PETS 2014MEMBERSHIP RETENTION:

BEST PRACTICESBLACKSBURG, VIRGINIA

APRIL 5, 2014

TRAVIS W. VANCE

PRESIDENT, ROCKINGHAM COUNTY ROTARY CLUB

TVANCE@WAWLAW.COM

#1 Way to Get Rotarians In the Door, and then Keep Them

1. Excellent Programs2. Excellent Programs3. Excellent Programs

Tips on Programs

1. Must be Excellent2. Must Fill the Room- No One Wants

to Attend a Club that doesn’t fill its seats!

3. This Creates Excitement in the Club (put an announcement about your good speaker in the newspaper!)

Speaker Committee

Form a Committee in your Club of 1-3 members who are charged with the responsibility of finding all speakers (nice job for President-Elect)

Allowing different members to bring in a new speaker each week can cause issues (e.g., decreased quality, lack of advanced notice, empty rooms)

How Do You Find Good Speakers?

Newspaper and Magazine Articles are the Best Source

Conferences (e.g., PETS, District Conference) are good too!

Engage Your Current Members

#1 Reason a Rotarian will leave a club- feels uniformed and disconnected

Mention Members’ names during meetings Family of Rotary- birthdays, anniversaries

(membership and wedding) New Member luncheons Rotary Town Hall Meetings Meet with Club members to address these issues Vocational Talks- Let them explain who they are and

why they’ve chosen to be a Rotarian

Find Their Niche

Why are they there? Had to join Rotary for a Reason!

Ask them!Listen! (e.g., MTC) Help them stay active in the

club (e.g., place them on a committee)

Encourage Members to Invite Prospective Rotarians to a

Meeting

Free meal for guests; for Rotarian who brings a guest

Free month of dues if the prospect joins?

Have Fun at Your Club Meetings

Tell jokes, read funny emails, make fun of someone, and/or

Play T-Wayne Trivia

T-Wayne Trivia

Preliminary Question: In what Rotary Club is District Governor-Elect Vivian Crymble a member?

T-Wayne Trivia

Tri-Cities at Bristol Motor Speedway!

T-Wayne Trivia

Real Question: Name the high school that, in

the fall of 2002, held classes in the luxury skyboxes of Bristol Motor Speedway due to black mold problems at its school?

T-Wayne Trivia

Sullivan East High School (my alma mater)

Collaborate with local Chamber of Commerce or other Rotary Club(s)

Bring in an engaging speakerCite the 4-way testAllows others to see what being a Rotarian may be like

Valley Business Keynote

July 24, 2014; 11:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m.; James Madison University Festival Conference Room

Featuring Mark Fernandes, The Luck Companies, Richmond

Collaborative effort of five local Rotary Clubs, Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce, and Association of Young Professionals

www.valleybusinesskeynote.com 6-member committee; 3 Rotarians; 3- Non-

Rotarians

You Never Know Who Wants to be a Rotarian

From the home page of The University of South Carolina www.sc.edu:

As Club President, Be a Model Rotarian

Attend meetingsGo to RLIGo to District Conference

Create incentives to attend (e.g., massage therapy)

Recruit New Members

Questions?

Thank you!Please contact me if you have any

questions!Good luck!

Travis W. Vance

tvance@wawlaw.com

540-271-4628