Membership Minute

Membership

RVM: The Rotarian Video Magazine

RI has recently produced a new DVD series called RVM: The Rotarian Video Magazine. This video magazine features personal accounts and interviews with Rotarians, chronicling Rotary's humanitarian achievements and projects worldwide.

The first issue of RVM explores:

  • Land mine victim assistance in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cambodia
  • Long-term tsunami recovery efforts in Thailand
  • The ShelterBox disaster-relief program in England
  • Medical and educational enhancement projects carried out by grassroots Rotarians in Egypt
With themes of hope and self-sufficiency, these documentary-style vignettes bring to the forefront Rotary's efforts to improve the quality of life for those in need. Each upcoming issue of the video magazine will explore a new collection of stories from around the world.

The RVM series can be a great membership development tool for your club. The engaging videos can be used to introduce prospective or new members to Rotary's humanitarian efforts around the world. They can also be used to supplement your club's continuing member education program, to keep your club members informed about Rotary's current achievements and projects.

Visit www.rotary.org to learn more about RVM. The DVD features subtitles in English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. Purchase a single issue for US$15 or an annual subscription (three issues) for $30.


Recruitment and retention best practice

Consider the following membership development strategy implemented by the Rotary Club of Lacombe, Alberta, Canada:

For each quarter of the Rotary year, club members must prepurchase a punch-card meal ticket, bearing the club's meeting dates for that quarter. For each meeting a member attends, the meeting date on the ticket is punched. The only way a member can redeem unpunched dates on the ticket is to bring a guest.

The club has seen an increase not only in the retention of existing members (who have an extra incentive to attend because they've already paid for the meal) but also in the number of potential new members attending meetings, as existing members use their unpunched tickets. This system has helped members develop a habit of inviting new business and professional guests to accompany them to a Rotary meeting.