Tuesday, April 14, 2020

7 Steps to Bring in New Members in Rotary

How to induct new members when club meetings are not being held?

This is the concern that several incoming Presidents have in their mind especially at a time, when the Rotary world is looking for new quality members.

Obviously, in the current situation, the lockdown in many countries may take longer than expected and even after that it would be sometime when the physical distancing may continue to remain uppermost in social gatherings, and even club meetings.

Rotary International President Elect Holger Knaack, feels that the current crisis has opened up newer opportunities for the Rotarians to innovate, continue to strengthen their connect with each other and their community, and maintain their drive to 'Do Good'.

Many club meetings are happening online, thanks to various tech-tools available to host such meetings effectively.   District 3080 in India conducted its Presidents-Elect and Secretaries Elect Training Seminar for seven days with attendance ranging from 140 to 160.   Their success story is inspiring many other Districts to undertake similar meets to prepare the next year leadership for the challenges.

Since the membership growth remains one of the key priorities of Rotary,  endorsed with full verve by RI President Nominee Shekhar Mehta also in different fora, the Clubs shall have to innovate to reach out to the new members, especially the younger ones, through online resources and engage them.

Here are 7 Steps to a successful outreach initiative to bring in new members.

1. Survey your community and identify the prospects.  There are former Rotaractors, GSE team alumni, and those Rotarians who would have left because of their professional commitments, and of course, the new breed of young leaders in various sectors, who are our key prospects.  Reach out to them, compile their profiles,
2. Invite such prospective members to your zoom meetings.
3. Share projects with them, and the club goals.
4. Create a slide show or videot of major projects that the club has undertaken in the past. 
5. Engage in discussions with them for the upcoming or running projects where they would like to involve themselves. 
6. Organise an Induction meeting and send them the New Members Kit. .
7. Introduce the person and engage him/her in speaking and addressing the club members.



Monday, April 13, 2020

Embracing Technology to Do Good...Uninterrupted

Holger Knaack, President Elect 2020-21
Rotary District 3080 DGE Ramesh Bajaj assisted by PDG Arun Sharma initiated PETS-SETS for their incoming Trailblazers Team 2020-21 through Zoom. 

Starting on 7th April, with inaugural session being addressed by the Past Rotary International President Rajendra K Saboo, Rotary International President Nominee Shekhar Gupta, and Rotary International Director, RI Director Dr Bharat Pandya.

Next day on 8th April, incoming Rotary International President Holger Knaack shared his Vision for Rotary year 2020-21, while on the 9th April again Trustee of the Rotary Foundation Gulam Vahavaty and RI Director Kamal Sanghvi addressed the training seminar.

RI Director Dr Manoj Desai and Chairman of the Rotary India Water Mission PDG Ranjan Dhingra inspired the participants about Rotary's challenges in membership development and water management respectively, on the 9th April.

Saturday saw PDG Surendra Seth and formerly Zonal Chair of Rotary Public Image talked about public image and media, which was followed by a Rotarians showcasing their talent in the cultural evening.

Monday morning the business sessions started with PRIP Rajendra K Saboo delivering the keynote address with different sessions conducted by the Past District Governors of District 3080, culminating in the evening with a spouses' session by Usha Saboo, Rekha Bajaj and Sunita Sharma.

Rotary International President Nominee
2021=22) Shekhar Mehta 
PETS-SETS culminates on Tuesday with various business sessions with valedictory remarks by PDG Pramod Vij, who is an elected member of the legislative  assembly from Panipat.

In short the cloud meeting was a joyful experience for the participating Rotarians.  The attendance numbered from 140 to over 160 in different sessions .  The ability to interact with their fellow Rotarians from different cities, and leaderships beyond Indian borders, excited everyone, as they shared their involvement in managing the COVID19 challenges.

Technology has definitely bonded the Rotarians, the People of Action, together through such meetings, filling them up with the hope that they can meet any challenge with ease, not letting their enthusiasm waning in any way.   

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

The Trailblazers of 3080 meet on the Cloud today

The Trailblazers of District 3080 for 2020-21 under the leadership of its incoming District Governor Ramesh Bajaj meet online for the Presidents-Elect and Secretaries Elect Training Seminar.

PETS-SETS begins today at 7pm on Zoom platform with the keynote address by Past Rotary International President Rajendra K. Saboo, Rotary International President Elect 2021-22 Shekhar Mehta, and Rotary International Director Dr Bharat Pandya.

Tomorrow at 5pm the Rotary International President Elect Holger Knack  shall be sharing his vision with the Trailblazers of District 3080 2020-21.