Rotary International District 5170

"Come On In" shouts the barker outside the circus tent. The barker invites people in for the big show. They enter and once in, the performers must keep their attention or the people will leave.

Rotary is like the circus tent. Our focus has been to bring in new members. Like the circus, once the members are in, the Club's "performance" will determine whether the members will stay. How do we keep members once they're in?

Membership retention is part of a big wheel. You may have heard the saying "Keeping the Member in Rotary; Keeping Rotary in the Member". How do we do this? There are many retention ideas. Here are some ideas for retention of all members: red and blue badgers. Be creative and add to this wheel.

• Orient
  present an overview of the big picture of Rotary International
• Induct
  present new member to Club with a special ceremony
• Educate
  programs on the various projects of Rotary here and around the worls
• Involve
  the Rotarian in all Club social and business activities & committees
• Assign
  as a delegate to District Assembly / District Conference
• Nurture
  know your Rotarian: recognize; implement buddy system / we care
• Ask
  members to invite their peers to join Rotary
• Continue
  to educate members about the work of Rotary
• Meaningful
  projects for Rotarians for "Service Above Self"
• Commitment
  pledge to the work of Rotary

The individual member is a key ingredient to this process and the big wheel. This process is neverending and when all of these ideas are put into place, the member becomes the wheel that continues to do the work of Rotary and making a better world.