By Rotary magazine staff
Every month in Rotary magazine, we showcase answers to ethical questions that members might face in their Rotary clubs, to help members share best practices with each other as they make their clubs stronger. Below is the ethical challenge we will tackle in the September issue of the magazine.
You’ve been asked to promote resources for service and to get club members more involved in projects. To succeed, you realize you’ll need to work with the chairs of your club’s Rotary Foundation, membership, public image, and club administration committees. But when you contact them, they don’t seem interested. You believe it’s vital that you all work together, but they want to focus on their own goals. What would you do?
Share your suggestions below and send them to:
Rotary Voices 
Make commities and interlink them
A supervisor from each committie will help
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Present information that shows your request helps their goals, However, the choice is theirs do not push too hard or there will be division in the club.
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Before pushing a particular project, I would suggest doing a community needs assessment, to include the interests and goals of those Chairmen mentioned. Each of us has aspects of Rotary that excite us more than others. So it would be helpful if people saw their interests being included for consideration.
Hopefully a project could be identified by members which took into account the passion and interests of everyone, particularly the Chairmen who would then embrace the club to move forward and implement a worthwhile initiative to make a difference in the community.
Members can accept a group decision which may not include their viewpoint, as long as they feel their ideas have been heard and considered. Planning for action and success can evolve one person at a time, when members each embrace a well researched and thought out proposal.
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Prepare a matrix showing how achieving the goals of one committee depends upon or contributes to achieving the goals of other committees. This opens up the opportunity for mutual collaborative efforts of working together in a team to achieve each other’s goals. At the end we are interested in having a vibrant Club to the satisfaction of all members meeting the expectation of all members rather than the silo approach of meeting the goals ( even questionable whether possible to achieve on its own) of only one committee with limited impact on the Club’s holistic growth.
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The project when conceived, has to be ‘interesting’, for members as well as the need of the community (Beneficiaries) has to be properly assessed. The funding for the project is a collective responsibility , and normally CSR / donations are sought , initiated by foundation committee. The admin director, gets going and the members are motivated to join the volunteer forces along with ‘Ann’s’ – which in turn becomes a strategic move to get the proper attendance at the project.
The President, Secretary and active Board members, physically attending the project site, on the day and time, makes a large difference to make the project successful . The photo at the project site in inevitable due to requirements of PI and upload on the RI website in showcase, but the critical move by President / PI Director by involving the present members including Ann’s make a huge impact for the upcoming events and project . The popularity of the project is enhanced thus.
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Somehow, the respective committee chairs must come to realize that getting members involved will be a major enabler for achieving their own goals. Assuming their respective goals are not in conflict with each other, take an interest in each and work with the chairs individually. Help them to see that supporting another chair’s goal may be a step towards their own. It is unlikely that this will happen overnight.
Enlist the aid of whoever “asked” you to take on the task, and make specific suggestions where opportunities present themselves. Consider asking club leadership organize a “summit meeting” where each of the chairs can provide an overview of their plans which should help all to see how working together and involving the club membership will be beneficial to all concerned. Whether this is done formally or informally would depend on the club’s culture.
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