When Chuck Weisbart, a member of the Idyllwild Rotary Club, paid a visit to the Mountain Sunrise Rotary Club, he imparted some words of wisdom as well as some useful ideas.
One thing every club runs into, Weisbart said, is that “certain people get fatigued by doing everything. You can get Rotary burnout. There should be nothing any one person does alone – there should be a team of two or more.”
What is the most important thing? “You talk, have fun together, it becomes a game. All of us are little kids at heart. When you work with someone else, you have a great time.
“Rotary doesn’t begin until your fingernails get dirty,” Weisbart quipped. If a new member is afraid to volunteer, ask them to join you. “They’ll think it’s fun and say they love Rotary.”
Weisbart suggested getting prospective new Rotarians involved in a project before they join.
And when a member has a professional skill, let them share that with Rotary. “Use that skill for the betterment of your club and community,” Weisbart said.
As for attracting new members, Weisbart pointed to the TV monitor. “This is one of your best tools. Members can drop in.” His club holds hybrid meetings – as does Mountain Sunrise – so members can attend if traveling or if they move. Weisbart noted they had a member whose primary home was in Prague. “He made every meeting,” he said.
And to attract younger members, Weisbart suggested having one or two meetings at nights. “That was key for my club to attract younger people. We have two meetings in the morning, two in the evening, one of which is a potluck.”
He added that their younger members have “become instigators of energy. They have taken the load off the back of older members.”
And when these new, younger members make suggestions, “you’ll hear, ‘We’ve tried that before and it didn’t work.’ But conditions change,” Weisbart said. “The membership was different. Give it a try, give it a chance.”
Every club gets stuck in a rut, he said. “Younger members see things a little differently.” Weisbart gave the example of a New Gen club that did an instant garage sale on social media.
Consider collaboration, he urged. His club took a page from a local Lions Club and now puts on successful Bingo nights, partnering with a different charitable organization every month. Both the work and the proceeds are split with that other group. “We present a check for their half of the Bingo take at our fourth meeting,” Weisbart said. “We have seen success and we have gotten members because of this.”
He noted his club had a fumble a few years ago that they turned into a ballet move. They were told a week before their annual craft fair that they couldn’t use the location they had used for 25 years. They pivoted, got approval to use a school gym and had the best Christmas market ever. “Look for the upside,” he said. “What can we do that’s creative?
“What’s unique about Rotary is, when we get together, we have a good time. When you invite someone new, they come to a meeting and they have a good time,” Weisbart said.
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