NEWSLETTER FOR ROTARY DISTRICTS & CLUBS July 2012 ME Zone 28 Rotary Coordinator Mary Beth Growney Selene AUGUST IS MEMBERSHIP & EXTENSION MONTH SHARE THE Fun Fellowship Service Opportunities High Ethical Standards Leadership Opportunities Networking WITH OTHERS HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN ROTARY? IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO SHARE? Assistant Rotary Coordinators Rich Rowland Districts 5650 5970 6000 6420 rartlr@cox.net Deb Severson Districts 5580 5950 5960 6250 das1217@aol.com Tamie Koop Districts 6220 6270 6440 6450 tkoop@wi.rr.com HELPING Districts to HELP Clubs to HELP Build a Stronger ROTARY 1
WHAT IS ROCKFORD ROTARY DOING WELL IN THIS ARTICLE? Article provided by Immediate Past President Mike Donnelly, Rotary Club of Rockford, IL, USA They have a great opening line and a great Public Image presentation: If your New Year s resolutions included enhancing relationships and finding more ways to improve lives around you, we have an organization for you. They set the stage for and importance of their weekly meetings: Our Thursday lunch meetings in the beautiful downtown Memorial Hall provide interesting speakers, camaraderie and networking, with opportunities for service work through a variety of global initiatives (such as polio eradication and our annual trip to Nigeria)and local efforts. They are encouraging new member attraction: It is fun all around. Rockford Rotary offers wonderful opportunities to enhance our community and the world. I welcome you to be my guest and check us out at one of our Thursday meetings. (AND, they have included a phone number.) 2012 Olympic Goal INSPIRE A GENERATION In Rotary, we also have the opportunity to Inspire a Generation The Olympic Spirit: What is good in Mankind The same can be said for Rotary We should hope that we don t realize, too late, that we missed opportunities to make significant and/or necessary changes in our Club 2
ROTARY S MONTHLY THEMES LET S ENCOURAGE WEEKLY SPEAKERS, PROGRAM & PROJECT ACTIVITY & MEMBER ENGAGEMENT July No Theme January Rotary Awareness Month August Membership & Extension Month February World Understanding Month September New Generations Month March Literacy Month October Vocational Service Month April Magazine Month November Rotary Foundation Month May No Theme December Family Month June Rotary Fellowship Month Your Rotary Coordinator Team would like to suggest that inclusion of the MONTHLY THEME in your Clubs can mean the difference between a so-so Rotary Club and a Club that exceeds every member s expectations. We include a Rotary speaker on the month s theme in one of our weekly meetings that month. Our monthly service project is dedicated to that month s theme. The Club committee whose responsibilities includes the monthly theme makes weekly announcements throughout the month, further engaging our members. We utilize the monthly theme to further attract new members. We recognize that the monthly themes are not arbitrarily selected; that they can create value to all those things that should be important to our Club. When no theme is identified, we take advantage of the time to highlight programs and projects that are specifically important to our members. Do Something EPIC in Your Club EPIC = Heroic, classic, larger-than-life, impressive, ambitious, grand Do these adjectives describe your Club? If so, please share with us HOW you have achieved EPIC status. If not, is there a way you can become EPIC in your community? Most often, we need to simply evaluate how our Club is fulfilling our service opportunities and change those things that are no longer relevant. The Rotary Club of Crawley, Australia A Club Worth Getting to Know Through Their AWESOME Website If you take a moment to visit www.rotarycrawley.org.au, I believe you too will be impressed with the vibrancy of this Club, evident through the detail included in the site. 11 Reasons to Join tells us a great deal about what is important to Crawley Rotarians. 10 Guiding Principles includes all the core values of Rotary. ROC Projects gives you specific details of their Club. ROC News brings you up to date on their ROC Stars, speakers, project and program updates and more. Their Club motto appears to be MEET VOLUNTEER DONATE. The website gives you a fabulous first impression of the Rotary Club of Crawley. Feel free to share and use it as a template. 3
IS YOUR CLUB TIRED OR BORING? THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE Henry, the lion king at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, WI, is tired. He is just trying to get through another 90+ degree day. Most days, he entertains hundreds and hundreds of zoo enthusiasts. He is happy, animated, roars when encouraged, and enjoys the attention he gets. When the temperatures start to get back to normal, so will Henry. Sometimes, our Rotary members are Henry. We are tired because we have just finished a successful fundraising activity that involved everyone. Or we are tired because we have just completed another successful service project, led by our newest members. We can even be exhausted after an exciting weekly meeting that was full of relevant announcements and overall excitement that engaged the entire membership topped off with a great speaker. Sadly, we also see boring Rotary. Club leaders who are not prepared members who are not asked to join a committee or project a lack of enthusiasm at Club meetings