Growing Young

In this, my first year as District 9520 Membership Chair, my focus has been on retention. I don’t for an instant want to forget about retention, but I feel it’s time to shift focus for my second year. There’s only so much I can bang on about the one subject, and the messages have all been sent. Hopefully some have been received and acted upon. Next year, I want to start the conversation about bringing our average age down.





Does anyone want to guess how old Paul Harris was when he founded Rotary? I suppose many have this vision of a Chicago lawyer in his 60s, which pretty much matches the stereotypical Rotarian. He was actually 36, which is 10 years younger than I am now, and ironically, I’m still considered a “young Rotarian”. Gustavus Loehr was 41, Silvester Schiele was 34 and Hiram Shorey was 42. So just to be crystal clear on this, the average age of the first four Rotarians was just over 38. Yet if we found a club these days with an average age of 38, we would be asking for the magic formula. When I go out with my Rotary friends, I’m often the only one without a Seniors’ Card, and the conversation is about my kids and their grandkids (who they can spoil and give back).




In Australia, a whopping 59% of our membership base is aged over 60, with only 7% under 40. “So what?” you may ask. Let me stress that I have no problem with the number of 60+ members in our ranks. Our organisation derives enormous benefit from both the life experience and Rotary experience of this demographic, and it’s obvious that this age group has more time on their hands than younger generations. It’s not the number of 60+ Rotarians, but the proportion which is out of whack. With just over 30,000 members in Australia, that 59% over 60 equates to 17,700 members, but the 7% under 40 equates to only 2,100. It’s that number of 2,100 that drastically needs to increase if our organisation is to survive another 100 years.




I remember quite a number of years ago reading a letter to the editor of Rotary Down under which lamented the number of young members in our organisation, but went on to suggest there must be something wrong with them if they weren’t interested in Rotary. I recall comments to the effect of, “The ‘me’ generation”, “self-absorbed” and “unwilling to give back”. As a member of said generation and a Rotarian of over 10 years at the time, I felt compelled to respond, and respond I did. My rebuttal was that the problem wasn’t with them, the problem was with us.


The simple fact is that Rotary is not a “one size fits all” organisation. I am more than happy for us to recruit the right people no matter what their age, but we simply must bring our average age down. The only way that will happen is to recruit more under 40s, and the only way that will happen is by meaningful and real change. Not just in rhetoric, but in action. The average Rotary club is a pretty comfortable fit for the average baby boomer, and our demographics and recruitment statistics back that up. We don’t have any trouble finding people 50 and over. Sure, there are some clubs for which recruitment is a constant struggle, but the overall recruitment picture sees a lot of new members in the 50+ demographic. The average Rotary club is NOT however, a particularly comfortable fit for the average Gen X or Y. Again, there are exceptions to the rule. I personally know a good number of Gen Y members, and they are seriously special people. But they are rare.





In response to globally depressing trends of young member uptake, RI Headquarters undertook a “Young Professionals” campaign in 2013 which uncovered some confronting findings from focus groups of young professional non-Rotarians all over the world. We have major public image challenges to even get this group to take notice of us, and once we do, our messages aren’t matching their experiences when they visit a club. But the biggest question we must ask is, “Are we serious about attracting a younger audience?” Because getting serious means change.





I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but in a few months we’re holding a special event with a hope to finding some. The Young Professionals Forum will be held at SILC Flinders University on August 8. This is a FREE event and it will incorporate a seminar specifically dedicated to attracting young professionals. Please put the date in your diary now, and more information will follow. Bookings are essential via www.trybooking.com/HCPP

Ham & Pineapple Rotary

Ham & Pineapple Rotary

My son can be a particularly picky eater. One of his favourite meals is ham & pineapple pizza. We occasionally make pizza at home, and I wouldn’t ever bother putting anything on his pizza but ham and pineapple, because he would just pick it off. Occasionally we grab a pizza when we’re out, and that’s exactly what he does – picks off anything and everything that is not ham or pineapple. I sort of think ham and pineapple pizzas are a bit on the boring side, but he just loves them that way.

So, what’s this talk of pizza got to do with Rotary?

