby boomers are retiring, and they are looking to have an impact. They’ve got time. They’ve got interest. AND…they’ve got money. ….an excellent opportunity.
I already talked about Millennials. But here’s why they’re so intriguing: Starting next year, they will be the first generation that’s bigger than Boomers. And they volunteer more than any generation since the 1950s. ..another great Rotary opportunity
Here are some other satellite ideas for your club to consider:
How about small bedroom communities near your city, or maybe small rural towns that are nearby? It might be tough to start a 25 person club, but a satellite branch of your club might be easy.
How about a site where your club does Service projects? There’s a rural club in South Carolina that works a lot with the local school, but the principal and teachers can’t attend their lunch meetings. So they set up a satellite that meets twice a month, at the school, right after classes dismiss.
And finally, if your club doesn’t look like your community because people in some areas of town don’t have the time or money to join you, why not set up a satellite in those areas, and take advantage of the flexibility in costs and meeting times?
In every one of these cases, you add leaders to your club, and you get a wider range of expertise to help you know and serve your community.
In closing, I’ll give you three quick rules to help you succeed.
Let the satellite members lead. Help them reach consensus about where they want to go, then start backing out quickly so they develop their own leadership.
Let the Satellite be different. Most of your club members only see your club, so they might fight something that looks different. Help them get past it.
Finally, work so that your satellite members find mentors in the parent club, and both groups are connected together. You will find that the mentoring starts flowing—and it will flow in both directions.
I’ll close with a text I got from last year’s satellite chair. She’s the same age as the kids in the picture on this slide, although we’re all now 30 years older than this picture:
She said: “Mike—thanks for meeting me last month about goals. I appreciated the ideas. BTW—don’t feel bad about social media—you’re coming along. I think we’ll probably drag you into the 20th Century in the next couple of months.” (Then there was a smiley face.)
I wrote back: “Don’t you mean 21st Century?”
She came back: “Nope. You’ve taught me to set Realistic and Achievable goals—21st Century is going to require a lot more work.”
That’s it for Satellites. Back to you, Chris.
CHRIS:
Thank you everyone! We are going to jump right into Q&A here, but first I want to make sure everyone on the call knows that there are so many resources available to you for LEARNING MORE. Here are just a few that can be found at Rotary.org/membership
Facilitated Q&A With Panelists
Jodie – What does the future of Rotary look like to you with respect to when and where we meet?
Dan – Were there any challenges that were encountered with the introduction of corporate and family memberships?
Mike – What made you realize it was time to make a change to your club experience?
CHRIS:
(IF TIME PERMITS) It looks like we have time for a couple of your questions. Any questions we do not answer on this call will be responded to by your staff team over the next week.
(for all?) Rotarian Joe asks a question I bet we are all thinking: Is there a way to be innovative and traditional, to accommodate change and respect those loyal and generous older members?
(for Jodie) How do members of online clubs create the sense of fellowship and networking you would get from in person meetings?
(for Mike or Dan): Rotarian Ted says his club is considering adding a Junior membership for members under 32 where they only pay dues to Rotary, pay for meals separately and require a bit of sweat equity in the terms of service or leadership. What are your thoughts on this?
(Lee Ann will message additional questions in real time)
MODERATOR (18:58)
As a reminder, all attendees will receive a link to the slides and a recording of today’s session via email within 48 hours.