110 - Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals - Starting New Clubs

In this series, Rotary refers to the enterprise of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.

Please review Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 101 and 109 - Critical information when starting a new club.

www.thehomeofknowledge.com

    Starting new clubs is like starting new small businesses. While all four market segments must be taken into account, the two most important in starting new clubs are Geographic and Demographic. For example, who would even consider starting a small business to serve the wants and needs of: 

• the under 40 age demographic in a community populated by the over 55 age demographic?
• a single ethnic community while depending on customers from all ethnicities?  

      Yet too often this is exactly what many in Rotary expect, especially in North America.  Rotary's Organizing New Clubs (808en) manual is an excellent guide regarding the administrative aspects of starting a new club.  What is severely lacking, in North America and I suspect other regions, is the expertise in analyzing geographical areas to determine if any demographics are under-served.  For example, for years Rotary has encouraged it member clubs to be of mixed genders.  However, has it really examined the business owner and community leader demographics of geographic locations?  If it did, I suspect it would discover that, in North America, the majority of local small businesses and professional associations are owned and/or operated by females; that a large percentage of community leaders are female.  Yet Rotary membership continues to be dominantly male.  Why?  If anyone believes there is no difference in the Demographic (family, education, income) Psychographic (personality) and Behavioral (benefits sought, attitude, occasions) gender market segments, their heads are buried in the sand.  What would be wrong with starting clubs with the intent of satisfying the wants and needs of the under-served demographics?  After all, Rotary clubs serve members, not communities.  The members, who have adopted the ideal of service in their personal, business, and community lives, serve the communities.

    The basic fundamentals missing in helping inexperienced Rotarians start new clubs are: 

• Identifying the under-served demographics of areas presently served by Rotary clubs, and
• The demographics of geographic areas presently under-served by and could support Rotary clubs.

     Once these studies have been undertaken, then open-minded considerations should be given when pursuing how Rotary can best serve these markets.  The Secretariat should have, particularly for major market regions, services available specifically to investigate and assist in starting new clubs. To expect this important task to be accomplished by inadequately trained, time-constrained Rotarians is not only archaic but unrealistic in today's societies.

This is the final Rotatorial in the Marketing Rotary series.  Its intent was to encourage readers to think critically and seriously about Marketing Rotary and creating Rotarians.  I appreciate those of you who have shared thoughts and opinions.   

The Hopeful Rotarian

109 - Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals - Market Segmentation - Potential Member Segment

In this series, Rotary refers to the enterprise of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.

Please review Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 107, 108 and this Marketing Rotary Schematic.  This Rotatorial discusses attracting members to existing clubs.

www.thehomeofknowledge.com

Rotary membership is a niche market; it is not for everyone.  To believe that a Rotary club can be all things to all people within their local social fabric is ludicrous.  Please examine the graphic.  Is it even realistic for Rotary to expect clubs to strive to get people with different demographic, psychographic, and behavioral characteristics; all with different needs and wants in one local organization that meets weekly?

   It is no secret that most people join civic organizations to network i.e. to meet the type of people with whom they want to connect and associate.  It is the organization's responsibility to let potential members know its primary objective, the type people with whom they will be connecting, and what the organization expects of them prior to them filling out an application for membership.  A popular Rotary urban legend is that half of the members inducted leave in their first year.  No doubt this has happened in some clubs and/or districts because of past recruiting/recognition-at-interim-cutoff-date practices and in some start-up clubs, but I suspect accurate data would not lend this legend broad-based authenticity.

   Many clubs during the recruiting drive years eliminated Information Meetings (Fireside chats, Orientations) prior to members joining.  When asked why, one club president replied, quote, "If we told them what we expected, they might not join!" unquote.  Another club, at the last club meeting before the interim cutoff date, speedily inducted eight new members so it would qualify for the Governor's Award and Presidential Citation.  None of the eight ever attended another meeting.  It is a serious mistake for clubs not to require prospective members to attend an Information Meeting, after which they may or may not fill out a membership application.  And that's okay.  Membership in a Rotary club is not for everybody.  Some clubs are choosing to return to a more restrictive classification system.

