Politics in Rotary?

     Many Rotarians believe there should be no politics in Rotary.  Nonsense.  Because of politics in Rotary, the number of Rotarians, stagnant since the turn of the century, has grown this past Rotary year by about 21,000.  

     Politics is often referred to as "The Highest of Human Sciences."  Before reading any further, it must be noted that campaigning and electioneering, which are different than the practice of politics, does not and should not exist in Rotary.  

     To simply explain why politics resulted in the increase of the number of Rotarians, a quick review of the state of Rotary International (RI) in 2010 when the world economy was in the doldrums is in order.  RI membership had been stagnant for over a decade and was dropping in some major market regions; it was on the verge of having to dip into its financial reserves; its sole priority was polio eradication; it considered itself a service organization that wanted members; and The Rotary Foundation was finalizing its Future Vision.  Membership development was so far down RI's priority list many never even read the words.

     A few visionary senior leaders decided that membership development's priority needed to change.  They developed a plan to improve membership to 1.3 million by June 30, 2015.  The plan estimated that it would require $3,000,000 to support the initiative.  Developing the plan was quite an undertaking.  Getting the plan approved by the RI Board of Directors was another matter.  Finally, after extensive discussion and negotiation - politics - the Board approved the plan.

     In retrospect, was the plan successful?  Yes and No.  Yes - Membership development came to the forefront in many Rotarians' and senior leaders' minds and has climbed to be RI's highest "internal" priority.  No - the plan did not reach the 1.3 million goal.  Would the Board have approved the plan had its goal not been 1.3 million?  Maybe; Maybe not.  Was the $3,000,000 a good investment?  Yes - for at least four major reasons:

1. An outside firm's research presented senior leaders with objective eye-opening observations.
2. At $52 annual dues, the investment returned at least $1,089,504 this past year. 
3. There are now 20,952 more Rotarians Making the World Better. . . One Community at the Time.
4. With the new priority and emphasis on retention, the numbers in items 2 and 3 should continue to increase.

    Retention Central has often been, and may continue to be, critical about senior leaders' attitudes, approaches, priority, and non-verbal communications regarding membership development.  But its Rotatorials may have been influential in causing them and other Rotarians to exercise critical thinking about membership development's importance and priority.

     The history of faltering organizations that made changes and survived teaches two important lessons, which Retention Central understands with heart and brain: -1- It usually takes harsh, drastic action to initiate change, and -2- political skills - politics - are needed to lead change until and after it is embedded in the organization's culture.

Rotary's Public Image - Why isn't Rotary Marketing its Network?

Is it because Rotary doesn't know the value of its public image?  Or perhaps Rotary isn't interested in re-learning the principle upon which it was founded and how to market it. 

    Seriously, contemplate about Rotary's founding principle as you visualize Paul Harris setting up a law practice in Chicago, a boom town loaded with other men doing the same.  He knew the value of networking long before New York Times columnist David Brooks said, "We all think we choose what path we take in life, who we socialize and mix with, what views we hold.  But those decisions are actually shaped by networks of people."  From this basic concept, Rotary was born and grew to be the international organization it is today - a network of Rotarians, shaped by the Object of Rotary, who have made, and continue to make, their families, businesses, communities, and the world better; by-products of the influence Rotary's worldwide network of business, professional, and communities leaders has had on them.

    What seems to be lacking in marketing the network's collective value is a worldwide acceptable public image position statement.  For example, the Rotary Club of Sarasota created this statement:

Rotary clubs do not make communities,  

Rotary clubs make communities better. 
(Since changed to:   Rotarians make the world better. . . One community at the time)

    Subtle, but it can deliver a public image wallop!  (Remember, a club's prime public is its members; its secondary public is the few that may be interested in joining a local Rotary club.)  All the club had to do was center on answering "Why does the Rotary Club of Sarasota make Sarasota better?"  To see how the club puts this thought process to use in its internal and external public image efforts, browse these web sites - Rotary Club of Sarasota and its charitable arm, Rotary Club of Sarasota Foundation.  (Oh, yes.  The most important details - the club has 96 members, and this past year it had a 98% retention rate, sponsored a new club, and last week added two new members.)

    In this BLOG's Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals series, this Rotatorialist suggested that Rotary International should develop a position statement that would be acceptable worldwide similar to Rotary Makes the World Better - One Community at the Time.  Building public image initiatives around a similar positioning statement could work in virtually any social fabric.  Its most important asset is this: it would encourage the Rotary network, particularly its leaders, to critically examine why Rotary makes the world better - one community at the time.

Most likely the network would come to understand that its public image value lies in its social capital - Who Rotarians are.  Then it would be easier to respond to "Why Rotary?" and to create more Rotarians.

Is Rotary's Social Capital in Decline?

"Social capital provides the glue which facilitates co-operation, exchange, and innovation."

The New Economy: Beyond the Hype.