If my Rotary International experience was a pizza, it would be a super supreme. There’s a bit of everything and I just woof it down. If I think of my greatest Rotary experiences, it’s hard to go past the three international conventions I’ve attended, including last year’s in Sydney. For a Rotarian, it’s the greatest show on Earth. I know that it’s hard to make an international convention every year, but when it’s in your own back yard, it’s hard not to. The second greatest experiences for me have been the numerous District Conferences I’ve attended. A few weeks ago I drove my wife and kids 7 hours to Ballarat for an amazing experience. DG Jerry and his team pulled off a truly remarkable conference, with highlight after highlight, and my family had a great time enjoying what Ballarat had to offer whilst I was attending the plenary sessions.

But apart from me, there were only 228 other Rotarians from our district who made the trip (over 20 of whom were working behind the scenes to make the show happen). Accompanying partners and guests took the attendance to well over the 300 mark, but I’ve been scratching my head, wondering why only 229 Rotarians out of a total district membership of 1,369 would come to such an amazing event. That’s just under 17%.

Many Rotarians cannot get away from work commitments. I ran a catering business for 5 years, and wiping out a weekend meant saying no to 5 or 6 functions, and at the time, I just couldn’t do it. Affordability is also an issue. Whilst the registration cost is quite reasonable, accommodation, petrol and meals all add up. Some Rotarians are getting on in years and their health precludes their attendance at such events, and sometimes the conference will clash with other important events in our lives, so it’s just not possible. I get that. But I feel the overwhelming majority of people who elect not to attend a district conference are just not interested in “super supreme” Rotary. They like ham and pineapple Rotary, and will pick off anything that’s not ham or pineapple.

District Assembly and the many other training events offer more variety to the Rotary pizza too, as do visits to other clubs, attendance at other club fundraising events, or district events like the 110th Birthday or the Rotary Race Day. Taking on a role at district level is like walking into a pizza shop – there is just so much variety on offer. You can choose what roles take your interest, and take advantage of your expertise. It’s just like choosing which extra toppings you want on your pizza.

Think of the pizza analogy from a recruitment perspective too. We need to offer a broad range of pizza at our pizza shop, because the customers wouldn’t walk through the front door if ham and pineapple was the only variety on the menu.

But here’s the kicker. If you never even try those extra toppings, you’ll never know what you’re missing out on. I fear that so many Rotarians are not getting the most out of their Rotary experience, and many end up leaving the organisation because ham and pineapple got a little bit boring after a few years. Rotary has so much to offer beyond weekly meetings. Not everything is for everyone. Even I will pick the olives off my pizza. But you’ll never know how good pizza can be if you pick off everything that’s not ham or pineapple.

Your Club Recruitment Campaign (DG News April 2015)

Your Club Recruitment Campaign – Three Factors to Consider

How are your club recruitment initiatives going? Do you have a plan you’re working to, or is it a bit haphazard? If we were to undertake a study of everyone who joined our ranks over the past 5 years and identify and document the events that led to their decision to join, I wonder what proportion would be random events or chance meetings, and what proportion would be as a result of a dedicated recruitment campaign?

Without hard evidence either way, my guess is that our recruitment successes are largely random – i.e., we get lucky. It’s reasonable that the majority of people join a Rotary club because they’ve been invited by a friend or colleague, we Rotarians are constantly badgered to ask our friends to join. But what about those community minded citizens who DON’T already know someone in Rotary? What are we doing to gain their attention?

I’d like you to consider three factors when it comes to recruitment initiatives: Intent, Audience & Product.

INTENT

How committed are you to recruiting new members? Is your ENTIRE club driven and enthusiastic about promoting your work and speaking to potential members? Or, as is the case in many clubs, are there one or two well-connected and dedicated recruiters on a mission, and the rest of the club thinking that recruitment is someone else’s problem? Have you set aside a budget for promotion and recruitment? Do you even want new members? I know there are plenty out there who are very satisfied with the status quo.

