As Rotary president, one of the key priorities of RIPE Mario de Camargo will be “to retain you all, keep you engaged as too many — 155,000 Rotarians — are quitting Rotary each year. But we don’t own Rotary as we are here for a purpose, and we have to keep it going for the next generation with a good succession plan,” he said, addressing the membership conclave in Hyderabad.

Mumbai was one of the stopovers for RIPE Mario de Camargo during his recent India tour, where he addressed Rotarians on critical topics such as membership growth, retention, partnerships and leadership succession. “We need more members, because we are getting old. But don’t go fishing for Rotarians just to boost numbers. Identify people who share our values and collective mindset,” he emphasised, cautioning against indiscriminate induction of members. He urged Rotarians to explore professional and trade associations for potential members. “We must promote new format clubs such as satellite and cause-based clubs to attract youngsters, and promote Rotary’s good work on social media,” he said, and urged the delegates to revive their connect with former Rotarians.

Did you know that the US, the country where Rotary was born, has lost over 100,000 members in the last 20 years? Probably not.

In Rotary we all have access to magic wands that enable us to tackle various challenges in our communities.

This is their maiden contribution to TRF for 1,150 Rotarians across 56 Rotary clubs in our district,” says Sushil Poddar, past president of RC Patna Samrat, RID 3250, as he relates how the feat was achieved.

Rotarians must be flexible to change with the evolving times to stay relevant and sustain growth, said TRF trustee Bharat Pandya at the installation of N S Saravanan as the DG of the new district 3234 in Chennai.