Rotary - What Value North America's 2014 New Members? Try $24,542,750.

Short or long range planning is not about the future.  It is about the future impact of today's actions and decisions.  Every connection any person has with anything Rotary will influence their perception of Rotary, which will influence future interconnections.  How will today's interconnections affect Rotary's future? What are today's interconnections cumulative worth five years from now?  Ten years?

   Next year, in North America alone, well over 10,000,000 people, including over 300,000 potential Rotarians, will interconnect with something or someone Rotary.  Approximately 35,000 will join local clubs.  The potential cumulative five-year value to Rotary International (R.I.) of these 35,000 new members, using existing estimated retention rates, is $24,542,750!  Ten years - $64,793,750!  In marketing and organization language this is called Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) which successful businesses use in short and long range planning.  (For Rotary, the term would be Rotarian Lifetime Value (RLV).)

   If the retention rates for the first three years were improved by a mere 10%, the estimated RLVs would be $26,009,375 and $66,259,375 respectively and membership would be increasing.  Why?  Retained Rotarians are potential Rotary advocates.  Advocates attract new members, many of whom will also become advocates.  All will pay dues.  Most will contribute to The Rotary Foundation (TRF).  And these numbers represent only the monetary and business related potential.  They do not address the intrinsic value each Rotarian contributes to their local social fabric while influencing future interconnections advancing the Object of Rotary.

   The Angry Rotarian used his business and Rotary experiences to arrive at these RLV estimates because accurate data was not readily available.  (To examine his methodology, click here.)  R.I. should have accurate data scattered in its cyberspace and could use common marketing algorithms to more closely estimate RLVs.

   So how much can R.I. justify influencing future interconnections? To Market Membership Internally and Externally?  To help its member clubs improve retention rates and create advocates?  Successful businesses use CLVs.  Shouldn't Rotary, a $350,000,000 multi-national, be using RLVs?  The Angry Rotarian thinks so.

This will be the last Rotatorial of 2013.  Rotarians wherever you are thank you for being concerned about membership.  Let's Have a Happy Holiday Season, New Year, and successful Membership 2014.