From the halcyon days of the late 1900s when membership of our club was up over 80 we have quite steadily become smaller. This is despite the somewhat herculean efforts to build membership by Ken Holmes and Peter Hawkins to name just two. It's been something that has also got my attention and below are some of the factors that have undoubtedly contributed.
- While younger people in New Zealand and much of the Western world get involved in individual causes and projects, they seem much less likely or willing to join service clubs. Rotary has in fact held up well in terms of membership compared to organisations such as Lions, Kiwanis and Jaycees. Even finding up to date membership numbers for those clubs is difficult.
- In the past Rotary was seen as, and was in fact, somewhat of an elite organisation. Being invited to be a member carried social cachet. Along with the good work that clubs did they also generated business contacts and encouraged business and social networking. That type of networking is now done differently and is therefore less likely to be a reason why people might become members.
- The changing pattern of employment may also have contributed. Statistics show that younger people move from company to company and/ or business to business much more often than was once the case. The gold watch for 50 years service with a single employer would be extremely rare now. In a similar sense, do newer members to Rotary remain active members for as long as some of the stalwarts of our club have?
- Families are now much more likely to involve two fully employed adults and a regular meeting along with other commitments makes being an active member more difficult. As we can see in our own club very few, if any, of our own eligible children are Rotarians.
- Clubs have struggled to move with the times and the age, gender and cultural profile of many clubs does not reflect that of the wider population. We are of course all lovely people but it’s hard to see how we might be an attractive club for younger people and especially younger women.
- The structure of the organisation places a significant weighting on the regular meeting. That is often not what those people who want to roll up their sleeves and get involved in a project or cause are looking for. That is the ratio of meeting to actual action may not fit the needs of at least some.
- As membership has aged what people are looking for from Rotary has changed. The attraction of “Friends of Rotary” appears to be largely the comradery. Likewise, the ability of members to use their own business or business contacts to generate resources for club projects has reduced.
None of this should be taken as a signal to simply give up but understanding the factors that potentially best explain the membership situation can assist in thinking about how the impact of that might best be addressed.