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

101 - Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals - Series Introduction

If Rotary wishes to establish and maintain a steady membership growth rate, Rotary Leaders, which change frequently, should continually review business fundamentals, of which one is Marketing.

Please download and read Rotary's Messaging Guidelines, available by clicking on this link.

  On page 9 the Guidelines suggest for simplification that public information refer to the enterprise of Rotary International (RI) and The Rotary Foundation (TRF) as Rotary.  This series will follow this convention.  

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MARKETING MADE SIMPLE 

Successful organizations continually 'go to market' by producing and making available attributes that those who furnish their financial support value.  Organizations must define themselves, not by the attributes they create, but by the benefits the attributes provide to those who support the organizations.  Supporters, not organizations, determine the value of the benefits.  In return for creating and delivering benefits supporters value, the organizations capture value, which allows the organizations to continue pursuing their objectives.

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Rotary is a respected, worldwide network.  Its effort to sustain membership must always begin with Rotarians, their demographic,  psychographic, and behavioral realities, their needs, their values.  Rotary must continually ask itself why would any group of people with enterprising minds want to become a Rotary club? Why would anyone want to become a Rotarian? Why would anyone want to support The Rotary Foundation?  Rotary's objective has been and still is to advance the Object of Rotary locally but scaled globally.  It cannot do that without clubs and Rotarians, so the central role of Marketing Rotary is to produce and make available attributes that clubs and Rotarians consider beneficial.

Recommended References:

Marketing Rotary Schematic

Siegel+Gale Research Findings

THE BASIS OF ROTARY'S WORLDWIDE MARKETING STRATEGY MADE SIMPLE       

     RI, an association of Rotary clubs, has a worldwide reputation that many have come to respect.  Local groups of responsible leaders with enterprising minds sometimes choose to apply to RI for membership because they perceive that the name Rotary carries with it benefits the groups cannot get elsewhere.  RI, in return, is entitled to capture value for the benefit the name Rotary delivers, which happens when groups apply for membership.  The exchanges are culminated when RI approves the applications and clubs receive their charters.  The clubs, to retain their charter, are obligated to continually advance the Object of Rotary and pay RI dues based on the number of members they have.  RI, in return, is obligated to sustain over time producing and making available attributes that clubs perceive to be beneficial.

THE BASIS OF LOCAL ROTARY CLUBS' MARKETING STRATEGIES MADE SIMPLE

     Rotary clubs, to attract people with enterprising minds from within their local social fabrics, should produce benefits members cannot get elsewhere.  Clubs that do so are entitled to capture something of value in return, which happens when people agree to become members.  When the exchanges are culminated, the clubs must over time sustain the process of producing and making available attributes members perceive to be beneficial.

MARKETING ROTARY - - - AS TIME GOES BY

       Rotary must continually produce and make available benefits clubs and Rotarians value.  To do so, Rotary must understand the competitive forces clubs and Rotarians face, and how demographics, needs, realities, and values change over time and in different locations.  Meaningful statistics can help determine whether or not all parties are satisfied and can help determine the expense Rotary should invest in producing and delivering attributes that clubs, Rotarians, and donors consider useful.

   On December 20 Retention Central will continue the series by discussing each element mentioned in more detail, beginning with Marketing Rotary for Non-Professionals 102A - 'THEM' - The Supporters.