Rotary International (RI) President Ravi is spot on prioritizing retention rates.  Retention rates are accurate measures of how effective RI and its member clubs are at exchanging social capital and maximizing the Rotary network's collective value.  For Rotary and its member clubs, retained Rotarians are greater assets than new Rotarians. They have longer lifetime values and are membership multipliers, a major advantage because, in Rotary's niche membership market, word-of-mouth and person-to-person networking are Marketing Rotary's most effective protocol.

  Everything Rotary does, from local club initiatives to the worldwide polio eradication project, is accomplished by Rotarians utilizing four paths to exchange social capital: group action, broad identities, reciprocity, and information flow.  For example, Africa, which has not recorded a case of endemic polio for a year, can thank the collective value of the Rotary network's social capital.  In 1985 RI started the worldwide polio eradication initiative through group action, broad identities, and extensive information flow.  Its success has been primarily due to local Rotarians using friendship reciprocity and information flow to jump start eradicating polio from their local social fabrics and exchanging social capital until polio no longer existed.

   If RI is serious about improving retention rates, it must lead the way by understanding Who Rotarians Are and participating in fair and transparent social capital exchange with clubs and Rotarians.  Here are some conditions and questions RI leaders should consider:

      1.  RI would like clubs and Rotarians to participate more with Rotary Club Central.  What are the reciprocal benefits i.e. how does the participation improve clubs' and/or Rotarians' social capital and collective value?

     2.  It has been suggested that Rotarians, particularly in North America, commit $1 US a day to The Rotary Foundation (TRF).  What are the reciprocal benefits i.e. how does this improve North American clubs' and/or Rotarians' social capital and collective value?

     3.  RI, as it should, wishes to improve the collective value of the Rotary network.  Its top organizational priority is now membership development.  Is RI being transparent and proactively supporting this ?  Can clubs trust that RI's organizational priority will not change according to the whims of future presidents?

Retention rates and Retention Growth Indexes (RGI) will increase, as will the collective value of the Rotary network, when the exchanges of social capital between RI, its member clubs, and individual Rotarians are beneficial to all concerned.

Calculating and Understanding RG Indexes is Simple as long as the Overall Goal Remains in Sight

    The biggest problem in calculating Rotary Retention Rates isn't the arithmetic; it is getting diverted by attempting to account for each existing member, new members, reinstated members, transferring members, members leaving for reasons the clubs cannot correct, and new members' gender/generation/ethnicity.  When focused on the Overall Goal of Growing Rotary, these issues are detractions; the result of Rotary International's (RI) many failed membership initiatives.  I have, over the years, responded to many retention rate questions.  Believe me; Rotary's foremost challenge in calculating retention rates is simply not maintaining focus on the Overall Goal of Creating Rotarians.

    In easy to understand terms, to calculate an annual 2014-15 retention rate, whether it is for a club, district, zone, region, or RI, all anyone has to know is the number of members on record as of June 30 or July 1, 2014, how many on record on the same date in 2015, and how many new members were added during the year (new members are not eligible to renew).

   Here is a real life example, courtesy of the Rotary Club of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, USA.  On July 1, 2014, it had 66 members.  On July 1, 2015 it had 72 members.  During the year, it inducted 11 new members.  Five did not renew.

    Another way to look at it is to take the number of members on June 30, 2015; 72.  Subtract the number of new members; 11.  The result is 61.  Divide 61 by 66 (the number of members on July 1, 2014).  Still, the retention rate is 92.42%; five members did not renew! 

    Common diversions to which I have responded are:

1.       How should reinstated members be counted?

          At some earlier date, they did not renew which lowered the retention rate.  Count them as new members.

2.       What to do with members who renew after the invoice deadline?

          See number 1.

3.       What about Rotarians that leave one club and join another?

          They did not renew in one club; that club's retention rate is lowered.  They are a new member in the other club.  For worldwide membership, it is a wash.

4.       How do we account for Rotarians that leave for reasons clubs cannot correct?

          They do not renew, which lowers the club's retention rate.  To grow, the lost member has to be replaced.

5.       How do we account for new members that resign and renew during the same time period?   Arithmetically, at year end, they are still only one new member.

6.       How do we deal with RI encouraging an increase in membership gender/generation/ethnicity?

          Keeping the Overall Goal of Growing Rotary in sight, all are Rotarians.

    The bottom line is that when calculating Retention Rates, do not to lose sight of the Overall Goal of Growing Rotary.  RI's premier Membership Development Award should be based on combined Retention and Growth Rates - RGIs.  

Wouldn't we be jubilant if all of RI's member clubs had the Rotary Club of Pagosa Spring's 101.52 RGI?


Notes:
Since RI has adopted the practice of invoicing clubs based on the number of members each have on June 30 and December 31, Retention Rates, Growth Rates, and RGIs should be based on the memberships of record on these dates.

If anyone wants the Excel spreadsheet with embedded calculations, send an email to jrhjr@jimhenrybooks.com.  In the Subject Line, put RGI Calculation Spreadsheet or the email will probably get stuck in my spam filter.