Membership: It’s now or never! RI President Gary Huang has set a target of reaching 1.3 million Rotarians by end of this Rotary year. We have taken up this daunting challenge in each ­District of Zones 4, 5, and 6A, setting individual targets for each to achieve. Each District is following a set template, for Membership Development and Public Image Seminars. Public image plays a vital role in increasing membership. The discussion at each seminar unfolds the blue print for every District’s membership growth. A past Governor is appointed as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD), with the sole purpose of giving an impetus to membership growth in that District. In addition, they will concentrate their energies in helping weaker clubs to reach a minimum membership of 35.

District 2980 organised their Membership Development Seminar on August 31, 2014 under the mentorship of DG Balasubramaniam and District Membership Chair Nirmal with ARC PDG G. Olivannan providing the necessary inputs. The Rotarians found his inputs on recruitment techniques very informative. The seminar was replete with healthy discussions and interesting case studies. Aptly named 10,000 wala, (their target figure for June 30, 2015) the seminar reaffirmed their determination to reach the goal.

Membership Chair Nirmal communicates with all Rotarians of the District by e-mail on a daily basis to keep up the tempo … a commendable effort indeed!

District 3000 held its membership seminar at Trichy on July 27, 2014. More than 500 Rotarians registered for the event. The address by the Chief Guest, PDG Rtn. C. Basker was informative and more likely an enjoyable interactive session. District Membership Chair V. Ramesh reaffirmed the District target of 5,000 new members (25 percent increase). The sessions by the Past District ­Governors,  Dr. Manickam ­Rajasekaran and Rtn. T. Ramanathan were very useful for the upcoming office holders and budding Rotarians.  The presentation by District Governor Elect ­Thennachandran motivated the members to concentrate more on forming E-clubs and having the members associated with the club even in their absence. DGN Muruganandam focused on showcasing Rotary’s good work by the Rotarians to the general public that would motivate them to get interested in Rotary.

District 3040 successfully conducted membership development seminar at Bhopal on August 3, 2014 where more than 300 delegates from across the district participated. The club leaders were motivated to increase the membership and the various aspects of membership development, retention and club extension were discussed. The attendees were instructed to provide correct membership status in SAR.

In District 3053, one of the few all-women’s clubs in India hosted a seminar in Gwalior. The turnout was promising and the debate at hand was on the wives of Rotarians becoming members themselves. There were interesting points on both sides of the argument, which garnered a lot of attention and is likely to have a favorable impact on the number of women joining Rotary. They promised a 25 percent membership growth, at the end of the workshop.

PDG Ashish Ajmera of District 3060 conducted a seminar on August 24, 2014 at Bharuch, which had a participation of over 300 Rotarians from 44 Rotary clubs. This was followed by a brainstorming session involving the core team, incoming District leaders, and Assistant Governors. Panel discussions were done on recruitment and retention of young members. New clubs chartered were felicitated. The discussion solely focused on the issues in reaching the growth target of 1,000 members.

The membership seminar of District 3132 was organised at Latur on August 31, 2014. It had a participation of 340 zealous Rotarians. District Governor Vyankatesh Metan along with OSD PDG Zubin Amaria energised the attendees with improving membership. PDG Deepak Shikarpur shed light on innovative ways to enhance membership and RC PDG Vijay Jalan’s address emphasised the importance of adding new members which is RI’s No.1 priority. This seminar was not only engaging, but also generated a commitment of 850 members to be added to the District. The first new club of the District for the current Rotary year, RC Udgir Central, was acknowledged. The seminar was followed by a press conference, which led to Rotary’s work being covered by leading newspapers the next day.

District 3140’s RISE (Retain and Induct for Service and Excellence) was a membership initiative with point system (for involving each member of the district) conceptualised and driven by Membership District Chair Chetan which has been yielding great results. Unprecedented six District Membership Seminars on Retention and Recruitment, training of 15 prospective GSRs, chartering of two new clubs (target 15 new clubs by June 2015) within first three months, tie up with women organisations, social media campaign to attract youth, membership information booth at major projects — District 3140 is set to create a new benchmark in all aspects of Membership Development i.e. Recruitment, Retention and Extension. Kudos to Membership Chair Rtn. Chetan, his  dynamism and commitment is note worthy.

The Membership Development Seminar of District 3150 held on August 3, 2014 at Warangal was attended by more than 400 Rotarians from all over the district. The seminar provided ample opportunities to discuss various aspects relating to membership growth. In his keynote address, ARC PDG Kishore Kumar espoused the promotion of Rotary among the non-Rotarian public rather than amongst ourselves. “Target the close associates, relatives, circle of friends or anyone whom you come across,” he said.  Speaking on Regional Membership Plan,  Officer on Special Duty PDG Jawahar Vadlamani, reiterated the need for retention, induction of younger age profile members and women, besides inviting back erstwhile members who had left Rotary. With valuable inputs from faculty comprising of DG Malladi Vasudev, District Membership Chair PDG TVR Murthy, District Extension Chair Dr. C. Sarat Babu, District Chair for Women Membership Development Dr. Prasanna Yashaswi and other PDGs, DGE and DGN the seminar proved to be a grand success.

District 3160 held its membership seminar at Raichur on September 14. Around 400 delegates from the district attended the event. While the goal set for the district is a net growth of 750, DG Mansoor said, “we are already there and we are looking at touching the net growth of 1,000 mark and thus breaching the 3,000 mark.” ARC Surendra spoke about how at the global level membership has become the biggest challenge. While the growth in India has been steady, we are still far behind our potential. OSD Ramalinga Reddy outlined his plan for the weaker clubs. Two clubs namely Rotary Club of Suncity and Rotary Club of Koppal were recognised for crossing the 100 member mark. All the clubs pledged to complete their goals by February itself.

