Innovate Rotary!

Text message now to donate to Polio Plus

OK, this is a quick one.  Have you heard about the Gates Foundation Polio Plus $200 million challenge? It's time to get into action.  (Truth be told, it's actually a $555 million grant from Bill and Melinda.  The key is, they are matching big time.)

Text the word "polio" to 90999 and $5 will be added to your phone bill.  Proceeds go to the Polio Plus Foundation.

Here is the procedure:

1. Text the word "polio" to 90999
2. Tell 5 friends.
3. If it felt

satisfying, return to step 1.

Send me a Tweet or comment below when you have followed the above steps.

How fast can we meet this challenge?  How many non-Rotarians can you invite to the game?  Come on, Rotarians.  Let's hear from you!

Who are the positive deviants?

Which clubs in your district succeed despite the odds?  Which clubs are the ones that have shown that they can grow by 20% or more over 4 years and sustain it?  Which clubs have grown by 10 members in one year - and are keeping their gains 18 months later?

These are your positive deviants.  These are the clubs you should visit to discover their secret sauce.  These are the clubs where you need to uncover who the "go to" people are when it comes to membership success.

To make this work, start by reframing the problem. 

1. Understand the conventional wisdom  "Membership growth and retention are tough."  "Suburban clubs can grow, but we can't because we are in the city." "Everyone in town is already a member of some other club."

2. Find exceptions to the norm.  Which clubs, facing identical circumstances seem to be doing exceptionally well?  All professionals are busy.  Which clubs attract successful professionals and keep them?  In rural areas, which clubs are able to get local residents to join their clubs instead of alternatives?

3. Focus attention on the successful exceptions.  What are they doing that is different from the norm?  What is the atmosphere like?  What is the member experience like - simple, convenient, fun, productive?  How do they create their experience?  How do they target, invite and keep members?

From there, get people together to figure out how they an apply what works to their situation.

There are a ton of ideas out there.  We are great at conducting fun idea-sharing sessions.  Let's take it a step further by focusing on the ideas that have helped clubs succeed despite the odds - and look beyond the quick tool, the results and the clever top-down solutions.  The secret is as much the implementation of the idea as the idea itself.

There is great wisdom in our clubs.  Let's discover it and use it!

What does your Wordle look like?

Club leaders who positively emphasize membership growth, typically grow.  Club leaders who talk about why things are tough, typically find that things are, indeed, tough.  As a club leader, what do you talk about?  What do you ask about? 

Leaders create focus by what they say and by what questions they ask.  How could you discover what members are hearing from you?

Recently, I discovered a fun tool called Wordle You can take any text or a blog feed, for example and have Wordle create a kind of "word cloud," in which the words that appear most frequently show up most prominently.  I took a few posts from this blog and loaded them into Wordle and here is the result:

  

(click on image to open a larger version)

Pretty cool, isn't it?

So what are your members hearing from your voice?  If you are a club president, for example, and we took a transcript of all the words that you spoke from the podium over the course of a year, what would you find that your members heard most often?  If we typed in the first question you asked at every board meeting, what would we discover?

Would it be about service, gratitude, membership, impact, recognition and fun?   What would you want your members thinking, exploring and wondering about?  Here is one simple thing to look and listen for.  The most successful organizations are 5:1 positive.  Their leaders spend most of their time talking about and inquiring into possibilities.  Successful firms and clubs spend very little energy talking about problems and limitations. 

Give it a try.  What does your Wordle look like?

President Obama has set the table. Okay, Rotary, it's your move!

President Barack Obama's inauguration speech called upon Americans to explore volunteer service.  He also emphasized the need for investment in nonprofit innovation.   What could this mean for Rotary?  (Note, this is a particularly American perspective, though if you think of your role as citizen of your own community and country - and a world peacemaker, perhaps this will be relevant to you, too, even if you are not an American)

First, consider a couple of passages from the speech:

 Because your own story and the American story are not separate, they are shared. And they will both be enriched if together, we answer a new call to service to meet the challenges of our new century.

He speaks of his own volunteer service experience:

Through service, I found a community that embraced me; citizenship that was meaningful; the direction I'd been seeking. Through service, I discovered how my own improbable story fit into the larger story of America.

He speaks of the nobility and higher purpose of service, both in military and civil service as well as that of a volunteer:

When you choose to serve - whether it's your nation, your community, or simply your neighbor - you are connected to that fundamental American ideal that we want Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness not just for ourselves, but for all Americans. That is why this is a great nation. Because time and again, Americans have been willing to serve on stages both great and small; to draw on the same spirit that launched America's improbable journey to meet the challenges of each defining moment in our history.

While he speaks of the importance of military service, he emphasizes service potential for everyone and offers to make it easier for people to find opportunities to serve that align with their passions:

And we'll use technology to connect people to service. We'll expand USA Freedom Corps to create an online network where Americans can browse opportunities to volunteer. You'll be able to search by category, time commitment, and skill sets; you'll be able to rate service opportunities, build service networks, and create your own service pages to track your hours and activities. This will empower more Americans to craft their own service agenda, and make their own change from the bottom up.

He also talks about supporting nonprofit innovation through additional investment, just as we invest in innovation in the private sector.  So Rotarians, the President has called on the country to serve.  Millions of non-volunteers could choose to explore a path to service.  Given this extraordinary opportunity, ask yourself and your fellow leaders how they can be ready for this potential tsunami of volunteers:

- How easy is it for volunteers to find your club?

- How quickly and effectively can they learn what you are about?

- How can they decide easily whether there is a fit between your club and the volunteer's passions?

