On Sunday 19 th August, Membership Committee Chair PE Pornchai and PP Suraphon and Rtn Vasana attended the District Membership Seminar. PE Pornchai reported on the following:

Speakers: DG Nakarin, PDG Prawit, IPP Vichai, PDG Surachart, PDG Jason, PPs.

PDG Prawit Rojkachornapalai
Number of Rotarians worldwide:
Static at 1.2 million for the last 20 years (1997-2017)
Club size: Reduced from 42 to 34 members

Membership trend
By region:
Down: North America, East Asia, Australia
Up: South America, South Africa, India and China
In Asia: Growing from 290,000 to 370,000
Annual scene: Gain 160,000 new members, lost 170,000 existing members
All Indices point to:
Engaging current members equally important to recruiting new members.

District 3350
June 2018: 110 clubs, 2,796 members
Size:
>100 members = 1 club (RC Bangkok Nawamin)
50-100 members = 7 clubs (including RCB)
26-50 members = 29 clubs
11-25 members = 60 clubs
< 10 members = 13 clubs

Top 5 reasons for loosing members:
Personality conflict
Conflict with club leadership
Feeling unwanted, neglected, disengaged
Personal/vocational priority
Club resists change/innovation.

IPP Vichai Chivakhanit:

Rotary in Thailand
District    no. of members    clubs
3330    2,346    99
3340    1,485    67
3350    2,796   110
3360    1,368    68
Total    7,995    344

Suggested strategies:
Building a Diverse Club
Strategies for Attracting New Members
Developing an effective orientation for new members
Best Practices for Engaging Young Members

Synergies:
Public Relations (use community service, vocational service, youth service, global grants projects as PR)
Create Good Perception
Create Good Image
Ease to attract prospective members

PDG Surachat Chuenchoksan:

Barry Rassin, RI President, 2018-19’s vision —

“I want to see Rotary Be the Inspiration for our communities by doing work with a transformational impact. It’s time to start moving forward, by removing the barriers that are holding us back. Let’s make it easier to make adjustments in our clubs or start new clubs that suit different needs. Let’s work to strengthen Rotaract and smooth the transition from Rotaract clubs into Rotary. Let’s give all Rotarians the flexibility to serve in the ways that work best for them, so that every Rotarian finds enduring value in Rotary membership.”

Think out of the Box:
Flexible meeting
Allowed to reduce meetings from weekly to 2 meeting a month
Include alternate mode of meeting e.g. online, telephone
Flexible attendance and make up
Flexible type of members
Traditional types: honorary and active
Alternatives to consider: associate, corporate and family members
Increase members
Extend to classmates, alumni, business partners, family, relatives, community, Rotaractors, Rotarian alumni.
Retain members (friendship, avoid conflict, honor each other, team working, chance of participation, delegation)

Success stories in increasing members from clubs:
RC Bangkok Nawamin: Membership types extending to spouse, parent, children, fan. Organizing family day activities.
RC Wat Sing: Community sport activity e.g. bicycling charity fund raising
RC Singburi Verachon: Friends from shared table group, singing karaoke after meeting.