SOLANA BEACH ECO ROTARY CLUB

Solana Beach, California

Presented by Carl Kosnar
NEW CLUB MEMBER GROWTH - THE LIFEBLOOD OF ROTARY
MUCH OF THE CONTENT FOR THIS ROTARY WORKSHOP PROGRAM WAS
CREATED FROM THE LESSONS WE LEARNED DEVELOPING AFFILIATE
PROGRAMS FOR COMPANIES IN THE FOR-PROFIT SEGMENT.
NEW-MEMBER GROWTH IN ANY ORGANIZATION REQUIRES VISION.
PROVIDING GUIDANCE AND INSPIRATION AS TO WHAT AN
ORGANIZATION IS FOCUSED ON ACHIEVING.
EVERY GREAT COMPANY OR MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM STARTED WITH A
LEADER THAT HAD VISION. THE ROTARY VISION CAME FROM PAUL
HARRIS.
HOWEVER, WITHOUT EXECUTION, VISION IS JUST ANOTHER WORD
FOR HALLUCINATION.
IN HIS WHITE PAPER ARTICLE, REVERSING A MEMBERSHIP FREEFALL
JIM HENRY / ZONE 34 REGIONAL ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR 2008 11 TALKS ABOUT CHALLENGING
THE STATUS QUO IN ORDER TO BRING IN NEW MEMBERS. OR,
EXPRESSED IN MORE CURRENT TERMS, INTRODUCING A DISRUPTIVE
CHANGE TO EXPEDITE ROTARYS NEW MEMBER GROWTH.
TWO GOOD EXAMPLES OF A DISRUPTIVE CHANGE IN BUSINESS ARE:
UBER AND AIRBNB.
HOW CAN WE INTRODUCE POSITIVE DISRUPTIVE CHANGE? BASED ON
OUR EXPERIENCE IN THE FRANCHISE ARENA WE HAVE NOTICED A
PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR EXHIBITED BY POTENTIAL MEMBERS, SUCH AS,
FRANCHISEES, DEALERS, GYM MEMBERS, AND WITH OTHER
AFFILIATE-TYPE CANDIDATES. THE JOINING PROCESS USUALLY GOES
THROUGH SEVERAL PROACTIVE PHASES.
TO EXECUTE A VISION YOU NEED A PLAN.

PROACTIVE PHASES
ATTENTION: PROBABLY THE MOST ESSENTIAL PHASE IN THE MEMBER
RECRUITMENT PROCESS - HOW DO WE ATTRACT THE ROTARY CANDIDATES
ATTENTION?

Talk to friends at a social event or maybe a church gathering and mentioning a

recent Rotary event that might be of interest: e.g. 1000 Smiles, Youth Programs, etc.
List your Rotary activities on Facebook or other Social Media.
Or, maybe a more proactive effort such as sending out our Meeting Invitation Letter
to a friend or work colleague. (See example letter).
One definition offered by the Harvard Business Review describes disruptive
innovation as that which creates new markets by discovering new categories of
customers.
But maybe even take it a step further Now this is really challenging the Status
Quo or introducing Disruptive Innovation. Find an email list of like-minded
people and send the letter to social, professional, and business people in your
network.
Search for ECO-GREEN directories of people and companies in the San Diego area
and start an email program.
Attend ECO-GREEN events, trade shows, expos, other non-profit group meetings.
Activities like this take time so if you dont have the time, or you feel a bit
intimidated by sending out direct emails, contact Richard, Lynn or me and give us
the information and we will take it from there and make the contact.

INTEREST: HOW DO WE DEVELOP THE CANDIDATES INTEREST AFTER WE

HAVE THEIR ATTENTION?:

Through one or more of the above attention-getting activities, invite a candidate to

our weekly Tuesday meeting.
If the candidate has special expertise in ECO-GREEN subjects, invite them to be a
guest speaker at one of our meetings.
Send ongoing email messages announcing future meetings, events, and guest
speakers. (See follow-up letter from Lynn).
We need the candidate to meet the club members and experience the energy of our
club in order to move to the next phase.

