A Tale of Two Clubs

It is the best of times, it is the worst of times, it is the time to dance, it is nearing the time of no polio, it is the time of Rotary International (RI) reverting to advancing the Object of Rotary, it is the time of RI upheaval.

           

Shark Valley.  2014-15 Membership Statistics 

Retention Rate; 98.6%; Growth Rate; 0%; RG Index; 98.6  

The club is sixty-five years old.  It's average forty membership waxes and wanes with Shark Valley’s fluctuating agriculture-based economy.  Its members represent various local businesses and professions. The town's school principal and mayor are members.  The club carefully screens proposed members.  It furnishes no organized support to The Rotary Foundation and minimally supports district activities.  Some members, because of local contacts, support an orphanage in Latin America.  The club concentrates its activities on local projects and programs, including the school's Digital Learning Laboratory and Interact club as well as Shark Valley's Rotary Park. 

           

Deep Canyon.   2014-15 Membership Statistics 

Retention Rate; 93.4%; Growth Rate; 8.2%; RG Index; 101.6   

The club is in a large city’s affluent suburb.  It has grown from a startup club eighteen years ago to fifty-four members.  It has a $1,000 new member admission fee whether or not the proposed member is a transferring Rotarian.  It encourages members to contribute a minimum of $1,000 per year to The Rotary Foundation and expects members to support the club's charitable arm, The Rotary Club of Deep Canyon Foundation.  It frequently partners on global grants, supports youth exchange, and furnishes financial and human support to a nearby school.  It sponsors several socials a year, initiated and was the major sponsor of Deep Canyon's Dog Park.

The first and most important Object of Rotary is to develop friendships and create relationships. Using Occam's Razor to shave away the whiskers of what the Rotary clubs of Shark Valley and Deep Canyon do to attain their RG Index cleanly exposes the Index as the simplest and most accurate measure of clubs', districts', zones', regions' and RI's effectiveness in advancing the Object of Rotary.  RI could stabilize its upheaval if it prioritized and concentrated on improving its RG Index by helping each region, zone, and district create new clubs and support existing clubs. 

Developing acquaintances in local waters sends ripples of friendships that advance the Object of Rotary worldwide.  The premier proof of this is Rotarians' gift to the world - the eradication of polio - made possible simply because