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January’s theme is Vocational Service… but did you know that it used to be Rotary Awareness month? Let’s celebrate that too because it’s a great month to share Rotary and start the year with a burst of energy and a resolution that can change lives. Rotarians around the world have been challenged to GROW ROTARY by attracting new members and starting new clubs. Your Leadership Team has resolved to grow Rotary… all members of your District Leadership Team will endeavor to invite at least one new potential member to their clubs in January – with the goal of adding at least 15 new members overall! That’s a long way toward helping us address the loss of over 100 people during the last 3 years. What will you do? If even only one third of our current members took up the challenge of sharing the awesomeness of Rotary by inviting a friend, colleague, neighbour, niece, or maybe their car salesperson, account manager, hairdresser or the new guy who moved in down the street to a meeting, we could achieve the highest membership ever and more importantly, extend our reach and have even more impact on our communities and around the world. A third of our members could do that! That should be pretty easy.
Are you up for this resolution?
Now, as I was thinking about this today, an amazing email popped up on my screen. Out of the blue, an email from “imagineer” Paul Hickey in the Charlottetown Rotary club stopped me in my tracks! Talk about being on the same page at the same time – I think we are kindred spirits. I immediately asked permission to share it… with minor edits… and it’s the most magnificent email I have received all year! I love the idea of being an imagineer and I hope you might give it a try too… here’s what Paul wrote:
Imagine all the good work we could do if we doubled our membership in each club. Imagine Rotary worldwide doubling its membership. What great things we could accomplish on behalf of those less fortunate in the world.
For me, Rotary is a great tsunami of kindness and generosity in the world. Every hour, everyday, everywhere on the planet, Rotarians are at work helping others make our world a better place – one act of kindness at a time. Rotary is millions of conversations everyday that search for solutions – small and large – to give a hand up to those in need. The world needs more Rotary. You can now speak Rotary in almost all the national languages in the world. Rotary speaks kindness, compassion, social action, generosity, service, love, gratitude, giving... in 200 languages around the world. Rotary is a love drama that plays everyday all around the globe. Rotary is non-political and non-religious, but it is a model for civil society and Rotary is full of spirituality. The world needs more Rotary. The needs of the world's poor and distressed are not decreasing and continue to grow. Even in our prosperous societies people suffer from poverty, lack of education, isolation, poor health, etc. Imagine 2.4 million Rotarians providing "service above self". We can double our footprint around the planet.
Peter Drucker was a respected business author. One of his last books focused on the three pillars of a prosperous civil society: good governance, a strong private sector and a strong non-profit sector. Rotary is a world class NGO. The world needs more Rotary. What will it take to think this is possible? A lot of creative thinking will be a good start; a willingness to explore the possibility. Can we do it? Of course we can. I'm sure Rotary's first century included great bursts of creativity followed by long periods of stability. From our mini-conference in November, we learned about Rotary's great ambition to double our financial capacity. Well, why not do the same for membership?
Back to PEI and the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty and its sister clubs. Our membership committee is determined to dramatically increase the number of members in our club this year. And we are working creatively to do this. Our Discover Rotary breakfast on January 15th is going to be a milestone because we'll have up to 50 potential member guests at breakfast. We will reverse the downward slide in membership which has occurred over the last five years (2014... 82 members, 2019...only 55). We can do this because Rotarians are very talented and determined. We will do this because our committee is creating a lot of innovative ways to make it happen. To support the other PEI clubs, we will invite each club to send 2 guests and later we will share all the process, print and media materials we have developed.
Why am I so confident? Because we have a great bunch of enthusiastic, smart and creative people in our club. Also, I am very happy to offer my vocational skills to facilitate/lead workshops for any club(s). For over 30 years I have successfully co-created organization changes in the private, public and non-profit sectors. I can lead teams of 10 to 100 in action filled workshops which will produce: (1) a compelling image of success, (2) strategies and (3) specific action plans to achieve results.
So. Inspired yet to be an imagineer and make the resolution to share Rotary’s “great tsunami of kindness and generosity”? Want to know more from Paul? What are you going to do in your club to be irresistible to new members THIS month? Will you ask your adult children and other contacts about what they would find irresistible? Will you try something totally new and different? Will you ask that person that you have been holding back on to visit your club? Will you host a Discover Rotary event?
Here’s a bit of icing on the cake… if your club attracts five new members (that’s net above your January 1st number with NEW Rotarians or transfers from OUTSIDE the district), the district will waive District dues for the rest of this year AND we will support an orientation event for them – and offer some support for a special welcome party. And of course, we are already waiving District dues this year for any new Rotarians who are under 35 years of age. We will also provide membership pins and new member packages, if you need them. What else would help you? Let us know and we’ll try our best to support your success with this suggested resolution!
Trivia – what was the previous Rotary theme for January and how are you celebrating it?