COMPREHENSION: THEY NEED TO UNDERSTAND OUR CLUBS MISSION- BUT

ALSO WHATS IN IT FOR THEM:

This stage is demonstrated by the candidates questions and our responses through
meetings, telephone calls, and emails:
How often and when are the meetings?
How much does it cost to join Rotary?
Are there additional fees beyond membership?
What is the next step?
Can you send me a Rotary application? (See New Member application form).
Unless we answer all questions to candidates satisfaction they probably wont join our
club. The candidate needs to understand the reasons he/she should join Rotary
DESIRE: THE CANDIDATE NEEDS TO WANT TO JOIN AT THIS POINT WE
REALLY SHOULDNT HAVE TO SELL THEM ON THE IDEA. BUT THEY WONT
WANT TO JOIN IF THEY DONT UNDERSTAND WHATS IN IT FOR THEM.
Joining Rotary needs to be a 2-way street, so what can the candidate expect to receive
through joining Rotary? After talking with Rotarians in all walks of life, here are the
reasons most mentioned for joining:

Establishing business, professional, and social connections through networking.

Receiving counseling and advice from experts in business, academia, and societal
matters. Our small club of only 20 members has a wide variety of experience in
professional and business categories.
Making a positive impact within my own community through service projects.
Including family members in service projects and getting children involved in youth
programs in our community and abroad.
Creating a global network of friends, especially when visiting other countries.

ACTION: COMPLETING AND SENDING US THEIR ROTARY MEMBERSHIP

APPLICATION

This stage is the culmination of all the previous phases and really cant happen if
any of the preceding segments are missing or incomplete.
Its completion is demonstrated by our club receiving a completed application and
payment of the initial membership fee.

COMPETITION
In his White Paper, Reversing a Membership Freefall, Jim Henry says, Another simple fact
club leaders must accept is that a Rotary clubs major competitor is not other organizations
or the economy; it is an individuals personal time. So the decision whether or not a
prospective member will join a Rotary club boils down to a simple time-use equation
(similar to what most people subconsciously use when making decisions.
I agree with Jim that personal time, or competing for a candidates discretionary time, is
definitely a challenge when trying to sign up new members. However, with all due respect
3

for Jim because he has a great deal more experience with Rotary matters than I do, but I
respectfully disagree.

In addition to competing for a candidates personal time I believe that there are at least two
other major inhibitors to new Rotary membership enrollment:

According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS), more than 1.5
million nonprofit organizations are registered in the U.S. This number includes
public charities, private foundations, and other types of nonprofit organizations,
including chambers of commerce, fraternal organizations and civic leagues. Recent
IRS statistics list 1.8 million IRS-recognized tax-exempt organizations in the U.S.
And that figure does not include the thousands of faith-based nonprofits that are not
required to register with the IRS.
The other part of Jims statement that I disagree with is the economy does matter.
At a certain income level, and notwithstanding the benefit of club networking, when
a person loses his/her job, or is in fear of losing a job, I feel it is unlikely that they
will be receptive to joining any club that requires an investment of time and money.
If their 401K is declining in value due to the stock market trending downward, I do
think that will adversely affect new membership recruitment.

IN CONCLUSION
A membership strategy based exclusively on acquiring new members does not produce
sustained membership growth. We know with certainty that this is true in the franchise
industry or any affiliate organization. If you are only concerned about selling new
franchises and neglect ongoing training, support, and constant communication to existing
franchisees an organization is doomed to fail. This is true of all affiliate/membership
groups and that includes Rotary. But today we are focusing on attracting new members
and will save the topic of membership retention for another day.
Carl Kosnar, Secretary
Solana Beach ECO Rotary Club Foundation
2306 Wales Drive
Cardiff by the Sea, CA 92007
Telephone: 619-994-2258
Fax: 760-632-0772
Skype: carlandandi
Email: carl@kosnar.com