Tag Archives: young professionals

The key to pitching Rotary to young professionals

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Michael Walstrom leads a presentation on attracting young professionals into Rotary.

By Michael Walstrom, president-elect of the Rotary Club of Downtown Boca Raton, Florida  

I think most would agree that Rotary has struggled to attract and retain young professionals. At a district conference in 2016, my district governor, Eric Gordon, asked me to put together a program for “YP” development. This was a new committee, so I was starting from scratch. I was 38 at the time and two years into my Rotary journey. The only thing I really knew was that I had a lot to learn. Continue reading →

Giving young Rotarians a space to call their own

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By Elizabeth Davis, a member of the Rotary Club of Lake Norman-Huntersville, North Carolina, USA

What would happen if we gave the younger crowd a space to call their own?

This was the question that our club president, Kamlesh-Chandan (Kam for short) posed to us recently as we discussed how to recruit young professionals. Continue reading →

Meet my vibrant club

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Members of the Seoul Young Leaders Satellite Club in Seoul, Korea.

S. David Chang

Editor’s Note: If your membership is declining, it might be time to evaluate the health of your club. Find an evaluation exercise and helpful strategies in Is Your Club Healthy? in the Learning Center.

By S. David Chang, Rotary Club of Seoul, Korea

Our club, The Rotary Club of Seoul, was established in 1927 as the first club in Korea. We are unique in that our members are multinational and our official language is English. Like most other clubs, our challenges were: diminishing membership; inability to attract younger people; lack of community service; and uninteresting meetings sinking motivation and enthusiasm. Continue reading →

Our top 5 stories of 2016

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The Rotary Club of Alanya International, Turkey, with confetti and cake.

The Rotary Club of Alanya International, Turkey, celebrates with confetti and cake.

By Rotary Voices staff

As the year draws to a close, we recap our top five stories of the year (based on number of views): Continue reading →

Where are all the young members?

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Evan Burrell and club

Evan Burrell, left, discusses membership with Rotarians in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Monika Lozinska/Rotary International

By Evan Burrell, a member of the Rotary Club of Turramurra, New South Wales, Australia

As a former member of Rotaract and now a young Rotarian, I get asked quite a lot, “where do we find more young members like you?”

It may seem like young members are as elusive to catch as Pokémon, but with the right strategy and awareness, it’s not that difficult at all. The truth is, they are really all around us. Continue reading →

How can you make your Rotary club multi-dimensional?

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Multi-lifestyle club diagram

A model of the Multi-Lifestyle club approach adopted by the Rotary Club of Harrogate Brigantes’

By Richard Bosworth, a member of the Rotary Club of Harrogate Brigantes, North Yorkshire, England

At the beginning of 2013, I was serving as membership chair of my club when I realized that we needed to do something to slow the loss of membership. Three years later, we have a vibrant and growing multi-dimensional club – we use the term Multi-lifestyle Rotary Club – that is making full use of the digital age and is discovering smarter ways of operating to secure our long-term future. How did we do it, and what do we mean by a multi-lifestyle club? Continue reading →

16 ideas for breathing life into your club

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Participants in the summit draw their ideas on paper.

Participants in the summit draw their ideas on paper.

By Anabella Q. Bonfa, District 5320 membership chair

How do you breathe new life into your Rotary club? We held a young professional summit recently in southern California, USA, attended by 52 members of Rotary and Rotaract — some new and some with many years of experience — who came together for half a day to share their thoughts. Everyone had fun, and many creative ideas surfaced. Here are just a few:

Plan events that are family-friendly to engage members with young children. Continue reading →

What does a Rotary club designed by younger members look like?

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Members of the Rotary Club of Metro Savannah

The leadership team of the Rotary Club of Metro Savannah with the author (seventh from left in white shirt).

By Gordon Matthews, past governor of District 6920 (Georgia, USA), Rotary Club of Savannah East

A panel of three young members spelled out for us the issues that block young people from joining Rotary during our spring assembly a few years ago — scheduling, cost of dues, and rules.

I’ve been active in developing leaders in our community and have worked with our Group Study Exchange teams in the past, so I know the energy and potential in this “under 40” generation that we need to tap for Rotary. But I’ve also seen several Rotary clubs try to do this with limited results, because they stayed too close to the traditional model and dues structure. Continue reading →

The key to a successful multi-generational Rotary club

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Emmanuel Rey

Emmanuel Rey addresses his multi-generational club.

By Emmanuel Rey, a member of the Rotary Club of Villa Devoto, Argentina

In 20 years as a member of the Rotary family, I have learned much. I began my Rotary journey as a member of Interact when I was 12, and six years later moved on to Rotaract. After passing the maximum age of 30 for that program, I proudly became a member of my Rotary club two years ago.

At first, I dreamed of building a big and youthful Rotary club, especially as I observed how hard it was for my fellow Interactors and Rotaractors to bridge the generation gap and become members of Rotary. Continue reading →

Rotary Day of Dialogue – Initiating Change

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The unique design of the Wosk Centre encourages dialogue and interaction.

The unique design of the Wosk Centre encourages dialogue and interaction.

By Chris Offer

I have had the opportunity to help design an imaginative Rotary event. The Rotary Day of Dialogue in Vancouver, British Columbia, on 21 November, will give voice to Rotary members’ ideas on how to transform Rotary.

John Anderson, governor of District 5040 (British Columbia) conceived the idea as an opportunity for Continue reading →