Many of you are aware that Rotary in North America has struggled with declining membership over the last few years. In an effort to understand our members’ levels of engagement and satisfaction, District 5050 is launching a survey so that members can provide feedback to their own Clubs. Such surveys have been shown to increase the retention of members through improved dialog and re-commitment to Rotary and individual Clubs.
The district is providing the resources, but the results are going straight to the individual clubs. All survey information is confidential. All data is collected without names.
As most of you are aware, this is the second year of the Survey. Last year we had about 50% of the Rotarians respond district wide. This year we are hoping it increase that number to 90%. The first year’s survey gave people a chance to see how the survey process works and the value in everyone participating. A second consecutive year of surveying provides data to compare to the benchmark of the first year and gives an opportunity for those who did not participate in 2014 to get involved for the benefit of their Club.
We would like to encourage all Members to take a few minutes to fill out the survey for your club. Just click on the link below:
Or, you can go to the District 5050 website at: www.district5050.org. You do NOT need to log in, just click on the box that says: “Take the Rotary Survey” in the center of the home page.
We would like to update our club directory with your photo and bio as soon as possible. This is one of the ways our club can get to know you and really assists new and long-time members with who's who in our club.
Could the following Rotarians please send me a headshot photo in jpeg format:
Greg Buck, Lyle Caldwell, Kris Foulds, and David Lordon.
Could the following Rotarians please send me a bio about themselves via email (no more than 2000 characters and there are some great examples in our online directory to view):
Greg Buck, Carla Cadieux, Lyle Caldwell, Karina Chow, Yvonne Douma, Harvey Goodwin, Bev Hasenpflug, Keith Jacques, Dave Loewen, Floyd MacDonald, and Barbara Roberts.
Please send your photo and/or bio to Stacey Irwin at sirwin@prospera.ca. I will happily update the directory on your behalf.
In the early years of Rotary, networking and fellowship were the main areas of focus for Paul Harris and his co-founders.
The concept of vocational service (which contains networking) is rooted in the Second Object of Rotary, which calls on Rotarians to “encourage and foster”:
• High ethical standards in business and professions
• The recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations
• The dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society
I want to highlight the second point….”recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations.” Unfortunately, since the days of Paul Harris, the emphasis on recognizing vocations has faded to the point where some clubs fine their members for mentioning their businesses or professions.
Networking Plus is an attempt to validate vocational service as a valuable part of Rotary membership. The first step in this regard is the creation of an on-line directory (www.district5050.org) which will allow District 5050 Rotarians to list their businesses. Each club member who wishes to do so can go to the link on the district site and enter their data at no charge. After confirmation of the Rotarian's membership, the listing will be posted for all to see.
Eventually, Friends of Rotary will also be invited by Rotarians to list their businesses. Friends of Rotary are those businesses who have been generous in their support of our Rotary fundraisers and are worthy of our patronage. These listings (done by members) will be added after the initial launch and after all interested Rotarians have had the opportunity to become involved.
Once the online directory is rolling, the other aspects of Networking Plus will be introduced so that the directory can be used in a constructive way to strengthen fellowship throughout our district and to attract prospective and suitable candidates for membership.
If you are a Rotarian and wish to list your business, please do so and thanks for your support of this initiative.
Rotary International continues to work on branding and communication of our organization throughout the world. They are pushing for greater exposure within the press, radio, television and social media.
To this end, we would like to encourage all members to participate, with contribution, on our social media sites.
