At our December 23, 2024 Rotary Club of La Conner Meeting Christi King led a discussion about membership.
Some of the discussion is given below. See also excerpts from Christi's slides in Read More at bottom.
PLEASE COME TO A MEETING
We need new members.
An issue at the Tiny Trees event was they couldn't find our logo and used our website banner with bridge vs Rotary Wheel. When we pay to sponsor or we volunteer, we need to make sure they have the right logo.
Adam is creating QR codes, e.g., QR code at Maple Hall.
How do we find who we should invite to the meeting?
Advertising:
Skagit Herald (presuming La Conner Weekly dies)
Talk with Rotaract folks
Where and what does Rotaract post on social media?
Doug: The Chamber of Commerce claimed they can't give us the address list.
Doug said he was refused after saying he was with La Conner Rotary and that we were members.
There are no more Chamber of Commerce meetings.
Many types of people we could invite: school district, Police, Fire, Township?
John: Who do we invite? Look at prior classifications:
Medical
City Hall
Restaurant
Retail community
Every current member shares the responsibility to find speakers and find new members.
Doug: Who is our “competition”?
Kiwanis
PEO - women
Soroptimist - women
We previously joined with others in La Conner United.
Challenge - young people with families.
Audrey encourages her son (every other week - when he doesn't have kids)
Marty - More Adam’s age bracket and the newly retired.
Christi shared many ideas out of the membership committee.
Refresh of Farmers & Merchants -- we all bring guests.
Good program for Farmers & Merchants.
Help others understand what Rotary is and what it does.
Ice cream social with the Chamber of Commerce (where Keith joined)
Community
Talk about their club and mission
5th Monday socials and field trips
Marty - pick a project
traffic circle
food packing
Partner with other clubs.
Lyanne is a proponent of fireside chats to do something social to meet new members.
Do more with the 4th of July parade, not just a sign.
Have a Tulip parade float with info about/pics about what we’re doing.
How do we go to town hall and share what we do?
Doug -- Ollie and Marty walk the town to invite for Farmers and Merchants (F&M).
Can they promote Rotary as they do the invites?
Platform to simplify registration. We have that for the auction.
Invite people who come to visit and F&M invitees to become members.
At the end of F&M, thank them and invite them to come to a meeting.
Most recent member, Lyanne, was referred to us due to the meeting time and location.
Tate is considering membership due to her dad.
Audrey joined after being a speaker.
Danya joined because Audrey asked her.
Give new members a mentor and walk them through the perspective new member survey.
Christi has given it to Tate.
What is her passion?
2-hour conversation.
Into Natural arts, community, and schools.
We should use the RI and District tools for new members.
Discuss at the board meeting what two things to focus on to get new members.
Update the Rotary card and poster to be La Conner specific.
As a speaker, Christi got to sign a book for the Honduras library.
Danielle - Merchants at Garden Club
They want money and want us to join.
Doug: Thank-you night; we don't want your money.
Don - Chamber didn't know about F&M, so we didn’t get their email circulation.
Can we get Tulip Sales on the Chamber of Commerce calendar (and LoveLaConner)?
The auction date on the District Calendar now. Tulip sales on the District calendar.
Announcements:
F&M night -- ideas for speakers?
Save the date, etc. will go out last week of January.
John about SPARC:
Thanks for participating.
$2600 goal became over $3000.
3 single moms, 1 raised by grandparents, 1 Mother, SPARC kid, father and 2 kids.
Audrey’s closing remarks:
"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." - Leo Buscaglia
Attract Perspective Members - Rotary Club of La Conner 12/23/2024 Christi King Membership Chair
Prospective Member Best Practices Ideas & Thoughts
Finding People To Invite: A Prospective Member Exercise
Members - Ask people you know, follow up on your club’s online membership leads, identifying who’s missing from your club (classifications/experiences), cultivating new relationships, and leveraging social media.
Encourage members - to invite prospective members to service activities, club meetings, and events so that they can learn how your club works with the community and provides opportunities for friendship and connection. Map a yearly view of “events” where members can start thinking about who they will invite.
Community - Keep making progress on making your club better reflect your community. To reach an even broader group of people, work with your public image committee to promote your club’s service and social activities on social media.
Advertise w/flyer (La Conner News, Social Media, Skagit Publications) and ask community members to join a meeting. Tagging contacts who may be interested in an event, adding a “join” link on public documents or webpages, and using hashtags strategically are all ways to broaden your reach.
Obtain information from guests (name/phone/email) – Send a thank you note/text/email and invite them back.
Corporate Memberships – Do we have Corporations we can approach to support Corporate Memberships and gain membership, Corporation paying dues, Corporation matching possibilities.
Diversity Assessment. This helps you identify groups in your community that may be underrepresented in your club.
Best Practices/Suggestions La Conner Membership Committee –
Attracting Perspective Members
Activities & Events – Maple Hall & Field Trips
•Refresh Farmers & Merchants – Bring Guests / See What We Do
•Ice Cream Social w/Chamber & La Conner United
•5th Monday Field Trips & Socials – Invite Friends/Family
•Project – Park/Street Clean Up, Food Bank, Traffic Circle (Rotary At Work)
•Fireside Chats – Invite others to get to know us
•4th of July – Parade & Signage To Join Us (Q Code)
Be strategic with outreach and invitations.
•Prospective members assigned to your district or club through My Rotary – Membership Leads
•Visit Town Hall Meeting – Presentation?
•Structure event to include a networking activity or service project so that they can chat and get to know us and others
•Join Rotaract – Young Professionals – We help them, they help us
•Toastmasters Clubs In the Area – Presentation?
•Reach out to Scholarship Recipients / Parents / Friends / Family
•Alumni of Rotary programs such as Interact, RYLA, and Rotary Youth Exchange
•Merchants – During Yearly Event, Presentation that makes it easy for interested business leaders to apply or show interest
•School and university students, faculty, and staff
Establish a clear communication plan, including save-the-date notices, event reminders, and follow-up messages.
•Use a platform such as Eventbrite that simplifies registration
•Send tailored communications to your target audience
•Provide ways for prospective members to get involved after the event – Community event
•Revise fliers that can be shared via email and on social media
•Encourage current members to bring a guest. This ensures a good balance of current Rotary members and prospective members.
Prospective Member Kits – Christi Design Example
••Prospective Member Information Kit (424-ENB)
•Rotary Basics
•This Is Rotary
•What’s Rotary?
•Welcome to Rotary
•Rotary Foundation Facts
•Prospective Member Video Kit (424-ENB)
