1. July 2010 | Vol. 1, Issue 1
Helping club and district officers achieve success
the year ahead meeting place club clinic the future is now
Incoming district governors, How 2010 Council decisions Ideas for keeping new Ways all districts can team up
like those shown above, affect your duties members active and involved under Future Vision
will lead boldly
2. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE ThE yEAR AhEAD
Bigger, Better, and Bolder! RI president: Think big, seek best practices, innovate
Rotary is the premier service
club organization in the world, As you embark on the 2010-11 year to continue the work
and all Rotarians should be of Building Communities — Bridging Continents, look to
proud of our achievements. RI President Ray Klinginsmith for support to make Rotary
Rotary is now on the world stage
more effective and enjoyable for all
due to PolioPlus, and our public
image is better than ever. Yet, Klinginsmith is encouraging Rotary leaders at all levels
Ray Klinginsmith we should not be spoiled by to think big. “Think about major projects, because that’s
our success at the international what gives Rotarians pride in their club,” he says. “And if
level, because the real test of success for Rotary is
those projects also are visible in the community, people
the strength and vitality of our clubs!
become interested in Rotary and join, if asked. If you get
The Board adopted a revised RI Strategic Plan at its that cycle going, clubs will be bigger, better, and bolder.” coordinators to assist their zone’s RI director and help
November 2009 meeting that clearly recognizes the All Rotarians should seek out best practices to build keep Rotary running smoothly. (See “Ask the Expert.”)
importance of our clubs, and the first priority of the upon what works, Klinginsmith adds. “What I’m trying to Innovation also comes from the local level,
new plan is to support and strengthen clubs. I agree do is create a culture of innovation where we can take a Klinginsmith insists. “Clubs and districts can innovate on
wholeheartedly, and I have appointed 41 new Rotary fresh look at everything we do, to see whether or not it’s a their own by looking at their own practices and sending
coordinators to provide assistance to our clubs best practice or just a traditional practice. If we are already word up the line about what is working well for them. It’s
and districts. Simply stated, their job is to help the doing it in the best way, I don’t very much a two-way street between Rotary International
district governors to help the clubs. “Clubs and districts want to disturb it. But if we can and the clubs — you cannot have one without the other.”
Rotary lives and breathes in our 33,000 clubs, can innovate find a better way to do it, then we To Klinginsmith, success depends on all Rotary leaders
and it is the clubs that improve lives by Building need to start some new traditions.” knowing their role and how to work together, beginning at
on their own by
Communities — Bridging Continents. If we succeed One new initiative the club level.
in helping our clubs to become Bigger, Better, and looking at their Klinginsmith already has in place “It’s the club presidents who really run Rotary. I want
Bolder in the next year, then it is clear that the best own practices is the Rotary coordinator program. to help them do what they want to do and facilitate their
days of Rotary are still ahead. We are fortunate to With a mission aligned with the service as they see it,” he says. “I also want to thank them
be Rotarians! Together, we can make the world a
and sending word
three priorities of the RI Strategic for their work and give them whatever suggestions I can
better place! up the line.” Plan, RCs will work closely with from my experience to make their job a little easier and
Ray Klinginsmith regional Rotary Foundation more effective.”
3. MEETING PLACE
Council on Legislation decisions affect officer duties
2010 Council creates the office of immediate past Enable successors to fill vacancies of a governor- of Directors that do not affect RI constitutional
club president, widens the time period for district elect or governor-nominee who becomes unwilling documents.
or unable to serve. The Council’s official Report of Action is being sent
assemblies and PETS, and sets a minimum age in the
Empower the RI Board to act when a district to club secretaries and district governors and is also
‘Rule of 85’
has repeated election complaints within a five- available for download. One copy of the 2010 edition
Rotary’s legislative body, the Council on Legislation, year period. of the Manual of Procedure (035) will be sent to all clubs
adopted several new enactments and resolutions Enactments are Council decisions that as soon as it is available.
during its April meeting in Chicago. Measures that immediately affect the RI Constitution, the RI
received little publicity but may be of particular Bylaws, and the Standard Rotary Club Constitution.
interest to club and district officers are cited here. Resolutions are recommendations to the RI Board
The Council passed enactments to
Create the office of immediate past president for
all clubs. CATCh uP oN ThE
Change the provisions for excused absences by CouNCIL
setting a minimum age for eligibility of 65. This News articles on the RI website
alters the so-called Rule of 85, which refers to the detailed major decisions and daily
aggregate of a member’s age and years of Rotary highlights of the COL’s April meeting,
club membership. including:
Allow district assemblies to be held in March, • he US$1 annual per capita
t
April, or May, and presidents-elect training dues increase
seminars (PETS) in February or March. • he new fifth Avenue of Service:
t
Require transferring or former members to provide New Generations
a certificate from the board of their previous club • he approval of e-clubs
t
confirming prior membership. • he electronic subscription option
t
Specify time frames in which clubs must be for North Americans receiving Council representatives listen to debate
notified of district governors-nominee and The Rotarian magazine on a proposed item of legislation.
challengers.
