Last week I mentioned the Rotary Club of Wellington (RWC) had commissioned a study by a team of MMBA (Marketing MBA) students from Victoria University on how the club should position themselves as, “an enduring service organisation that sustains an active and diverse membership”.
The study determined the issues facing RWC were broken down into 2 areas, environmental and competitive. The environmental factors were:
- Overly formal lunch format and the time it takes
- Perception of being for old men
- Gap in recruitment of ages 30-45
The competitive factors were:
- LinkedIn and other technology-based networking platforms
- Anything time related that would take preference over RWC, i.e family, leisure or work.
- Numerous charities, networking or educational channels i.e. Ted Talks
The issues listed above are not new and we too suffer from some of the same problems. I won’t go through all the recommendations as the report is some 10 pages but to outline a few of the more relevant ones, they are:
- Podcasts or greater online recording of speakers should commence.
- Encourage members to use their private networks to attract new members
- Advertise vacancies across Wellington business channels, LinkedIn, high end recruitment agencies.
- Work with new members to find out what they want from the Club.
- Sell the Club as social, ethical and innovative leaders and not just “old men”
We can certainly learn from this study and are taking on board the recommendations.
At the last meeting I reviewed the results of our bulletin survey; we had an excellent response rate of 77% and the results are as follows:
- 80% of all respondents read the Presidents message
- 50% read the Speakers report
- 90% read the duties and roster section
- 82% read the upcoming events
- 52% read the funnies.
The feedback and comments were most instructive and helpful. Members want to see more photos, facts about Rotary, shorter reports and features on our members. We have taken all this on board and will enact the recommendations. Finally, it was great to see plenty of praise and recognition for Linda and Paula who weekly work so diligently to put out the bulletin. Ladies, you do a wonderful job and we are most grateful.
See you all on Wednesday
David
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