    After examining a limited amount of data, I am of the opinion that clubs should expect to have an annual new-member retention rate of 97% or better.  Official new-member annual retention rates less than 97% indicate that new members' expectations are not being met. This rate can only be accurately measured and recognized by utilizing official semi-annual report data.  To be fair to all concerned, and to have reliable recognition information available during a given Rotary year, membership achievements should be based solely on Semi-Annual Invoices.  

  

110 - Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals - Market Segmentation

Creating New Clubs

RIPE Ravi's 1% - Visionary? How will it be applied and calculated? Posting Membership Information.

     Readers have voiced opinions about RIPE Ravi's goal to increase retention rates by 1% and my repeated comments about Rotary posting membership retention information.  Posting membership information is the simplest to address.  Yes - this Rotatorialist is aware that Rotary publishes membership reports.  Membership and many other reports can be viewed and downloaded by going to the Rotary website and log onto My Rotary.  Scroll down and click on Rotary Club Central - View Goals.  A page ultimately appears.  On the left menu, select Reports.  This Rotatorial references Club Reports - Member Viability and Growth.

  The second more frequent and important topic related to the Presidential Citation's 1% retention increase, and it being visionary.  It is visionary because it communicates the importance of creating Rotarians, without whom Rotary has no future.  Actions now affect Rotary's future, and RIPE Ravi is communicating that by prioritizing membership.  That, for Rotary, is visionary.

   About the 1% - how it will be calculated and applied was a common concern and has been answered.  See Every Measure is described on the Presidential Citation FAQ page: bit.ly/1RiQepW

 
One district's past governor sent me copies of his district's July, 2011 - June 2014 Member Viability and Growth report.  On July 1, 2011, District XXXX had 3,010 members. During the three-year period, its clubs inducted 1,059 new members.  On June 30, 2014, the district had 2,822* members. Its new member three-year retention percentage was 67.52% and its existing member retention percentage was 70%.  *Under the regressive 'net gain' system, this district's three-year loss would be reported as 188 members when was actual 1,247 members. 

Calculated as demonstrated in the labeled graphic, its three-year combined retention was, 58.57%; growth was, -6.25%; and its RG Index, 52.33%.

  Converting this to combined annual information, its one-year (annual) average percentages are: retention, 86%; growth, - 2.2%; RG Index, 83.8%.

  To return to a growth state at its present rate of new members inducted, its estimated combined retention percentage should be 88.31%. 

     

Rotary is beginning to center on creating Rotarians and realistically addressing its future.  Many new, more difficult questions will arise as Rotary, regions, zones, districts, and clubs more clearly identify their markets and create Membership Development and Retention Strategic Plans.  Two universal questions likely to surface rather quickly will no doubt be:

·       "What are realistic annual retention and growth rates?"

·       "What retention rates are needed to return to a growth state?"

The pictured Excel spreadsheets are available upon request.  Email jrhjr@jimhenrybooks.com.  Be sure to put Retention Rate Index in the subject line or your email will get lost in my SPAM filter.  In the spreadsheet, the user can change the aqua cell values and dates.  All calculations are built in.

107 - Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals - Rotary's Prime Target Audience.

In this series, Rotary refers to the enterprise of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.

Please review Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 101, 102A, 102B, 103, 104, 105, & 106

ROTARY'S PRIME TARGET AUDIENCE - EXISTING MEMBERS!

RIPE RAVI'S PRESIDENTIAL CITATION GOAL TO INCREASE THE ANNUAL RETENTION RATE BY ONE PERCENTAGE POINT IS A VISIONARY STEP IN IMPROVING MEMBERSHIP.

    Meaningful data pointed Rotary's leaders to why membership had stagnated - declining retention rates throughout the world.  Data cannot determine solutions - only people can.  And that requires critical, objective inward examination because Rotary's greatest challenge is internal.  Rotary has encouraged its customers - member clubs - to look internally, but it must also; it must be proactive at finding solutions or membership will continue its present trend.  The Siegel+Gale Research Report was a step up the ladder to solving membership issues, but Rotary must continue climbing.  The next logical step would be for Rotary to acknowledge that its prime target market is existing Rotarians and prioritize helping clubs improve retention rates.

