Focus on growth
It’s the second month of the new Rotary year and a bold new world, with our mantra being
‘grow Rotary’.
Allow your members to choose their own experience with Rotary; either full engagement, or that which suits their needs — particularly for younger members. This will tell Rotarians we are sensitive to their needs.
In a marketplace saturated with similar organisations, offering personalised opportunities will get us more members. Do focus on multi-generation outreach, not only the millennials. It is important to build and nurture a relationship with every age group in Rotary. A few strategies to attract a mixed age group:
Baby boomers respond better to traditional techniques and are more likely to respond to phone conversations and face-to-face meetings, rather than social media marketing. Reach them by creating live, in-person events that provide plenty of opportunities to network and mingle.
Generation Xers are more rules-oriented and appreciate when organisations go by an accepted set of engagement rules, and they love humour. Focus on building a relationship through human interactions via live events and emails.
Millennials appreciate the social aspect of the Internet. They expect to build authentic relationships through social media, trust and rely on reviews — even those from complete strangers, and love to support a cause. They live on their smartphones. Offer sharable digital experiences.
Gen Zers and Rotaractors are the masters of social media, and lured to video mediums such as Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube. Like the millennials, they are mobile-first, and expect all content to be optimised. They expect getting information quickly and easily. Provide them innovative and intuitive tech experiences.
YouTube has been around for over a decade, but surprisingly, a small percentage uses it. Yet, with over a billion users, YouTube attracts almost a third of all Internet users. Chances are high that your members are on YouTube, and if they’re there, you should be, too.
Those who prefer Facebook to YouTube should know a video on social media generates multiple times more shares. Create videos of your activities and post it on YouTube, Facebook and other social media platforms.
During these difficult times, let us adopt out-of-the-box solutions. Virtual meets enable clubs to have speakers from across the world; invite your guests, relatives, fellow workers who after seeing your great work might be inspired to join Rotary.
Kamal Sanghvi,
RI Director, 2019-21