The seminar of District 3180 was a two-day event held on August 9 & 10 at Koteshwara; The seminar saw the strategies and action plan for membership development being discussed at length. District Membership Development Chair Rtn Usman ­Kukkady and OSD PDG Dr. Ravi Appaji elaborated and enthused the Rotarians to take Rotary to the public and ­concentrate on inducting new members and retaining existing members. Zone Coordinator PDG C. Basker chaired an interactive session thrashing out the hurdles encountered by clubs in the aspect of growth and retention of members. It was refreshing to see so many fresh ideas and suggestions emerging from the Rotarians. District Trainer PDG Nagendran opined that proper orientation, mentoring and involving in Rotary activities could well keep the members firmly rooted in Rotary. The seminar was an educative session for the 700-plus Rotarians who attended it.

The Membership Development Seminar of District 3190 took place on September 7 and DG Manjunath Shetty had ensured a full house.

In his usual inimitable style, Chief Guest, RID P.T. Prabhakar interacted with the audience and shared with them, the RI Board’s No.1 priority, to increase global membership to 1.3 million by June 30, 2015.

The sum total of the target for 2014–15, accepted by the 34 Districts in India, is addition of 45,000 new members.

PTP pointed out, that, RI District 3190, with major metros like Bangalore, should have a minimum membership of 7,000 and the present membership of 3,551 is grossly inadequate.

He requested Rotarians of D 3190, which is one of the finest Districts, in terms of service projects and support to TRF, to concentrate on new member addition and reach a net figure of at least 5,000 by June 30, 2015.

PTP pointed out the super success of hybrid E-clubs, started by D 3131 this year and requested DG Manju to start similar clubs in Bangalore, which is considered IT capital of India.

The Membership Development Seminar of District 3202 was held at Kannur on August 10, 2014 with a 300-plus number of registrants. There was a good round of applause when DG K. Sridharan  Nambiar announced that 300-plus number of new members have been added in the first 40 days of the current Rotary year and the respective clubs and new Rotarians were felicitated at the seminar. Information on e-clubs and satellite clubs were also provided. The plenary sessions handled by expert Rotary leaders proved to be a learning experience for the Rotarians.The District Membership Seminar of District 3211 was held on August 17 at the scenic Kumarakom in ­Kottayam, with a registration of more than 900 Rotarians. Inaugurating the seminar, DG K.S. Sasikumar enthused the Rotarians to raise their District membership from 3,900 to 5,500 during the year. The Chief Guest PDG P.T. Ramkumar, RI District 3230, through his impressive presentation shared his thoughts as to how best we could strengthen Rotary by adding new members to it and retain them there.  In the effective and purpose-­oriented plenary sessions that followed, presentations were made on ‘Regional Membership Development Plan and Awards,’ ‘Rotary Club Central’ and ‘SAR-New Invoicing’ by Rotary’s experienced faculties. A lively interactive session was followed by recognition of Rotary clubs that had more than 20 percent increase in membership or had inducted more than five new lady members during the current Rotary year.

The Membership Development Seminar of District 3230 was held at Chennai on June 8, 2014. RC Ulhas Kolhatkar was the chief guest and ARC PDG Olivannan, the guest of honour. Various sessions encompassing different aspects of membership development, including recruitment techniques, retention and membership extension was discussed. DG Nazar and Membership Chair Vasumathy did a commendable job in preparing the incoming leaders for enhancing ­membership. This District which ranks No.1 in the world in Membership Development for the year ending 2012–13 is a role model for other ­districts to emulate. DG Nazar encouraged the members to do their best so that the District will be No.1 in the world in Membership Development in June 2015.

District 3250 hosted District Membership and Grants Management Seminar. Membership Committee Chair Uday Dhir expressed happiness at the growth of some of the clubs, 100 percent in some cases, but saddened to see the negative growth in others. The average growth over the past few years has been 65 annually. Governor ­Sanjay urged to induct more lady members, spouse and past Rotaractors into the fold and forming e-clubs. Rotary Assistant Membership Coordinator PDG Vinod Bansal urged the ­Rotarians to undertake large service projects which would automatically translate into membership growth because then the community would like to engage with Rotary.

District 3261 enthused Rotarians to concentrate on membership growth through its several District meetings. They conducted their membership seminar at Raipur in June 2014.

In District 3292 OSD PDG ­Tirtha Man Sakya had set the foundation, by corresponding regularly with club Presidents. He has started monitoring membership on three counts:

•    New additions till date

•    Number of women members added

•    Rotary Alumni added

The District Seminar held on August 16, 2014, showed good attendance of 172 Rotarians represented from 54 Rotary clubs, despite floods and landslides in the region. Their hope is to increase membership by 600.

All Districts have taken the onus of fulfilling their specific targets in the hope of setting a new record for the Rotary year 2013–14. Tools such as Rotary Club Central and Brand Centre were used to explore new ways of improving membership growth.

Some Districts have started e-Clubs that are now being converted into Hybrid e-Clubs. Hybrid e-Clubs require all members to meet physically, at least once a month, either on their own or with their parent club. Such meetings have garnered a lot of curiosity, leading to a sense of Rotarian bonhomie, helping in retention and continuity of this form of clubs. The excitement and the enthusiasm is infectious and is motivating every club in every District to help nurture the Rotary cause.

With inputs from Rotary Coordinators and Assistant Rotary Coordinators of Zones 4, 5 and 6A