    Rotary must understand that Rotarians' needs haven't changed since 1905, but Rotary and the world have. Please refer to Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs.  Rotarians' needs reside primarily in the lightly shaded area.  All Rotarians want better qualities of life for themselves, their families, and everyone else.  They aspire to live to their full potential, to make themselves better: better persons, better members of their social fabrics, better at helping others climb Maslow's hierarchy.  The Rotarians who founded Rotary International; who were involved in starting the United Nations and UNICEF; who originated Easter Seals; and who led the initiative to eliminate polio were all motivated by the desire to satisfy these personal needs.

   Few Rotarians are inspired or motivated to do things almost all of the world's 7.6 billion people can do, like picking up trash, but all aspire to live in cleaner, healthier, and safer communities and to help others do the same.  Most Rotary clubs are small.  Very few have the desire or resources to maintain routine data and/or pioneer solutions.  Rotary could and should be proactive in producing and delivering services its customers - clubs -  need.  To do so, it has to ask introspective questions, critically examine its hierarchy, and improve the support to and education of all associates - staff, directors, coordinators, governors, etc.  Creating Rotarians should be EVERYBODY'S top priority!

THE CHALLENGE

In 2009, the Membership Coordinators of Zones 33 and 34, using data furnished by Rotary International, calculated that if annual retention rates improved by less than two percentage points, the Zones would return to the growth state.  I challenge Rotary to calculate realistic annual retention rate increases that each District, Zone, and Region should have to sustain a steady growth state.  After doing so, Rotary should publish, promote, and pioneer ways and means to help each reach these targeted retention rates. 

Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 108 - Market Segmentation

106 - Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals - Producing and Capturing Value.

In this series, Rotary refers to the enterprise of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.

Please review Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 101, 102A, 102B, 103, 104, & 105.

Rotary captures value in the form of dues from Rotary clubs, therefore Rotary clubs must produce something of value for which a few community citizens are willing to exchange value by paying dues and committing time and talent.  To do so, any Marketing Rotary initiative should be designed to assist clubs in determining answers to this question:  Why would a person in any community be interested in joining and paying dues to any Rotary club?

In order to respond appropriately, Rotary and its member clubs must be conscious of basic organization and market fundamentals, some of which are:

·   Rotary clubs are social welfare (civic) organizations, not charitable service organizations.

·   Less than one percent of the people in the world, or any community, is interested in joining a Rotary club, which, by personal selection, makes them an exclusive group.

·  Those who are interested in joining a local club make a commitment involving time, treasure, and/or talent.

·    They, and only they, judge whether or not they are receiving sufficient value in exchange for the commitment they have made.

·   Rotary clubs (and all member-supported organizations) are exclusive; i.e. they exclude everyone that, for whatever reason, is not interested in becoming a member.

In marketing terms, segmenting and recognizing those who may be interested in joining a Rotary club is referred to as identifying target audiences.  The challenge Rotary and its member clubs face is identifying those that may be interested, determining what values they seek, and producing those values.  When identifying and communicating with target audiences, consider that, in North America, most people volunteer to do some type of community service activity.  Even most of the 85% that live above the poverty line contribute something to charitable service organizations.  Confusing exclusivity with elitism and referring to Rotary clubs as 'service' clubs hinders public image initiatives and reinforces the need to re-establish a universally acceptable brand statement and marketing philosophy.

Rotary's strength lies in how much value clubs deliver to the few who choose to join clubs. To meet this challenge, Rotary needs to center on serving its clubs. This requires an extensive internal marketing initiative, consistency in messaging, critical examination of how messaging is delivered, and centering on target audiences - particularly its prime target audience.

Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 107 - Rotary's Prime Target Audience

105 - Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals - Rotary's Position/Mission Statement.

In this series, Rotary refers to the enterprise of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.

Please review Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 101, 102A, 102B, 103 & 104.