July 2010 | www.rotary.org/rotaryleader | rotary.leader@rotary.org
4. CLuB DEADLINES
CLuB CLINIC
1 July
Turn new members into lifelong Rotarians For clubs to submit semiannual reports and club
dues … For clubs and districts to begin submitting
Improve your member retention rates by finding ways to keep invites them, along with potential members, to a monthly Matching Grant applications
new members active and involved R2R (Rotarian-to-Rotarian) event, an informal reception
31 August
that allows for conversation and the exchange of Rotary For 2011 New Orleans convention attendees to
Keeping new members coming back week after week begins information. submit group housing requests to the official
with an informative and inspiring orientation program. But it When Mary Fislar, of the Rotary Club of Rock Island, housing agent, Experient Inc. Requests after
doesn’t end there. Illinois, USA, noticed that too many new members were 31 August accepted on a space-available basis.
“Retention is a big issue for many clubs. It’s important to leaving within the first three months, she suggested
Other nOtices
make new members feel welcome, engaged, and fully aware mentoring. In the two years since the program’s launch, the
2010-11 Fund Development Club Goal Report forms
of the club’s operation,” says John Fortney, a member of the club has recruited and retained 14 members.
are still being accepted.
Rotary Club of Toronto. A key element of the curriculum is the completion
Rotary Basics (595) appears in the August issue
In addition to hosting a welcome dinner, Fortney’s club of 11 tasks within six months, including attending an
of The Rotarian and in Rotary regional magazines,
asks new members to serve as sergeants-at-arms and orientation session, serving on a committee, and visiting
with a multimedia version available online.
another Rotary club.
Secretaries of clubs with outstanding financial
“Whatever activities you choose to offer, make sure they
obligations over US$250 will receive reminders on
say involvement, and keep them current,” says Fislar.
30 September to remit payment by 30 December to
The Rock Island club uses the Inventory of Interests, avoid termination.
available in New Member Orientation: A How-to Guide for Clubs
Club presidents and secretaries should register
(414, US$1 or a free download), to ensure that new members for Member Access to update member and club
are engaged in areas they enjoy. Other available Rotary information, pay dues online, view club reports,
resources include the ABCs of Rotary (363, $3.50), Membership and register their club treasurer and Rotary
Video Set (427, $10), New Member Information Kit (426, $5.50), Foundation committee chair.
and the print or online version of Rotary Basics (595, $0.75 or See the Awards page and the Rotary calendar
free online). online for more upcoming deadlines.
See "Top Priority" to learn how one club put new members to work
on a World Polio Day event.
July 2010 | www.rotary.org/rotaryleader | rotary.leader@rotary.org
5. DISTRICT DEADLINES
DISTRICT CoRNER
1 July
Put words into action For districts to submit endorsed 2011-13 Rotary
Peace Fellowships applications … For districts to
Governor receives RI Vocational Service Leadership Award for begin submitting District Simplified Grant requests
his efforts to develop an ethics seminar in his district … For clubs and districts to begin submitting
An Introduction to
Find more information in the new Matching Grant applications
If you have a passion for vocational service, share it with
Vocational Service publication An Introduction to Vocational
Service (255, US$2 or a free download). 15 July
other Rotarians — and your community — by developing a For districts to submit 2010-11 PR grant
related event or ethics seminar. applications
“Our first job is to serve the community, and ethics is
31 July
a major concern in the community,” says 2009-10 District
For 2009-10 district governors to submit governor
Governor Suraj “Raj” Bhatia, who organized an ethics seminar States Military Academy at West Point, New allocation expense reports
for high school students that also helped boost Rotary’s York, who discussed the military’s code of
public image in District 7490 (New Jersey, USA). ethics and facilitated discussion groups. More
31 August
For 2011 New Orleans convention attendees to
Because of his initiative, Bhatia was one of several than 150 youth, including many Interactors
submit group housing requests to the official
district governors recognized with the RI Vocational Service and Rotary Youth Leadership Awards
housing agent, Experient Inc. Requests after
Leadership Award, launched in 2009-10. participants, took part in the daylong event. 31 August accepted on a space-available basis.