AUDIENCE

Who are you trying to reach? Where are they? Are you looking for specific sectors or (dare I say it) “classifications”? Do you want to attract younger members? More women? More who were born outside of Australia? Do you have a specific geographic region you’re targeting?  The private sector, the public sector, the local shopping centre, the local industrial park? Or are you happy with anyone you can get? Are you going to where they are, or are you expecting they will come to you? You can’t answer questions that haven’t been asked. Put some thought into your target audience.

PRODUCT

What is it that you’re trying to sell? This is the most important part of the formula to get right, but the most ignored part of the formula in Rotary. We can no longer assume that the style of Rotary we have become accustomed to, is the style that will attract new members today. Twenty years ago you could have made a living selling 35mm film and floppy disks. If you went into business today with the same products, your customer base will be very limited. Likewise, the style of Rotary we were selling twenty years ago may not be as well received today. Are you working on innovative and sustainable projects that address a community need? Are your meetings run the same way they were twenty years ago? Are they interesting and professionally run? Is your venue welcoming with good food at a good price? These all form part of the Rotary’s product that potential members will evaluate. Would YOU join your club today if you knew nothing about Rotary?

In the words of Winston Churchill, “He who fails to plan is planning to fail”.

 

The biggest and most exciting job in my Rotary life. (DG News March 2015)

 

The Rotary Club of Hindmarsh Island was the last club chartered in our district, but sadly, it is also one of seven clubs to hand in its charter over the last ten years, along with Reynella, St. Marys, Glen Osmond, Morphettville, and most recently Marion and Lameroo.

Rotary continues to grow at a staggering rate in some parts of the world, including India, South Korea, Germany, Taiwan, Brazil and in many smaller African and Asian countries. But for much of the western world, it is more common for clubs to disappear than to charter. But every now and then an opportunity presents itself, even if not overtly.

As a long-time resident of Adelaide’s outer southern suburbs, I have watched the urban sprawl rapidly creep ever closer to Sellicks Hill, the southernmost point of the Adelaide plains where the coast and the hills meet, the point at which the sprawl will one day stop, or must at least slow down.

In this time I’ve seen the coastal region from Seaford down to Aldinga grow to become a busy and thriving, yet family friendly community, nestled between the hills, the vines of the McLaren Vale region and the pristine beaches where my kids have splashed joyously. They have also participated in gymnastics at the Seaford Recreation Centre, have floated down the end of the Onkaparinga River where it winds gently into the sea at Southport Beach, and they’ve climbed all over the massive wooden playground at Jubilee Park in Port Noarlunga South. It really is a fabulous community, but there’s just one more thing that could make this community even more special. A Rotary presence.

I am delighted to announce that we have commenced the process of chartering our district’s newest Rotary club in Seaford. The Seaford/Aldinga region is the second fastest growing in South Australia, second only to the massive growth around Munno Para and Smithfield to the north of the city. But unlike Adelaide’s outer northern suburbs which lie in District 9500, the expanding south is part of D9520, and the perfect region to launch a new Rotary Club. The recent completion of duplication work to the Southern Expressway and extension of the Noarlunga train line to Seaford have helped make the region more attractive to those travelling into the city and inner metropolitan suburbs for work.

It is customary for new Rotary clubs to be sponsored by existing Rotary clubs, but this initiative will be taken on directly by the District Membership Committee. We are under no illusions with regard to the scale of this task. There is a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we are driven and committed to this exciting venture. We need to find 25 new members before we can even approach RI to charter the club, but we will give this one hell of a crack. We want to build Australia’s newest and most exciting Rotary club, and it may not look like what we’ve come to expect of a Rotary club.

There will be some dedicated Rotarians working to make this happen, but I want to pay tribute to a special person who will be critical to the success of this venture. Cecilie Cardwell is currently the secretary of the Rotaract Club of Flinders, and District Rotaract Representative. But Cecilie has agreed to take on one of the most challenging but rewarding jobs in Rotary, that of Charter President of a yet-to-be-formed club. She was a RYLA graduate in 2012, RYPEN director in 2013 and RYLA director in 2014, and I am confident there will be a massive return on the investment Rotary has made in Cecilie through these amazing youth programs. Originally from Norway, Cecilie has now lived in Adelaide for 5 years and recently completed her Bachelor of Nursing at Flinders University and is currently working for a nursing agency. As a former Rotaractor, I am so very proud that Rotaract continues to produce our future Rotary leaders.