Please refer to the Marketing Rotary Schematic available at this link.  Previous Rotatorials discuss marketing issues that take place in the schematic's darker shades of blue - Rotary's leadership.  Before making the marketing jump to where the action is - local communities throughout the world - Rotary must undertake a critical task: create a sustainable unified directional philosophy, or position/mission statement, a Rotary identifying idea around which everyone from the international president to the newest Rotarian can rally.
   So let's assume that Rotary leaders have agreed on an easy-to-communicate, universally acceptable position/mission statement that embodies the Object of Rotary and appeals to like-minded people regardless of their gender, generation, ethnicity, religion, or political orientation; a statement similar to:

Rotarians Make the World Better - One Community at a Time! 

    Implanting, nourishing, and sustaining this idea in existing and potential Rotarians' minds will take more than rah-rah speeches, website visits, advertising, and newsletters.  It takes using the dynamic power of networks and knowing how to translate information into concepts and actions.  The Rotary world is a dynamic, established network. Rotary already has important information buried in its history and cyberspace.  But does it have the will and know-how to translate the information into actions that could create Rotarians today and in the future?  Forward-thinking mindsets, prioritizing an Internal Marketing initiative centered on creating Rotarians, could lead the way in breaking down Rotary's internal silos and embedded legacy practices. 

   For example, Rotary clubs must produce value locally to attract members from communities.  For years Rotary has had data showing that ten-year Rotarians contribute approximately 350% more per capita to the foundation than two-year Rotarians. This data was not translated into language that could have been used to help leaders make important strategic decisions; to help retain members.  North America, the foundation's most supportive continent, has lost membership for two decades yet continues to be the foundation's largest contributor.  Historically its Zone Institutes, Governors-elect and multi-district Presidents-elect Training Seminars have been foundation show and tells.  Suppose Internal Marketing had translated and communicated existing information into promotional language and educational sessions that encouraged North American clubs to use foundation programs and grants to produce value in their communities?  Would its clubs have captured more value through increased retention, attraction, and growth rates?  Through more contributions to the foundation?

   A simple, unifying position/mission statement would make it much easier to create and sustain Internal, and External, Marketing initiatives centered on helping clubs produce and capture value i.e. create Rotarians.

Next is Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 106 - Producing and Capturing Value.

104 - Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals - Why Rotary?

In this series, Rotary refers to the enterprise of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.

Please review Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 101, 102A, 102B & 103.

    Whether it is a group of people considering applying to Rotary International (RI) for a charter or an individual considering accepting the invitation to become a member of a local Rotary club, they will require an answer to this thought - Why Rotary?  The answer today is the same as it has been for over a century.  From Rotary's inception, membership in a Rotary club related to the needs of those who had strong desires to network with others to make their lives and communities better.  Marketing Rotary to these people would be much easier if Rotary used as its directional philosophy in public messaging:  Rotarians make the world better . . . one community at a time emphasizing Who Rotarians Are regionally.  Clubs could use the same public messaging tag line, reinforcing Who Rotarians Are.    

   Note the simplicity and brand identity of this forever-relevant approach.  Rotarians throughout the world want to and do make their personal lives and communities better in many ways:  employing people, starting new companies and/or organizations, networking with others who have similar desires, serving their communities in many ways, etc.  They want to have a better understanding of where they live; to have self-fulfilling peak experiences while helping others do the same.  This is Who Rotarians Are. Rotary's messaging should not be directed toward everyone in every community or every citizen of the world!  It should only be directed and relevant to those who would seek a response to Why Rotary?

   The response must be universal and communicate the same philosophy to locals everywhere, which is why spot messaging should be closer to the clubs.  For example, examine Rotary's polio eradication initiative and how it relates to the world population today.  For the last twenty-five years, people of Southeastern Asia and Africa can relate to polio because they have been, and some still currently are, directly affected by it.  Rotary clubs throughout these regions made, and some still are making, their communities better by eliminating the scourge.  Locals can relate because they lived through the initiative led by Rotary.  But to the populations in North and South America, Australia, The Philippines, and Europe polio is ancient history.  On these continents, most people under sixty simply do not relate to polio.  But clubs could create locally appealing responses to Why Rotary? by basing their public image messaging on Who Rotarians Are and how they have made and are making their communities better.

