Michael recapped on what we discussed last session:
- what do you love most about our Club? Is it 80% People/relationships, or do we want to socialise more? Invite new members? educate the community?
- What things do we need to do LESS of? do we need speakers?
- Are we a service club? Or a fund raising Club? It was suggested that over the last few years we have leaned towards being a fund raising club.
What is the cost of our BBQs? Is there a cost of member burnout from giving up half their Saturdays almost every Saturday to flip sausages? Is there a cost to potential new members? For example does the young professional want to give up his weekend time with his kids and family on a Saturday? Michael suggested this would be a barrier for new members! Our BBQs are a good interaction with the public, but is this all the public sees, ie Rotary members flipping sausages each fortnight? Do they see what other things Rotary does?
One thing we looked at last discussion was; at a BBQ, how do we sell our Club to potential new members? If asked this question, every member must have in his mind and relate at least three projects, where profit from the BBQs is spent on.
Ask yourself, why do successful businesses fail? Why do they lose that successful ‘edge’?
Michael explained: for the last few years, he has been part of an RI planning committee which is looking at the question, ‘where is Rotary going world wide?’. World wide, why do some Clubs flourish and some fold? RI has found that there are several reasons Clubs flourish: 1) every time they meet, there is a purpose for it, its not just a process, ie a getting together. We mus ask ourselves then, and be very clear about, what is the purpose of our Monday meetings? If our primary reason is ‘socialising’ then we are going to have difficulty attracting young professionals to become members. How can you ask a young professional, with expectations in the business world today, to take 2.5 hours out of his day to just ‘socialise?’ What is the ‘return on their investment’? Michael has seen some Clubs change their format and evolve into a quick drink after work during which they discuss projects and progress, and it last 30 minutes, and if some have the time, they stay and socialise.
2) fund raising becomes an enabler of activity, not the primary activity. And this point is important for each member to get his head around!! Just look at our calendar of events in the weekly Bulletin? The first five activities are Bunnings BBQs! Is this an example of what our Club is doing in the community? Michael has seen some Clubs where they have only one fund raising activity per year, which they really rev’ up, and for the rest of the year their calendar becomes, a list of activities on how they interact with their community and spend that money wisely. Their question becomes, what activities do they say ‘NO’ too to enable them to focus on their mission of interacting with the community?
So our Club needs to determine ‘where do they go from here’? What are our community’s needs? If these cannot be easily determined, then lets look at the range of qualifications and experience of our members. What are the unique skills sets and capabilities of our members that we can bring to the community? Where can we add value?
How much does the Club want to change? To be more effective? How can we narrow our focus on what we do? We have already changed the format of our meetings. What are our passions that we consider are top priority? Domestic Violence appears a hot issue. Another is helping young people apply for jobs, by mentoring them.
Michael then asked the members for ideas; members spoke of previous projects. We need to keep identifying organisations we can help. Our projects need to inspire young professionals to join us. Our President invited members to bring ideas for projects to our fortnightly discussions for consideration. We need to connect with organisations, such as the PCYC and Local Council Welfare/Community Officers and invite them to present to our meetings. We need to explain to our community our presentation nights, and those organisations we help, so they see how we make a difference. A ‘socialising night’ was suggested. Scouts and Guides were suggested. Some members related occasions where they had been rejected or put off by organisations, and ‘rejection fatigue’ was mentioned, however it was prompted that we need to go back to those organisations again to determine whether things have changed and we might play a role. Rotary being ‘in the face’ of the community was suggested with ‘Pride of Workmanship nights’. Within the start up ‘social enterprise’ (non-profit) business community, run a ‘Shark Tank’, inviting young entrepreneurs to pitch for a grant of money. Run a big fund raiser for an organisation.
The President wound up the meeting by thanking Michael for his leadership of the meeting and suggested that we had identified quite a few ideas that members should dwell on and bring back to our discussion meeting in two weeks time. Next week a local Church Minister is presenting his need for the community.