The Rotary Model

[Michael]

Note: This post first appeared on the Future of the Club blog.

Has the Rotary model outlived its usefulness? As we know, our Club
began in 1983 with a very specific mission: to provide an opportunity
for men and women to meet together at a time when Rotary was men
only. Our Club was modeled very closely after Rotary in both large
matters (i.e. lunch meeting with speaker) and small (standing to
welcome speakers).That purpose became obsolete when Rotary began to
accept women as members and while we kept the structure and rituals
based upon Rotary, our membership began to change. For a while quite
a few members belonged to both Rotary and the Club, but as the
business community tended to choose Rotary, our membership began to
favor human services, academia, and active volunteers in the
community. And of course, we grew older.

We have become so accustomed to and comfortable with the Rotary model
that any change to it is difficult to contemplate. And yet I think we
must think about major changes. 25 years ago business and
professional people could contemplate an extended lunch hour twice a
week, but now they can't. 25 years ago business and professional
people could treat dues to The Amherst Club as a professional expense
and charge the business for their membership. Now, it is difficult to
do so. Rotary, with its international structure and traditions, has
the capacity to be self-renewing as younger professional people join.
And while, like our Club, Rotary talks of itself as a service
organization, all acknowledge that the opportunity for networking is a
central reason that professional people join.

I have long wished that The Amherst Club could see networking as a
central part of its mission and actively seek a more diverse
membership from groups that are currently underrepresented in our
club. We have many communities in Amherst that live within invisible
walls, including those whom we seek to serve with our funding. But
this cannot happen with our current membership dues and lunchtime
meeting.

What do you think of the Rotary model? Could we even consider
changing it significantly?

[Lorraine Desrosiers]

This thoughtful comment goes to the heart of some of our issues and should
be discussed as we contemplate change. Here are some questions that arise
in my mind if we strip back what we have worked with over the years: what
do our members want beyond our community efforts; what interaction is there
between dues, frequency and type of lunch meetings, and member profile; how
does change affect our ability to provide funding for local charity needs;
do we have goals beyond what we have had for so many years?
Lorraine

[Jer...@aol.com]

Hi Michael and everyone,

Thanks for the provocative ideas! This is very interesting to me. As a relative newcomer, I didn't realize all the history of the AC and I have never belonged to Rotary so I didn't know any of their rituals.  I do know a few Rotarians here in Amherst and have known many others in other places over the years and I agree, Rotary is mainly about networking and secondarily about service. At least that is my perception.  I think the Amherst Club is first about social connections and friendships and secondarily about service. It is a very "tight" group and, as I once said in a luncheon group discussion on this topic. And it is somewhat hard to "break into" the circle.

 

I think that our dues (lunch payments) make membership too high a cost for some. I have asked several people to join and one of their main reasons for declining is they could not afford it. It has even occurred to me that the money I spend on lunches each week is a bit high for our family budget, especially since we are now retired and living on a fixed income. This becomes an extra expense that is not essential. However, I stay a member because I now have friends in the group and enjoy seeing them each week. It is not about service. I do that in other areas of my life. It boils down to friendships. And I like hearing the speakers.

 

An idea:

Maybe we should consider lunches twice a month and a 5-6 PM social hour the other two weeks of the month. Then we might snag some working folks who would drop by, socialize and network over wine and cheese 2x a month. This could lower our costs, might draw in some younger members, and increase our membership. Maybe we could even have different types of memberships:  wine and cheese 2 x a month and wine & cheese and lunches. That gets more comlicated, I guess. I can already see the difficulties trying to sort this out!

 

I think we need to look at our goals:

Are we concerned about increasing our membership?  Having younger members? Reaching out to individuals from segments of the community that are not represented now? Becoming more of a networking and less of a social club? Increasing our presence in the community? Continuing to have a major fundraiser to fund projects in town?  I guess you could say all of the above, but in what priority?

 

Michael, This is interesting and fun. I think there are many possibilities and it is exciting to imagine how we might change and find new ways to be an effective as well as a close-knit organization. I am interested to hear what ideas others have thought about. I suppose since I don't share in the rich history of the organization, I am more comfortable with making changes to it.  And I am certain that the Amherst Club has some unique features that we need to maintain and cherish and not mess around with.  Others of you know what those are better than I do.

 

Last question:

Are we more or less finished with the topic of the membership process? Are we going to come up with 3 or 4 alternatives as Roger suggested? 

Cynthia