So Why Rotary?  Because Rotarians make the world better . . . one community at a time!

Rotary Headline News

NEWS FLASH - The RI Board officially recognizes that membership development and retention is RI's most important internal issue and acknowledges the urgency of membership development and retention to the future of Rotary. 

Here is an excerpt from pages 4 & 5 of the October 2014 Board Meeting Minutes:

44. Support Structure for Membership Efforts

Statement: Noting that membership development and retention is RI's most important internal issue, the Operations Review Committee reviewed Rl's governance structure supporting membership development and retention efforts over the last 20 years. The committee suggested several strategies for strengthening this governance structure.

DECISION: The Board receives the Operations Review Committee's recommendations regarding the governance support structure for Rotary's membership development and retention efforts and:

 1.  acknowledges the urgency of membership development and retention to the future of Rotary and the need for a stable governance support structure to support these initiatives;

 2.  requests the president to appoint a committee of three to five directors to study the following membership support-related proposals for report to the Board at its May 2015 meeting:

a. the creation of a new volunteer leadership team to focus on membership and retention issues that provides for the possibility of continuity of membership on the leadership team, such group to serve as clearing house for all membership development and retention proposals that come from Rotary committees;

b. to ensure continuity of leadership at the district level, modified terms of reference for the district membership chair to provide for a three year term in manner similar to the district Rotary Foundation committee chair;

c. an enhanced volunteer structure at the local level to support membership development and retention initiatives;

d. the development of a pilot program in select areas of the world that would provide for local and regional staff to assist clubs and districts in implementing membership development and retention initiatives.

The Board should make the membership support-related proposals mentioned readily available for analyses by all interested Rotarians and should encourage written comments.  Without such transparency and involvement, there remains a possibility that legacy inbreeding could sidetrack this Board's membership initiative as the 2003 Board's action was ignored when it wrote into the Rotary Code of Policies ". . . that the development and continuation of activities and programs addressing membership must remain the association's highest priority.  The association and its clubs must remain focused on all aspects of membership.  (May 2003 Mtg., Bd. Dec. 324) Source: February2003 Mtg., Bd., Dec. 261.

103 - Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals - Internal Marketing to District Governors

In this series, Rotary refers to the enterprise of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.

Please review Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 101, 102A and 102B.

    Rotary's purpose is to create Rotarians by advancing the Object of Rotary.  District Governors (DG) must buy into Rotary's purpose in order to be able to influence clubs in their districts accordingly.  That would be one of Internal Marketing's (IM) major roles because DGs are on the front lines in the battle to create Rotarians. They are club advisers, but have no authority over clubs.  Their only tools are influence, persuasion, and support from Rotary.  To use these tools effectively they must be prepared to handle the obstacles they will face, like being able to respond with confidence to questions similar to:

• What is Rotary?
• What is Rotary's purpose?
• Who are Rotary's target audiences?
• Why would the target audiences want to join and/or stay in a Rotary club? 
• Are Rotary clubs volunteer service organizations or civic clubs?
• If a Rotarian is moving to another location, can they automatically join the club of their choice?
• What is the rule of 85?

    These and similar topics should be addressed at Governors-Elect Training Seminars (GETS) and the International Assembly (IA).  One of IM's most important initiatives would be to help prepare these sessions' conveners, guest speakers, and trainers. Only then will the perceptual gap that exists between Rotary and its target audiences begin to narrow.

   DGs are responsible for training leaders within their district, including presidents-elect (PE).  Rotary literature supports DGs with this responsibility.  Another major IM role would be to assure that Rotary literature centers on Rotary's purpose and is prepared from the points of view of district personnel, PEs and clubs.  For example, Rotary's Club President's Manual (222-EN (312)) defines an effective club as one that is able to:

1. sustain or increase its membership base,
2. implement successful projects that address the needs of its community and communities in other countries,
3. support the Rotary Foundation through both program participation and financial contributions, and
4. develop leaders capable of serving in Rotary beyond the club level.

