In mid-June, we sent all the President Elects a survey to complete. To our great delight, 86% of the Rotary clubs and Rotaract clubs responded to which we are very grateful. Here are a few of the highlights from the survey:
- The three most important offerings from our District in the eyes of the clubs are 1) training such as Rotary Leadership Institute 2) advice from your Assistant Governor and 3) provision of youth services like Rotary Student Exchange.
- When it comes to training, 73% would like to have online interactive webinars and 66% want someone from the District to come to your club as the speaker.
- Only 27% of the responding clubs have been to the District website four or more times in the last year. It is not that there is not necessarily helpful information, some respondents noted that it was almost too much information. Others said that they did not know all that they can find on the District page that could help them.
- 86% of the respondents said that it is extremely or very true that their Assistant Governor (AG) is visible and available to our club. If you don’t know who your AG is - go to the District 7090 webpage and click on “District Contacts” right from the home page. They are our “A team of advisors” who help the clubs in your area be the best that they can be!
This input has greatly influenced our strategic plan for the District. There are many actions that are being taken but I wanted to share five that you can watch for in the coming month!
- In September, we will be offering you a menu of short 15-minute interactive presentations that any club can have as part of their speaker portion of their meeting.
There will be volunteers from the District happy to zoom in and lead these presentations at your club meetings. - We are bringing Rotary Web Talks back. As you have noted in the survey, you love to hear what other clubs are doing when it comes to such topics as innovative ideas to strengthen membership or online fundraising ideas. These will resume on Tuesdays at 7:00 pm after Labour Day. It will be a one-hour interactive webinar. A schedule of topics will be out shortly. All sessions are recorded so you can watch it later if you are not able to join us at that time.
- Membership is on many club president’s minds. However, we know that there are many other tasks on each President’s mind as well. So we are working to ensure each club assigns one person to be part of “membership innovation” - one of the key strategies in our District strategic plan. This person should be willing to try new ideas and not be committed to the same way we have always done it. If you are
willing to volunteer for this role for your club, contact Angela Carter - Director of Membership. - The Public Image Committee (chaired by Al Lutchin) is exploring what other districts are doing to make web pages more useful, accessible, and easier for you to find out what is there so you can access as needed. Their proposed plan of action is already drafted and we are working to resource their ideas.
- Finally, we are hosting two zoom meetings in early September to review the club survey data in greater detail and get even more feedback about some of the other elements of our action plan. We want to be taking actions that help your club and all the other clubs in the district. An invite is going out shortly to each survey respondent but they are welcome to invite others to attend as well. So if you want to be invited - contact Pene Hutton and she will send you the zoom links.
Co-chair of Strategic Planning
Past President and Member of Rotary Club of Hamilton AM