terrible programs a non-welcoming environment to guests and visitors no real Rotary involvement at the District or International level. Like Henry, all of our Clubs can bounce back, when the environment changes. BE A PART OF THE CHANGE. MESSAGE FROM THE FIELD FROM DIANE HAMMON, Spouse of District 6420 Governor, Bob Hammon (Taken from Facebook message of July 18, 2012) Went with Bob to a Club nearby and enjoyed a great evening! The Club was so welcoming and we had a great meal and a lovely time-he did a nice job with his speech and had some laughs with them too-one of the members has over 50 years in the Club and is a PDG-he said he has a committee to bring him to Rotary and to church-they call the day before and tell him who is picking him up and they are willing to help him with everything, if he needs it-mid 90 s and still doing well except the hearing is hard-can t keep a good Rotarian down!! Let s Push Together It s Just too Hard to Push Alone. -Tom Thibodeau, Viterbo University, LaCrosse, WI 4
Attributes of a Vibrant Rotary Club WE ARE A VIBRANT ROTARY CLUB Welcoming -Greeters to welcome members, visitors and guests (pre-assigned and rotates with each meeting) -Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer to assist visitors with payment & guest nametags -Special introduction of Visiting Rotarians and Guests (by name) -Thank you to Visiting Rotarians and Guests for attending your meeting -Members share fellowship before being seated -Everyone makes the effort to sit with different members and guests at weekly meetings -All guests and the speaker are given one of our Club Brochures Friendly -Members seem genuinely happy to see each other -You can feel the warmth in the room -All visitors and guests are welcomed and included no matter where they sit -The membership has fun with each other - Happy Bucks are shared (good news to share since the last meeting) [Money raised for Club Foundation, The Rotary Foundation, PolioPlus, etc.) Respectful -The weekly meetings start and end of time -The program/speaker begins and ends on time, with the pre-determined allocation of time given to the speaker -Announcements are informational l educational l motivational -The Club President works from a pre-planned agenda, not off the cuff -Members are thanked for their service to projects or programs since the last meeting -Reports of the Club s Board of Directors meeting are shared with the entire membership Engaged Members -All members understand the responsibilities of their membership -When inducted, new members are asked to make a commitment to a project, program or active committee (a list of each is provide prior to a new member induction) -Your Club has an active group of mentors who have been properly trained with your Club s traditions as well as the programs of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation - Mentors are aware of their new mentee prior to the new member s induction -All members have a job -Networking between members is encouraged; we wear our name badges every week -Members are asked to share their vocations through Club projects and programs -We wear our Rotary pins every day, not just the day of our Rotary meeting Missing Members -We care about a member who has missed at least two consecutive meetings -Any member who misses two consecutive meetings is called-to be sure everything is OK and to let them know they have been missed. 5
Attributes of a Vibrant Rotary Club (continued) Member Retention is a Priority for our Rotary Club 1. We treat our members as if they are our CUSTOMERS. We work hard to attract them and we work even harder to keep them engaged in every aspect of Club, Community, Vocational, International and New Generation Service. 2. We understand that circumstances in everyone s lives change. 3. We make sure that if a member must leave our Rotary Club, because they can no longer fully participate, we direct them to another Club who might better meet their schedule. 4. We do our best to be sure that each member makes a commitment to a project or program that coincides with their passions. 5. We conduct (serious) annual Member Satisfaction Surveys to be sure that we are meeting the needs of our members, and we take the results seriously. a. We share the results of the Member Satisfaction Surveys with our entire membership. b. We discuss a plan of action that will be implemented by the Board following the Member Satisfaction Survey and discussions with the membership. 6. Our Club has participated in a Club Visioning event or we have a developed a Club Strategic Plan, involving all of the members or a representative group of members. 7. We make every effort to be inclusive so that each member has a volunteer job. 8. We ask new members to complete Tiny Tasks to get them oriented to our Club, (i.e. take photographs at a specific function; ask a member to send out a thank you note to weekly speakers for one month, etc.) This gives each member a way to become involved using small steps. (Idea from Rotary Club of Madison West, WI.) 9. We keep our veteran members involved by asking them to serve as mentors; asking them to offer their networking expertise to newer members; asking them to share some history of Club programs and projects. 10. We schedule Club Assemblies on a regular (quarterly?) basis to be sure that everyone is on the same page. 11. Classification Talks are very popular with our membership and we do our best to engage our members in these presentations on a regular basis. 12. When conducting a New member Induction, we involve our entire membership and encourage the new member to share tidbits of information about themselves with all of us. 13. We take the opportunity to say thank you to as many members as possible, as often as possible. 14. Our Club believes in term limits in service as a committee, project or program chair. This enables more members to have the opportunity to serve. 6