Many PEs smirk when they first read this four-point definition because it is clearly written from Rotary's point of view.  Most PEs have common sense.  They know their clubs are doing something right if they sustain and/or increase membership.  The other three elements promote attributes and opportunities that might help attract and retain Rotarians, but to be listed as essential to qualify as an effective club is elementary and detracts from the Object of Rotary.  There is one, and only one, definition of an effective Rotary club:  an effective Rotary club creates Rotarians  i.e. attracts and retains members.

Next is Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 104 - Why Rotary?

102B - Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals - 'Them' - Present and Future

In this series, Rotary refers to the enterprise of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.

Please review Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 101 - Introduction and 102A.

How can Rotary improve its present and future Retention, Attraction, and Growth Rates?  Simple.

Internal Marketing!

   Rotary's purpose is to create Rotarians by advancing the Object of Rotary.  That should also be Rotary's mission.  The goal of Internal Marketing (IM) is to align every aspect of Rotary operations to assure that each delivers value toward achieving Rotary's purpose and mission.

   The Siegel+Gale research findings clearly showed that the perceptual gap between what Rotary is and what Rotary's target audience perceives it to be is two to three times larger than it should be.  It also discovered that Rotary leaders do not have a clear vision of what Rotary is because, when asked, most responded with Ummm.  The only way these types of issues can be solved is through implementing a permanent IM initiative. 

   When examined with a critical eye, Rotary's purpose passes annually through the President of Rotary International, 550+ Secretariat employees, 17 Directors, 15 Trustees, 34 Zone Rotary Coordinators, 34 Zone TRF Coordinators, 34 Zone Public Image Coordinators, the Web Site, Monthly magazines and newsletters, 530 District Governors, 530 District Trainers, over 4,000 District Committee chairs, and countless blogs, tweets, Facebook postings to almost 35,000 club officers and committee chairs and over 1.2 million Rotarians.  No wonder Rotary messaging, as demonstrated in the children's party game played around the world, Chinese Whispers or Gossip, has little resemblance to Rotary's purpose when it finally reaches local clubs and Rotarians.

   IM's perpetual goal would be to make sure that every associate knows that Rotary's purpose is to create Rotarians by participating in Rotary's Circle of Life, the Object of Rotary.  Are all operations listed in the adjacent graphic necessary?  Are they centered on helping Rotary associates deliver value supporting Rotary's purpose?  When asked, "What is Rotary?" how will present and future Rotary associates, including directors, district governors, and zone coordinators respond?  Will the perceptual gap between Rotary and present and future target audiences close, remain the same, or widen?

An effective IM program could narrow the gap.  Without such a program, Rotary associates cannot continually deliver consistent value toward achieving Rotary's purpose - creating Rotarians - simply because they do not know, or buy into, Rotary's purpose.  Not only will resources expended on external marketing be wasted, Rotary's future will be in jeopardy.

Next is Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 103 - More Internal Marketing

102A - Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals - 'THEM' - The Supporters

In this series, Rotary refers to the enterprise of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.

Please review Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 101 - Introduction

Rotary must have 'THEM'.  Call 'THEM' members, customers, patrons, Rotarians, supporters, stakeholders, donors, clients, or whatever is acceptable within your mindset and social fabric, but without 'THEM' Rotary's gear stops turning.    'THEM' pay the salaries and benefits Rotary employees enjoy.  'THEM' pay the expenses of Rotary's officers, directors, trustees, coordinators, district governors, district committees, etc.  'THEM' are the people who populate almost 35,000 Rotary clubs scattered over the world striving to advance the Object of Rotary.

Marketing Rotary must begin by addressing this question:

Why would a group of 'THEM', all with enterprising minds, want to be called a Rotary club?