The seminar featured Rotarian speakers as well as a During breakout discussions, students Suraj Bhatia
1 september
retired lieutenant colonel and young cadets from the United worked through role-playing exercises to
For district governors, immediate past district
explore how to apply The Four-Way Test to their daily lives.
governors, RI directors, and past RI directors to
PLAN youR EVENT “We talk about situations such as cheating on an exam, or if nominate Rotarians for the RI Service Above Self
Here are some tips to organize • iscuss The Four-Way Test
D they heard a friend was doing something wrong,” says Bhatia. Award
an ethics seminar: and Rotary’s contribution to “We ask them what their reaction would be and stress the
ethics. Other nOtices
• nvite the public to attend.
I importance of [their] own values.”
District governors: Consider nominations for RI and
• nclude prominent community • ffer breakout sessions in
I O To help plan the event, Bhatia drew upon his professional
Rotary Foundation service awards.
leaders and dynamic guest which participants discuss experience as a former business executive, and a related
speakers. difficult ethical situations. annual Rotary tradition in his region: a five-district Governors and governors-elect should log
on to Member Access to update committee
• ecognize Rotarians who are • evelop a coinciding youth
R D leadership and ethics conference that’s held each October for
appointments, share ideas, and view reports.
leading by example in their program to include the entire Vocational Service Month.
professions. family of Rotary. Rotary Basics (595) appears in the August issue
of The Rotarian and in Rotary regional magazines,
with a multimedia version available online.
July 2010 | www.rotary.org/rotaryleader | rotary.leader@rotary.org
6. By ThE NuMBERS ToP PRIoRITy
1,224,384
RoTARIANS WoRLDWIDE*
New members help lead club’s fight against polio
Putting new Rotarians to work can improve retention and
33,855
Photo courtesy of Bill Orndorff
inspire community support for Rotary’s top priority
RoTARy CLuBS*
To Aaron Garber, carrying out a service project seemed like a
530
natural way for new members to learn about Rotary. As 2009-10
president of the Rotary Club of Salem, Virginia, USA, Garber asked
RoTARy DISTRICTS** six new Rotarians, along with a member who had transferred from
another club, to form a Red Badge team and develop a project to
8,126
RoTARACT CLuBS
support World Polio Day on 24 October. The results included:
A media blitz leading up to World Polio Day that boosted
A billboard in Salem, Virginia,
community awareness of the disease through newspaper articles
186,898
USA, promotes polio eradication
and a 30-second TV public service announcement
as part of a World Polio Day
RoTARACT MEMBERS An End Polio Now display ad that ran on three electronic project carried out by new
billboards on World Polio Day members of the Rotary Club of
12,559
INTERACT CLuBS
Three iron lung exhibits run by Rotarians, Rotaractors, and
Interactors, set up at shopping centers, a chamber of commerce
Salem.
event, and a high school football game
288,857
INTERACT MEMBERS
A mailing of World Polio Day awareness letters to 300 area
physicians, describing Rotary’s role in global polio eradication PLAN youR END PoLIo NoW PRojECT
and inviting donations to PolioPlus
World Polio Day, 24 October, provides clubs and districts with an
6,942
RoTARy CoMMuNITy CoRPS
Raising more than $1,400 for Rotary’s US$200 Million
Challenge
ideal opportunity to hold their major project of the year in support of
polio eradication. Strategies include involving new members, new
clubs, the family of Rotary, and the general public. Now is the time to
“The Red Badge project challenged people to understand
159,666
RCC MEMBERS
how our community extends beyond the city limit signs,” says
team member Barney Horrell. “The project was the perfect
start planning.
For ideas, see what clubs did on World Polio Day in 2009 and learn
about possible fundraisers.
introduction of Rotary’s principles being put into action.”
* As of 30 April. ** As of 1 July.
All other figures as of 31 March.
7. NEWS you NEED
ThE FuTuRE IS NoW
Rotary’s investments recovered 2009 losses, and
contributions to The Rotary Foundation are up
for 2010 as the organization’s financial picture
Working together a pilot,” says Foundation Trustee Chair Carl-Wilhelm
Stenhammar. The committee has suggested several ways
continues to improve.
Contrary to popular belief, Future Vision pilot and nonpilot pilot and nonpilot districts can work together: Bill Gates congratulated Rotarians for passing the
halfway point in Rotary’s US$200 Million Challenge.
districts can partner on projects Humanitarian projects A nonpilot district can use a
The cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
District Simplified Grant to fund a project carried out in recorded this video message encouraging Rotarians
Two districts from opposite sides of the globe develop a a pilot district. A pilot district may use a district grant to to keep up the fight against polio.
decade-long relationship, reciprocating visits from Group support a nonpilot district’s project. To help promote the growth of Interact, the RI
Study Exchange (GSE) teams and partnering on a variety
Vocational exchanges A nonpilot district can use a GSE Board of Directors lowered the age of eligibility
of projects, from increasing literacy to improving access
award to send a GSE team to a pilot district. A pilot district from 14 to 12.