Is YOUR Membership GOAL in Place? Membership TEAM Chair Serves as motivator for entire team Engagement/Orientation TEAM Chair Shares opportunities for service and involvement Mentoring TEAM Chair Club & RI knowledge, integration into Rotary Entire Membership as TEAM We all have the responsibility to be a part of the most important committee in our Club Note: Team by definition is a group not one! Diverse Workplaces Benefit Business & Rotary Wisconsin State Journal, Small Business Tips, July 24, 2012 Business owners can find value in developing a diverse staff. It is about recognizing that the contributions of individuals from differing backgrounds actually make your workplace more dynamic, open to different opportunities, more able to adapt, said Mark Richardson, vice president of economic and workforce development for the Urban League of Madison. Diversity in the workplace includes not just racial, ethnic and cultural diversity, but also generational diversity, the LGBT community (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender), people who speak different languages and those with disabilities. in a global economy, organizations can gain a competitive advantage if their workforce reflects their customers and community. Does Your Membership Reflect YOUR Community? Many of the values that diversity brings to your business are the same values that can make your Club more vibrant and more dynamic. Differing backgrounds can bring interesting and relevant ideas and program suggestions to your Club. As discussed in previous issues, a Community Needs Assessment helps us look outside of the four walls of our Club and ASK those we serve, how we can BEST serve them. With a diverse background of members, as mentioned above, we encourage ideas from differing classifications, ages, racial, ethnic and cultural diversity, as well as sexual diversity, language and those with disabilities. All of a sudden, the ideas brought to our Club are truly inclusive of our entire community. It is also possible that with a diverse membership, we can gain far more public attention/public relations for the good work that we do. None of this is going to happen without a thorough and thoughtful MEMERSHIP PLAN OF ACTION. Once in place, and with active membership engagement, we will grow our Clubs in a way that truly represents our communities. 7
WHAT DOES YOUR CLUB S WEEKLY BULLETIN LOOK LIKE? Does it Speak to the Relevance & Vitality of Your Club? The format of our newsletter is attractive to members and those non-members who receive it. We include Rotary information in our newsletters on a weekly basis. Our newsletter informs our membership about upcoming programs and projects. We can use our weekly newsletter as an attraction tool for prospective members. We send our weekly newsletter to the media in our community. The High Schools, Middle Schools and Elementary Schools we serve each receive a copy of our newsletters. Our community library receives several copies of our newsletters, which are then available for the taking. The members of our Club take our weekly bulletin home and share them with their families. GUIDANCE TO HELP CLUB BULLETIN EDITORS Thanks to Mark Zober (via Facebook) - Source: Guidelines Abstracted from District 1280 (England) Each Club Bulletin should be tailored to the particular needs of your Club. It should be slanted to the character of your Club-and should identify your Club s priorities and ambitions. Information may include any or all of the following and more! A message from the Club President A calendar of events and activities Duty roster for the week and upcoming weeks General interest stories A regular column from a knowledgeable member (author & topic varies from week-to-week) Reports and photos of recent Club events A report from Club Committee (Team) Chairs on current projects Details of new members; brief biography, photo, classification, business association, etc. Listing of available classifications A list of Visiting Rotarians (and their home Club) and guests Birthday and Anniversary greetings (including our Spouse/Partner name) Rotary anniversary recognition Information exchanged from other Rotary Clubs A synopsis of the District Governor s Monthly Newsletter Letter from members or an opinion column Items of Club history from veteran members or from Club activities News and information from Interact and Rotaract Clubs Ideas from Cliff Dockterman s ABC s of Rotary (available through www.rotary.org) Utilize Zone 28 Rotary Coordinator Newsletter ideas What Sources do you have available? Your own Club activities; project Chairs, Club President & President-elect & ALL members Other Rotary Club bulletins District website Zones 28-29 website at www.zones28-29.org Rotary International at www.rotary.org Lives touch by Rotary are changed forever Starting with our own. Zone 28 Rotary Coordinator. Mary Beth Growney Selene. mbgrowneyselene@ryansigns.net. 608-271-7979. 608-827-5342 8