Programme for week commencing 10th April, 2014, presented by Tim Mason Secretary

Next year I’m looking forward to taking up the reins as the District 1100 Membership Officer. I believe this will be an exciting way of giving Service in an organisation; able to help facilitate activities in our communities, locally and internationally. I believe Rotary has a vast amount of experience, talents and skills within its membership, which we just need to lift the lid on. To get my work underway I already have the District 1100 Membership Recruitment and Retention Strategy 2014-17 agreed, an Implementation Plan in place to put it into action and there is a need to set up a District Membership Task Force, aimed at helping all Clubs build vibrant, diverse and fun opportunities for retaining their membership and attracting new people.

So I’m seeking our Click 4 Action eRotary membership’s help in the first steps to develop the strategy implementation plan mentioned above. Ultimately this help will lead to a greater awareness of what each Rotary Club has within its team, it will hopefully identify the gaps where recruitment could help and it will help create joint working between Clubs by utilising the resources available, leading to Rotary operating at its best. I have written to all of you individually to ask for you to fill out a Membership Skills Audit 2014, which will capture your information, but it will help us test whether it can be used across District 1100 with all our Rotarians.  Please complete the audit and send back any helpful comments, so we can refine it before we undertake it across the District.

Last week we asked how Rotary could become more diverse and celebrate the diversity of Clubs. One way is by knowing our individual members’ gifts, skills and talents, so we will have a wealth of knowledge to build vibrant teams. A core element of the new Membership Strategy is about building teams in Clubs, developing quality Rotary and attracting new members because they know they are joining something that is buzzing with activity and they can develop their own skills and talents.

The Skills Audit will hopefully identify gaps in our teams, this will enable us to form partnerships with others to find what is needed when we undertake projects or seek new members to fill these gaps. Either way Rotary needs to empower its membership to become the innovators for change and celebrate the vast resource it has in its diverse membership.

I thank everyone for your help in piloting this first step in my new role as District Membership Officer 2014/15. It will be important that our eRotary uses your information to build its team for projects and activities in the new Rotary Year to come.