Rotary Membership

How does your Rotary club attract and engage younger member’s.

Hang on. What is a “younger” member, anyway?
Let’s think, young members might be in their 20s, 30’s or 40’s.
Most Rotary clubs have a membership that skews quite a bit older. Each club will have to define “younger” members for themselves—

If your club hasn’t started yet, it’s time to start aggressively recruiting millennials and engaging with these young professionals.

But how and why?
If you’re at a loss for an answer, don’t feel bad. Your members have been just as stumped over the years. And with good reason. Stereotypes about millennials abound: they’re entitled, obsessed with themselves, and lack loyalty. But this generational hazing has been proven to be largely debunked myths, and let me tell you why it’s time to start paying attention to millennials.

Generational hazing has always been a part of our cultural narrative. “We need to unite generations to focus on moving forward together.” Says Kim Lear, a Keynote Speaker for Higher Logic…

Millennials — who include anyone born between 1981 and 1996 — currently make up the largest generation in the U.S. workforce. By 2030, they’ll account for 75 percent of the labor market.
To date, Rotary clubs have largely been comprised of baby boomers and Seniors — and while they make up a majority of membership, they only account for roughly 25 percent of the U.S. workforce.

Diversity in the Club

Achieving diversity and inclusiveness in Rotary is a fundamental part of fulfilling the mission of any club. Working to achieve diverse and inclusive environments has numerous demonstrated benefits, including enhanced programs and services to members,

Making the commitment is the first step.

Educating ourselves about how deep the commitment must be over time is a big hurdle and Understanding that the work is not linear is also important.

There is no beginning and end on a checklist.
Achieving diversity and inclusiveness in your club is a process for creating change through education, collaboration and vigilance.

Each new level of insight can result in growth and new experiences for individuals and the club. The work itself can be uncomfortable, and the territory unfamiliar.

The question is:
Are we willing to live with that discomfort for a time in order to achieve healthy, whole communities—with parity for all?

Membership is critical for all Rotary clubs. These new members must include a mix of younger, middle aged and older members. It is this variety in age that increases the quality of a club’s membership.

This is a book about membership and change. Many clubs overlook the fact that the majority of their members will be retiring in the next decade and that the generations to follow are radically different from the generations of the past. It is critical for all Rotary leaders to understand that what brought them into Rotary may not be the same thing that will bring this next generation into Rotary.

While the current excitement is finding young people to bring into Rotary, there is a large group of retiring Boomers that could help to increase our membership. They are a vital group of healthy, wealthy and wise potential Rotarians. They are very different from those young prospects in many ways and the attraction process is different for both groups.

This is a thought from my book "Stop Recruiting/Start Attracting which is available on Amazon.