to health care. One district participates in the three-
can use a district grant to send a vocational training team Rotary’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund has raised
year Rotary Foundation Future Vision pilot starting this
to a nonpilot district. over US$1.3 million. Rotarians in Haiti are laying
month; the other does not. the groundwork for sustainable restoration
Scholarships A nonpilot district can send a scholar to a
Because pilot districts no longer take part in the projects that will enable long-term rehabilitation.
pilot district using an Ambassadorial Scholarship. A pilot
Foundation’s Matching Grants, Ambassadorial Scholarships,
district can send a scholar to a nonpilot district using a Four members of the U.S. Congress and one
or GSE programs, instead using global and district grants to government official received Rotary’s Polio
district grant.
fund their activities, club presidents and district governors Eradication Champion Award on 5 May in
may mistakenly believe that they will not be permitted to Pilot and nonpilot districts may also make a donation Washington, D.C.
continue collaborating with nonpilot districts. from their District Designated Fund (DDF) to one another.
Former Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar
“The Rotary Foundation Future Vision Committee Whether they partner with a pilot district or not, Roxana Saberi, who left the United States for
understood that nonpilot districts are encouraged to learn about the pilot. Tehran in 2003 as a foreign correspondent, has
FIND ouT MoRE districts that have “One day, the nonpilots will be part of the Future Vision become an international celebrity and a face for
cooperated for Plan,” stresses Stenhammar. human rights in Iran.
Learn more about pilot and nonpilot
several years would The Future Vision pilot runs from July 2010 to June 2013. The 2010 RI Convention is now history. Learn about
district partnerships. Send questions
have difficulty what happened at the event.
to futurevision@rotary.org.
if one became Get free articles for your club or district newsletter
or website from Rotary International. Use the
RSS news feed for delivery to your personal news
reader or club home page. Sign up for Weekly
Update to receive stories in your e-mail inbox
every Friday.
July 2010 | www.rotary.org/rotaryleader | rotary.leader@rotary.org
8. DID you KNoW?
ASK ThE EXPERT
Your new Rotary coordinator (RC) takes office
1 July. The 41 RCs provide expertise on Rotary
Who are the “key three,” and what do they do? International and its programs, including the
Tom Thorfinnson, RI vice president, are available through both the RRFC and the RC. The first RI Strategic Plan.
responds: call for assistance might be to a director, and the director Shop.rotary.org is now powered by Amazon, giving
The three players involved in the “key should determine who might best assist them. If it’s a purely you the option of using an existing Amazon.com
account to place and track orders, manage order
three” are the RI director, the regional Rotary administrative matter, the director might step in. If it’s a club
history, and maintain a wish list. Rotarians will
Foundation coordinator (RRFC), and the or Foundation development issue, we’ll direct them to one of
also have access to product recommendations and
Rotary coordinator (RC), who is new to the the other key three. reviews, along with promotional offers throughout
mix. It should be a team effort. Collectively, It is a tremendous asset to Rotary to have Rotarian the year. New products now available for purchase
the three players will be available to meet all of the clubs’ and volunteers such as RRFCs and RCs with regional knowledge include:
districts’ needs and inquiries within their zone. and the proper cultural background so they can tailor their • 2010 Montréal Convention Speeches DVD
The RRFC has two purposes: One is to promote the training to the needs of the clubs in their regions. (SPEECHES7, US$25)
programs of The Rotary Foundation, and the other is to • 010-11 End Polio Now Calendar (961, $15)
2
assist with fund development. The Rotary coordinator
Jamie Berg
• Rotary Video Magazine collections 1-4
position is intended to be very similar to the role of regional
($30 each)
Rotary Foundation coordinator, but instead deal with the
You can save time and money by using webinars
Rotary International side of things. Rotary coordinators
to meet with people around the world. Visit the
will help with promoting the programs of RI and with club Training section of the RI website to find tips and
development. guidelines for planning an effective online meeting
This is what I would classify as developing a good or conference.
product — the Rotary club — and membership will just A repository of best practices written by Rotarians
follow naturally from that. The only way to do this is to on topics such as service projects and club
elevate the RC to the same level as the RRFC and create this administration is available on the RI website.
trio of players. Having difficulties printing a Rotary Leader article?
One of the jobs of the Try downloading the page as a PDF first, and then
GoT A QuESTIoN? print the PDF document. See page 9 for more
director in this whole
You ask the question, we find the package is to communicate information about using the Rotary Leader reader.
expert. Submit your question to to Rotary leaders in our Tom Thorfinnson, 2010-11 RI vice president, addresses incoming Rotary
rotary.leader@rotary.org.
zones the resources that coordinators at a March institute.
July 2010 | www.rotary.org/rotaryleader | rotary.leader@rotary.org