 

Investing in the future of your club (DG News February 2015)

How well resourced is your club’s promotional department?

In addition to stepping into the role of District Membership & PR Chair in July, I was also appointed to the same role in my own club. One of my priorities this year at Edwardstown has been to complete an audit of our promotional resources, and I found there were a few areas that needed attention. I want to give a bouquet to the club’s board members, because they have supported every request I have made 100%. There has been no procrastination, I’ve just been told, “go and organise it”. In the last six months we have had new club fliers printed, a new pull-up banner, new display boards, new pens and new promotional bags.

What were the bags for? I’m glad you asked! In December we participated in a local “Welcome to Australia” event where new arrivals were invited to participate in sports and meet local community groups in an effort to better integrate into the community. It was a great opportunity to tell our Rotary story. OK – we cooked some sausages as well! It crossed my mind that everyone attending would end up with fliers and handouts from the participating groups, and they might appreciate a bag from our club to take away with them. No-one ever throws out these bags, they end up getting taken to the supermarket or given to friends, and as a result, the Rotary wheel gets seen over and over again.

But I know there are many clubs where these decisions appear a lot harder to make, because these things all cost money. Try not to choke on your cornflakes when I say this, but it’s OK to responsibly spend a portion of funds you raise to promote your club. I know this concept may seem foreign to many Rotarians, but in fundraising circles, it is completely normal.

When we conduct our fundraising initiatives such as sausage sizzles, we obviously have to deduct expenses such as sausages, bread, sauce, gloves, etc from our takings before we can declare a profit and pass on those funds. Everyone understands that. The point I’m trying to make is that promotion and advertising should be considered a legitimate expense.

According to the American Institute of Philanthropy, it is considered “reasonable for most charities” if 60% of the total funds raised are spent on charitable programs, with the remaining percentage being spent on fundraising and general administration (I’m not necessarily endorsing that ratio). Many of the most recognisable charities worldwide spend over 10% of total funds raised on promoting themselves: including Doctors Without Borders (11.8%), World Wildlife Fund (20%), World Vison (10.2%), Oxfam (15%), PETA (14.9%) and Greenpeace (10.3%)*. It makes complete sense to me, because if they don’t promote themselves, how do they expect to raise the funds they need to pay for the work they do? Who do you think pays for the TV advertising you see for these charities? The donors of course!

Likewise, if we don’t promote ourselves, how do we expect to attract the members we need to do the work we do?

Our members already pay subscriptions (to cover administrative costs for the running of our clubs, district and Rotary International). It’s not reasonable to ask members to pay again out of their own pocket to promote their club to the wider community. Money spent on club promotion needs to be seen as an investment, an investment that will bring us a return. By all means be responsible in your spending, but be innovative, and be prepared to invest in the promotion of Rotary and your club.

*source: www.charitynavigator.org

Rotary’s Global Membership Migration Part 2 (DG News December 2014)

Rotary’s Global Membership Migration…

and what it means for clubs in developed countries - Part 2

In November’s column, I talked about Rotary’s staggering growth rate in developing countries, and the equally staggering membership decline in Rotary’s traditional strongholds such as North America, Europe and Australia, and promised a suggestion or two for countries like Australia facing membership decline.

I believe we need to change our message. Rotarians for far too long have hidden their light under the bushel. For close to a century, we were happy to get on with the job without fuss or notoriety. All very noble, but when our membership started to stagnate 20 odd years ago, we came to the realisation that we needed to do a better job of telling the world what we do. And whilst we still have a long way to go (I’ve been heard to mutter “our marketing sucks” on the odd occasion), we seem to be getting better at talking about the lives we’re changing by eliminating Polio, providing basic education, and improving health outcomes with clean water and sanitation projects.

My question today is this, “Are messages solely about feeding the hungry, providing clean water, educating the illiterate and eradicating Polio gaining traction with an audience who are fed, have clean water on tap, are educated and healthy? Will that audience recognise the value of Rotary?”