    Many local groups are identified by some unique descriptive noun or nouns i.e. Women's, Men's, Zonta, Toastmasters, Kiwanis, Junior League, Lions, Sertoma, Garden, Shriners, Entrepreneurs, Greenpeace, Impact 100, Football, Night, Comedy, Liars, Friars, Beantown, Dulcimer, Alumni or hundreds more.  What is so unique or descriptive about the word rotary?  Google rotary and up pops Rotary.org.  Its opening page says, "We are neighbors, community leaders, and world citizens uniting for the common good."  Unique?  Every human is a world citizen.  Almost every human is some human's neighbor.  Most humans are united in some group for their common good - survival.  What is unique about being in a group that uses Rotary as its descriptive noun?  Why should groups of 'THEM' pay homage to use the word Rotary?  Groups now have unlimited access to information and knowledge. Of the estimated 7.2 billion world citizens, industry estimates that almost 6.1 billion have cell phones, tablets, or computers and can connect to the Internet.  This means that groups, especially those with enterprising minds, that want to make impacts in their spheres of influence can find many ways to do so without following hierarchical, top-down, self-sustaining rules.

     Marketing Rotary is a challenge, and it must begin internally.  Embedded bureaucracies with established departmental silos have extreme difficulty recognizing and/or accepting the concept that organizations are 'THEM' driven; that products and services are attributes that help retain and attract 'THEM'.  In the Rotary world, 'THEM' have psychographic and behavioral characteristics all humans do not have.  Rotary already has a wonderful, worldwide horizontal delivery organization capable of growing Rotary by building stronger relationships.  Internal Marketing must center on helping all Rotary associates understand what is unique about Rotary, who 'THEM' are, and creating and delivering attributes that help 'THEM' become more influential in their local social fabrics.  They also must understand that 'THEM', not Rotary, determines whether or not the attribute is beneficial.  If being called a Rotary club does not deliver attributes 'THEM' consider beneficial, then Marketing Rotary externally is wasted effort.

Building relationships advancing the Object of Rotary catapulted Rotary into the respected worldwide organization it is.  To have any hope of returning to a steady 'THEM' growth rate, Rotary must accept that "The development and continuation of activities and programs addressing 'Them' must remain the association's highest priority", and Market Rotary with that priority and intensity.

Next is Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 102B 'Them' - Present and Future

Rotarians. Who are You?

Rather than seeking to recruit and retain members as an objective in itself, the key is un­derstanding who we are.  Once we recognize our unique club services and benefits, we can seek those men and women in our communities who share similar characteristics.

Rotary International (RI) Director John Smarge

2011 International Assembly Speech

We will enhance Rotary's public image by successfully and enthusiastically marketing who we are, what amazing things we are doing, and incredibly, have done locally and globally.

                                                                                                John F. Germ, 2014

Presidential Nominating Committee Selection to be 2016-17 RI President.

   Marketing who Rotarians are and the amazing things Rotarian's have done and are doing is a major, and badly needed, philosophical change in mindsets and will not be easy to achieve.  Rotary, particularly in North America, has been grappling with 'who we are' for decades; long before Past RI Director Smarge brought it into the open in his publicly revealing 2011 speech.

   Rotary had been trying to combat its membership stagnation and major market decline by recruiting members as an objective unto itself, hoping that this would spur membership.  Hope is not a marketing strategy.  Marketing requires that everyone thoroughly understand that Rotary's primary purpose is to create Rotarians.  Most neighbors and world citizens are doing things like picking up trash and serving in food lines.  As future RI president Germ says, it is 'who we are' that gets things done.

   Change is difficult even in the best of times.  It does appear that the first major obstacle to change and successfully marketing Rotary has been philosophically breached.  Most leaders appear to know that members are to Rotary like customers are to businesses.  What is yet to be understood is that Rotary's primary purpose is to create Rotarians simply because Rotary is its members.  'Who we are' is not a Rotary program.  'Who we are' creates and supports Rotary's programs and projects.

   So Rotary must market 'who we are'.  Who are we?  This question must be answered because many are conflicted about 'who we are', and 'who we should be'.  This topic must be openly and frankly discussed, pretty much agreed upon, and internally marketed.  If it isn't, it will be an obstacle that will most likely render the visions of future RI presidents Ravi and Germ, including their boards and other leaders, difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.  All of Rotary must understand 'who we are' before Rotary can be effectively marketed and delivered externally.