- How easy is it for them to get involved?

- How easy is it for volunteers to make meaningful impact through Rotary (whether they are Rotarians or not, by the way)  How fun and engaging will it be compared to other service alternatives?

- How do you help your members feel appreciated?

This is a historic moment in so many ways.  Whether you voted for him or not, whether you agree with his policies or not, there might be some new possibilities here.  The President of the United States has made your service as a Rotarian (or any other kind of volunteer service) a national priority.  Are you ready to accept the flood of energy and talent?  What's your next move, Rotarian?

Retention power moves: Report 2 from the Presidential Membership Conference

High rates of member retention are a puzzle for some.  For others, it is a matter of getting a few things right.  The key is to know what matters and to take just a few steps in the right direction.   At the Presidential Membership Conference that took place January 9-10, 2009, Jennifer Deters of RI presented some terrific data on what's happening and what works in Rotary.  In this post, I want to share part of Jennifer's presentation on RETENTION.

From 2003-2006, a pilot program was conducted and clubs who followed the following principles performed better than the control group of clubs.  This is what the successful clubs did in seven key areas.

1. Identify well-qualified members.  If you find people who are interested in service, are willing to invest the time and can afford dues and meals, guess what?  They are more likely to stay!  Keep your standards high.
2. Inform non-Rotarian visitors or prospective members.  Make it simple and clear for people to understand what you do and how people can get involved.
3. Invite a prospective member with a personal visit.  Do not direct mail, advertise, text message, email or voice mail, unless your purpose is to schedule a personal conversation.  Rotary is personal.  Make the invitation personal.
4. Orient new members.  Most clubs use a 3-meeting ritual for new members to join their club.  Orientation must be intentional and go beyond that. 
5. Induct new members in a meaningful manner.   The more important it is, the more important it is.  A meaningful induction is also a good reminder of the importance of Rotary for existing members, too.
6. Educate. Jennifer stressed the importance of continuing education.  Note, however, that we unfortunately confuse presenting with learning.  Adults learn better through direct involvement, discussion and exploration than they do by watching PowerPoints or videos.  (Unless, of course, active engagement is part of the presentation).
7. Involve the Rotarian in all aspects of the club.  If you have a specific role in your club, one that you are really passionate about, one that really energizes you, don't you feel more connected to your club?

By the way, these seven steps are important for attracting NEW members, too.   

So, get your membership team together and do a quick check:

• Which of these seven key areas of retetion do you do really well?

• Which of these represent your areas of greatest opportunity?

• For that area of greatest opportunity for you, if you were to take just one small step to move you toward excellence

, what would that small step be, and how fast can you get started on it?

Don't try to fix everything, unless you have the person power and energy to do it.  Pick the areas of greatest opportunity for you to improve membership retention - and get started!

Report 1 from Presidential Membership Conference: Presentations

While I adjust to a 90 degree temperature difference between Mesa, Arizona and my home in Minnesota (from +70 F to -20 F), I want to share several brief reports from the Presidential Membership Conference, convened by RI President DK Lee and RRIMC Greg Podd. (OK, I know I deserve no sympathy)

If you want to get some sense of the conference, go to www.rotarymembership.org.  Here you can download presentations from the general sessions.  Topics include:

• Summary of demographic and attitudinal trends.  Good news:  the population of potential members is growing.  Key to capturing them will be to think differently.  A great question:  What are they thinking? 

• Club visioning:  there are lots of good reasons to have a club vision.  I believe we owe it to our members, our sponsors, our donors and our communities to be focused and transparent.  Visioning will help.

• Rotary's Challenge:  Rotary is growing in most of the world, but not in North America.  What would happen if every Rotarian sponsored one new member every year?  For that matter, what if each member simply invited a qualified guest to explore Rotary?

• Regional membership trends:  Valuable insights here.  Number one is that the highest success rate in attracting new members is when the invitation is personal.  Not email, voice mail, direct mail or billboards.  Rotary membership grows when current members extend a personal invitation.  After that, education and communication are essential.  Involvement in a project quickly works for both members in new clubs and when chartering new clubs. 

• Parade of Flags:  If you want to get a sense of the global breadth of Rotary, play this presentation.  Short of seeing the Rotaractors parading the flags into the ballroom, this will give you a real sense of Rotary INTERNATIONAL.   

• They are Kids: Inspirational slide show with music reflecting RI President DK Lee's intention to Make Dreams Real, especially for kids.

In addition to these presentations, of course, the conference was a great opportunity to learn and share membership ideas with other Rotarians. I will have more detailed comments on several of the presentations in future posts over the next few weeks.

Meantime, here are a few important questions and action steps for your club.  Use them in a board meeting or as discussion points for a club assembly (Remember, not every meeting needs a speaker):

• Do you have a clear vision?  What can you do to clarify your club's vision in just one important area?

• Do you offer a worthwhile experience?  If members were to attend just one more meeting per month, what would make the biggest difference?

• Do you offer lots of reward for minimal effort?  What is the currency in your club?  How are people recogized?  Do you have fine masters, who penalize people, or do you recognize your volunteers as heroes?

• Is it easy to be a Rotarian?  If you were to streamline your club experience - or how you serve clubs at a district level - what small step would you take now?

People are busy.  We owe it to them to make Rotary a fun, high impact, simple and rewarding experience.  Stay tuned!

Find me in Phoenix this weekend!

If you are heading to the Presidential Membership Conference in Phoenix/Mesa, Arizona this weekend, be sure to find me!

If you are not going to the conference, look for updates from the conference posted here at Innovate Rotary!