Guidelines for use of RRIMC Allocation

As you are aware, RI provides allocation budgets for the RRIMC program and as each of you proceed to utilize these monies throughout the year, we will provide allocation balances via email each quarter.

Please remember to evaluate your use of allocation carefully and when in doubt (RITS, travel requests, proper documentation, use of funds, etc.) please email questions to the rrimc@rotary.org email box – Amanda Runge will be happy to assist you. While it is important to communicate with your fellow RRIMCs throughout the year please note that duplicating efforts when attending membership related conferences, training seminars or meetings can deplete resources quickly. Please consider all options when invited to attend an event along with other coordinators – working together may not always require multiple RRIMCs in attendance at the same function.

Expense reports should be filed with RI on a monthly basis when possible; for best results please use the rrimc@rotary.org email box. It is not advisable to hold on to expense reports and statements more than 90 days as this may delay payment(s) from RI.

We look forward to working with you throughout this year.

by Jill Pohren 8/25/09

RI President John Kenny’s 2009-10 Membership Goals & Recognition

RI President John Kenny has established the following membership goals for 2009-10:

Club recognition requirements:

• A minimum of one net member increase
• A minimum of 80% retention rate rate

and certification by the district governor of two of the following achievements:

• Increased percentage of qualified women
• Increased percentage of qualified younger professionals (under age 50)
• Induction of at least one alumna or alumnus of RI or the Rotary Foundation
• Increased diversity of membership (e.g., classification, gender, age, ethnicity)

Achievement of club goals will be certified by the district governor.

District recognition requirements:

• A minimum of one net member increase in each existing club
• A minimum of 80% retention rate
• A minimum of one or two new clubs organized

Achievement of district goals will be based on clubs certified by the district governor.

Clubs should submit their goal results to their district governor between 15 May and 21 May 2010. To determine goal achievements, governors should enter the Member Access section of www.rotary.org to draw up their club reports on 15 May 2010 and compare those reports against the 1 July start figures they will receive in October 2009.

Districts should certify the results and submit them to RI, along with their district results, by 22 May 2010. Certification forms will be available on www.rotary.org.

All clubs and districts who reach these membership goals will receive a certificate signed by RI President Kenny. From this pool, RI will determine the top ten clubs and top ten districts (not more than one club or one district per zone) showing the highest percentage net increase in membership. Achievement will be calculated using RI membership database numbers as of 15 May 2010 and compared against 1 July start figures.

These 10 clubs and districts will be acknowledged on stage at the 2009-10 convention in Montreal. (Attendance at convention for membership recognition is ‘at no cost to Rotary International’.)

RRIMCs are responsible for promoting President Kenny’s goals and recognition program to districts and clubs in your region. We encourage you to make the goals part of your overall 2009-10 membership development strategy.

Preparing for GETS

In preparation for the 2009 Governors-elect Training Seminars, RI’s Leadership, Education and Training (LET) department will be sending out materials to RRIMC presenters at the beginning of July.

RRIMCs who are presenting will be working closely with the GETS team leader and any other RRIMCs assigned to the team to conduct the 90-minute Membership Development session.

We encourage RRIMCs on each GETS team to establish contact with each other and begin collaborating on your presentation well before GETS takes place to ensure that your session is well-coordinated. LET will be providing slides that require you to insert regional contact information – be sure to review these slides and insert the appropriate information. Several case studies will be included in the session. Case studies should be reviewed beforehand and you should familiarize yourself with the membership resources recommended to address the issues presented in the studies. Consider having copies of these resources available for reference during the session.

Start thinking now about ways you can make this year’s Membership Development session relevant for your region. The current economic climate brings many challenges; what tools and strategies have you developed to address these concerns that you might share with the governors-elect in your region?

Feel free to post any ideas you have for this year’s GETS under the blog’s comments section so that your fellow RRIMCs can benefit from your experience.

District Membership Chairs and District Membership Development Committees

The new Rotary year is fast approaching. If DGEs in your regions have not yet appointed district membership chairs, encourage them to do so (and to notify RI via Member Access once they have). DGEs should appoint not only a chair, but a full district membership development committee. According to the last DMC survey, 20% of districts worldwide do not have a membership committee. Ensuring that each district has an active membership committee is crucial to membership development efforts. District committees are responsible for the following tasks:

Planning and marketing district membership development seminars in consultation with the DGE and district trainer.

Encouraging clubs to strive to represent the demographic composition of the community’s business and professional population.

Ensuring clubs are aware of the membership tools available from RI.

Working and communicating with the governor and club leaders to ensure the district achieves its membership goals.

Coordinating district wide membership development activities.

Encouraging clubs to participate in RI or presidential membership development recognition programs.

Maintaining communication with other district committees (e.g., extension and PR committees) to coordinate activities that will aid membership development efforts.

Encouraging clubs to develop and implement a membership growth plan.

Assisting club membership committee chairs in carrying out their responsibilities.

Visiting clubs to speak about effective membership development activities.

Working with their RRIMC to plan membership activities in the district.

Ensuring that each club committee has a copy of the Membership Development Resource Guide (417-EN) and is aware of the steps for retention.

District committees can also work closely with club membership committees to monitor struggling clubs and provide guidance and resources where needed. Maintaining contact with club membership committees will allow district membership committees to hear about successful initiatives at the club level and pass those along to other clubs.

And of course, the DMC and membership committee members should make it a priority to attend the regional membership development seminars that RRIMCs organize throughout the year. Strong, well-informed district membership committees in your districts will be a tremendous help to you in identifying challenges to membership retention and expansion and in developing appropriate strategies for growth.

Membership Coordinator Forum (secure site) Changes

As announced at the RRIMC Training Seminar in Chicago, changes have recently taken place on the Membership Coordinator Forum secure site.

Many membership reports residing on the Membership Coordinator Forum secure site are now available on the Rotary Web site. To eliminate duplicate posting, we have removed these reports from the secure site. In addition to finding them at www.rotary.org/membershipresources, you will also be able to access them through this blog. If you look on the left banner, you will see a list of RRIMC Resources. Underneath are links to documents previously found on the secure site. Since they link directly to the RI Web site, they will always be the most current reports available. (Remember to refresh your screen when you load any linked report to ensure that you are looking at the most current version.)

Following are documents that will remain on the secure site:

RI Start Figures
2009 RRIMC Training Seminar Power Point presentations
RRIMC Manual
GETS Documents – (available in July)
Contact Lists

In addition to remaining on the secure site, these documents will also be available through the blog. (When you link to a secure site document though the blog, you will be asked to type in your secure site username and password.)

Be sure to let me know if you have suggestions for any other documents you would like to have linked through the blog.

**OTHER NEWS: RRIMCs now have access to their 2009-10 district information in Member Access.