Kevin Crouse, District Governor, August 2013
DG Kevin’s August Message
August is Membership and Extension Month
During the month of July, I had the privilege of inducting two new members – Will Wood of the Rotary Club of Grimsby and Tracey Truman of the Rotary Club of Dundas. These new Rotarians are the lifeblood of our organization and getting them involved in significant club roles as soon as possible is crucial to their Rotary survival and the survival of their clubs.
Top photo: Dundas inducts New Member Tracey Truman flanked by her sponsor, George Eastman, and DG Kevin
Bottom photo: Grimsby inducts New Member Will Wood, flanked by DG Kevin and President Wayne Fertich
Rotary Resilience
Over the last eight years, we have lost 1.2 million Rotarians world-wide, but guess what? Our current membership is 1.2 million members! Those figures speak volumes to our resilience as an organization but also to the importance of continuing to bring in new qualified members to our clubs. The downside, of course, is our retention record. Over the last five years, District 7090 has lost over 330 members – a 12% decline which is almost double the North American decline of 7%. If we were to focus more of our efforts on retaining members, we could easily reverse this downward spiral. In fact, an improvement in retention of just 2% world-wide would effectively reverse this decline. The income that R.I. would receive from this retention improvement would equal that realized by the recently imposed R.I. fee increase of $1.00 per member.
Think Big, Start Small
People join Rotary for basically two reasons – to make new friends and to make a difference in their communities. If the club they join is cliquish or an unknown force in the community, these people will move on to organizations that effectively satisfy their needs. Obviously then, the need for fellowship events that include all members will make a huge increase in retention. The Rotary Club of Waterdown held one of their recent meetings in Wendy Hickey’s beautiful backyard that featured a beautiful new pool, an open cabana, a waterfall and fabulous food and fellowship. It was an inspiring evening to celebrate the District Governor’s visit and to mix and mingle with current members. Norm Watson’s Stoney Creek club has six fund-raisers that include the Winona Peach Festival, the Ancaster Fall Fair, a Christmas Poinsettia sale, a Night of a Thousand Dinner(s) and a raffle for a 2013 Harley Davidson Motorcycle. Wayne Ingell and the Rotary Club of Hamilton East Wentworth are proud of their charter bgfmember, Doctor Bob Kemp who founded the Hospice named in his honour. A tireless and dedicated worker, he was instrumental in having the urgent care hospital built to serve the needs of people in their community. Over the years, the club has donated $100,000 to make this dream a reality. The Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise built an $800,000 outdoor artificial skating rink in the Dundas Park to celebrate their work in the community. These efforts definitely put Rotary on the community map and send a strong message that Rotary cares.