I don’t have space to give a detailed explanation on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (you can always google it if it doesn’t ring any bells), but Rotary is addressing the first two rungs on the ladder (triangle?) in these developing countries, and I suspect that’s why membership is growing in those areas: Rotary appears more relevant.  But how do we appear relevant to an audience here in Australia, where we have clean water, electricity, education and health care? I believe the answer is in the top half of the triangle. These days people are increasingly asking, “What’s in it for me?”, and Rotary membership can address those higher needs, such as friendship, belonging, accomplishment, creativity and prestige.

We need to change our message so it’s not just about what we do, i.e. clean water, Polio and literacy, but also includes the benefits of membership, such as personal development, friendships, and being part of a team. There needs to be a deliberate strategy to weave the benefits of membership into our personal conversations about Rotary, our newspaper articles and advertising, our club bulletins, websites and social media presence. When the wider community start to understand not only what we do, but what we get out of it, we might just start to appear more relevant, and membership might appear more attractive.

As we edge towards the half-way mark of the Rotary year, I want to welcome all of our new Rotarians into this wonderful organisation, and congratulate those who have worked so hard to bring the new faces, new enthusiasm and new ideas into the district. A special thanks to Assistant Governor Lesley Mitchell for her hard work in organising a successful training day in Mildura on November 16. The visiting presenters were shown some wonderful Sunraysia hospitality and we got to meet some passionate Rotarians.

Rotary’s Global Membership Migration - Part 1 (DG News November 2014)

Rotary’s Global Membership Migration…

and what it means for clubs in developed countries - Part 1

You’ve no doubt heard the statistic that our global membership has remained static at 1.2 million for over 20 years, and you may also have heard the statistic that we induct and lose 100,000 members per year. What you may not have heard (unless I’ve spoken at your club recently) is that the 100,000 that join Rotary’s ranks each year not all joining in the same regions as those 100,000 who are leaving. There are a few notable exceptions, but it is overwhelmingly Rotary in the western or “developed” world that is losing those 100,000 members a year, and Rotary in the developing world that is gaining them.

I remember when I first got involved in Rotaract in the 80’s, there were clubs everywhere in D9520 (then 952) and our neighbouring D9500. By the time I left Rotaract and became a Rotarian in 1997, there were only 2 or 3 struggling Rotaract Clubs remaining, including Edwardstown which folded in 1999. But as I sadly watched Rotaract fade away locally, it was growing at a staggering rate in the developing world.

Earlier this year at the Sydney International Convention, we heard from Ramkumar Raju, the Rotaract Representative (Rotaract equivalent of DG) from D3320 in India, who spoke about the astonishing projects undertaken by Rotaractors in India. In that one district there are over 25,000 Rotaractors. Clearly population density has a lot to do with these figures, but I can now see parallels between what was happening in Rotaract then, and what is happening in Rotary now.

There’s a word that seems to be making its way into Rotary membership conversations lately, and that word is RELEVANCE. And with good reason. I believe Rotary in the developed world is struggling with a relevance deficit. Rotary is a very important part of my life, and right now, I couldn’t imagine life without it. But clearly, Rotary is not relevant enough to the members who leave us, or the public who never join us.

I recall spending a lot of time on Maslow’s theory many years ago when I was studying marketing and retail management, and how defining and meeting customers’ needs was paramount in marketing your product and motivating your customers to part with their cash. Those books are all gathering dust in my shed now, but I’m starting to understand how life in a society without basic infrastructure, electricity, potable water and sanitation, shelter, healthcare and education can act as a considerable motivator to join an organisation like Rotary. A service club must appear very relevant in this environment.

In our comparatively fortunate and distraction ridden society however, the motivation to join a service club is clearly not as strong. Rotary is losing its relevance. People are still volunteering, they just aren’t willing to prioritise attendance at meetings as a valuable use of their increasingly rare spare time.

In next month’s issue I will have a crack at addressing how we can become more relevant in our developed world, and you can expect my old mate Maslow to get a mention again.

In the mean time, I’m looking forward to catching up with AG Lesley and the Rotarians from Group 1 on November 16 when we hold a membership seminar in Mildura.

PS Rotaract is starting to make a comeback here in D9520, and no-one is happier than me!