.jpg)
If you missed our Club Assembly this past week, it started with the phrase “Some things you might not know about this Rotary Year…” During the meeting we reviewed our goals from the start of the year, reflected on the things we have accomplished, thanked team leaders who helped to make it happen and conducted a survey of the membership.Although we could not thank everyone for all that we accomplished this past year…and we did thank a lot of members…there is no way that we could thank everyone individually. In this, my last President’s letter, I do want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of you for everything you did this year and for making this a REMARKABLE Rotary Club. I continue to be amazed at all that we accomplish as a Club.
In the meeting we talked about our four areas of focus, or vison, for the year:
In the meeting we talked about our four areas of focus, or vison, for the year:
- Increase engagement of our membership by providing greater value.
- Grow the Club and build diversity by focused membership development.
- Work with other Rotary Clubs in Tucson to build Rotary in Tucson.
- Internationally, support programs close to home, look to Mexico, and Sonora.
These areas led to 11 specific goals; of those goals, membership growth and development are at the center of what we did this year. As a team, we firmly believe that any Club growth needs to start with making sure that we take care of the members we have. Bob Shaff headed our efforts on increasing value to our members and we met our goal of reducing membership attrition by 20%.
Margaret Higgins headed up our Membership efforts and worked closely with helping to build a sustainable new membership team, along the lines of our Tucson Classics Car Show teams. This resulted in beating our traditional growth rate by more than 30%. Margaret and her team notably helped increase the number of women in our Club from 24% to 27%. As importantly, we are well positioned for future growth in membership.
So how did we end up? Between Bob’s and Margaret’s efforts, we surpassed our goal of a +10 new member year and will end up the year a +12, a record in recent years, closing at 254 members. A big thanks goes out to those members who brought guests to the Club and sponsored new members. It is important to remember; we are not growing our Club just for growth’s sake; we need to grow to continue to do all that we do as a Club and to continue to be able to do more for our community.
So how did we end up? Between Bob’s and Margaret’s efforts, we surpassed our goal of a +10 new member year and will end up the year a +12, a record in recent years, closing at 254 members. A big thanks goes out to those members who brought guests to the Club and sponsored new members. It is important to remember; we are not growing our Club just for growth’s sake; we need to grow to continue to do all that we do as a Club and to continue to be able to do more for our community.
Beyond Membership Growth and Retention, other accomplishments included:
- Building the New Member Ambassadors Program, thanks to Dale Berg, Ted Forsberg and Joe Daniszewski.
- Continuing to develop STAR and Mentoring, thanks to Steve Pickering, Diana Cannon, Wayne Meyer and Jan Green.
- The renamed Member Support team, thanks to Frank Dahl and Hugh Thompson.
- A great year with the Foundation with the new focus on endowments, thanks to Jim Lubinski, the Board and Rick Rose for the great video.
- Launching our Centennial Campaign and selecting the new JTED High School as our Centennial beneficiary. Thanks to Jim Lubinski, Jim Murphy and the team.
- A TERRIFIC Car Show, the smoothest yet, with $175,500 to our charities, thanks to Bruce Jacobs and all the Car Show teams.
- The whole operations team for the Club meetings, thanks to Bobby Larson and way too many other members to mention (although we did in the meeting)!
- New venues for Socials like Top Golf, The Playground, Culinary Dropout and bringing back the Sweetheart dinner, thanks to Fonda Insley, Liz Bowman, Danielle Bailliere and Lisa Fogle.
- Work Projects and Fellowships, thanks to Brett Stein, Wayne Meyer, Bruce Richardson, Bob Webb & team.
- Youth Services, Interact, Rotaract, RYLA and Exchange Students: a BIG thanks to Allyn Bulzomi, Dave Gallaher and Jennifer Hoffman.
- Work with the Catalina Club, Rincon Club and Pantano Club on three collaborative Rotary In Tucson projects.
- On the International side, thanks to Past President Cliff and Peter Beahan for getting us involved in the Alamos Global Grant with the Catalina Club. Five RCOT representatives went to Alamos in January and saw the great work being done. We made a further donation to help in the purchase of 17 tons of grain and seed and a support plan to offset failed harvests. We also provided significant aid to Shelter Box and for water purification in Guatemala.
We have a BIG Club, the largest in the state, and we are growing. My hope for the future is that we continue to do BIG things but also continue to try to develop our relationships and culture as if we are a SMALL Club. Fill out your High Profile. Sit at different tables. Say hello to a new member you do not know. Get engaged in the Car Show. Join a Fellowship. Take advantage of Home Hospitality. Spend time on a Work Project. Be a part of the Centennial Campaign. It is in doing that we connect to our fellow members and in that connection we become more than a Club; we become family.
It has been my honor to serve as President this past year. We have a REMARKABLE Rotary Club and my greatest satisfaction this year has been to get to know many more members much better. It is not based on what we do as a Club that makes us REMARKABLE, but it is that we are truly a Club of REMARKABLE members. It has been a highlight of my career for me to help lead this Club, I thank you all for the opportunity.
Kathy and I hope to see you all at the Change of Administration this Saturday to welcome in Bob Logan as our new President!
YIR,
Chuck Sawyer
President 2018-2019
Rotary Club of Tucson
President 2018-2019
Rotary Club of Tucson