   Along with determining 'who we are' Rotary must offer and deliver to 'who we are' something of value that 'who we are' cannot get elsewhere.  Performing community and international service projects and contributing to The Rotary Foundation (TRF) are not unique offerings.  Without unique offerings, there are no perceivable reasons for 'who we are'  to be a Rotarian.

   North America, Rotary's largest mature 'who we are'  market and home to TRF's primary donors, is telegraphing Rotary's future.  In 1995, its membership peaked at approximately 460,000.  Today, it is about 360,000.  Rotary leaders at all levels must be strong enough to step out of their comfort zones, cast aside personal biases, and recognize that the only true measure of an effective Rotary club is its desire and ability to create Rotarians.  All assemblies, seminars, conferences, and conventions must communicate this basic fundamental, and reports should reflect vital membership statistics, measures, and trends - not merely net gains or losses.

Professionally marketing and delivering differentiating values to 'who we are'  is Rotary's chance, perhaps only chance, to steadily create Rotarians.  Is this great organization of business, professional, and community leaders up to the challenge? Does it recognize that

Why Haven't Rotary International's Membership Initiatives Succeeded?

     At the turn of the century, Rotary International (RI) membership had been hovering around 1.2 million for five years.  Several major market areas were experiencing a decline.  Some RI leaders dreamed of increasing membership to the 1.5 million mark.  Since then, year after year, different recruiting and net gain initiatives have proliferated.  In 2010, leaders targeted 1.3 million Rotarians by July 1, 2015.  Many dedicated Rotarians compiled and implemented regional membership plans, all approved by the RI board of directors (board) and implemented in 2012 and 2013. Today, membership is still hovering around 1.2 million.

    RI's membership initiatives have not succeeded simply because they did not, in action or resource allocation, have PRIORITY. Without PRIORITY, there is not, nor will there ever be, any sense of urgency, particularly with those that are continually asked to develop membership - clubs and existing Rotarians.  If there ever was an applicable cliché it had to be, and still is, "Bad planning on your part doesn't constitute urgency on my part."  The board has, for two decades, prioritized RI programs over membership even though RI's own Code of Policies says, ". . . activities and programs addressing membership must remain the association's highest priority."  Intellectual inbreeding and complacency caused RI to forget its true purpose, the business it is in, and its internal and external target audiences.  If RI wants to survive the 21st century, it must change priorities, and this change must start with its leaders - all of them!

    Change takes consistent, long-term leadership. For this change to succeed, RI must assemble an international GUIDING COALITION capable of and committed to leading the change.  Establishing such an influential group will be virtually impossible if membership development doesn't have the association's highest priority; a priority that is communicated by words and demonstrated by deeds and resource allocation.  The coalition's initial duties would be to delineate RI's purpose, the business it is in, identify its target audiences and create an attainable vision.  Without these elements, planning will be for naught, as previous membership initiatives have effectively demonstrated.

    A VISION is necessary, but the vision must be considered attainable by everyone involved - including member clubs.  Had all regional membership development plans been approved in 2012, it would have taken an annual membership growth rate of about 3.6% to reach the 1.3 million vision.  This rate does not sound unreasonable until analysts (or even rank amateurs) examine historical rates. RI's prior fifteen-year annual growth rate had been teetering at 0%.  North America, RI's major market, was experiencing a decade long decline averaging roughly 1.3% per year.  During the last half of the previous century, RI's annual growth rate had been between 1.5 and 2%.  What actions and resources did the 1.3 million dreamers believe RI and its member clubs could or would commit in order to improve RI's overall annual growth rate from 0% to 3.6%?  To convert a major market's negative 1.3% rate to a positive 3.6% rate?  In one year!  Get real!

    Until membership is considered urgent enough to receive top priority in words, deeds, and resources, any efforts dedicated to returning to a steady, long term growth rate will be wasted. Only when RI establishes membership as its top priority, a guiding coalition is in place, and critical business decisions are made can reasonable visions be established and regional plans revised.  In the meantime, all communications in words and actions must be based on the fundamental that developing its source of funding - its customers - will forever remain RI's top priority.

 

(This BLOGGER initially addressed these issues in 2009 and again in April, 2012.)