Our first district conference as District 5495 was fantastic! My favorite part was meeting youth exchange students and hearing the accomplishments of Interact and Rotaract. They are a fantastic group of future Rotarians. If you haven’t had the opportunity to invite them to your clubs, that would be a great program that I am sure they would love the opportunity to do so.I was able to set up a table in the House of Friendship for Membership. I really enjoyed talking to so many people and hearing what best practices they have in their clubs. As I thought about what to include on the table, it was important to me that it highlight something that I felt every single person has an impact on, inviting potential members to their club!
Below, you can see a small sample of responses from the conference. It looks like a very similar count to having invited someone in the last week, last 30 days, and even six months ago. In speaking with people, the responses varied greatly, with my favorite response being, “I just invited one of the vendors down the hall!” Below, are some tips for how you can make this a consistent habit for each member of your club. In reality, EVERYONE is on the membership committee. Every one of us can make an impact, each day, by inviting people to learn more about this great organization!Tips to Inviting Prospective Members:
- Plan a membership-focused meeting where everyone in your club identifies prospective members. Make it a whole club goal to invite a new person each month and help hold each other accountable.
- Communicate program plans well in advance so every person has enough time to invite someone they know would enjoy a specific topic. That means the website too!
- Remember that an invitation is often needed multiple times. Don’t make it a “one and done” thing … keep encouraging prospective members to check out your club!
- When you invite a prospective member to join, make it personal. Learn the person’s interests and expertise and suggest activities and projects that might interest him or her.
During the conference, I handed out some invite cards for people to utilize. If you would like some for your clubs, just let me know. I would be happy to send you some. Happy Inviting!