Ang Magiting - The Official Web Site of Rotary Club Makati North

Recruiting New Members

Dear fellow RCMNers,

Your board of directors has adopted a measure to help address a major obstacle preventing new members from joining the club – sticker shock.

Beginning immediately, new recruits will pay only half of the regular membership dues for the first year. That fee would cover the Rotary International dues, although not the administrative costs. And like all members, the Baby Rotarian will pay for the regular weekly lunch.

After the first year, the new member pays the full membership dues.

This is actually not an original concept. During the term of President Joe, the same membership promo offering was discussed during a planning meeting. The concept then was to offer a sort of “trial membership” for a year. If the member decides to stay on, he starts paying the regular dues beginning the following year. One problem in the past was ballooning receivables, many from people who never show up for meetings or other club activities.

Admittedly, the idea sounded appealing, because the high cost of membership appeared to repel those considering joining Rotary. Even if one can afford it, we had not really done a good job “selling” the club. Pardon the term “selling,” but the point is simply that given the tough economic situation the country is facing – plus intense competition from so many service organizations, including religious groups – it was difficult to convince people to sign up at P25,000.

Again, sorry for sounding like a broken record, but I believe Makati North is an exceptional club, a good example of what a Rotary Club should be, committed to “Service Above Self” and all other ideals. Plus, the Makati North members are people whom a new Rotarian would like to call a friend, as well as good contacts.

Bring a friend along

Besides inviting prospective members to the weekly lunches, invite them to our activities and fellowships. In fact, family and friends are also welcome. Your officers want to make sure there are plenty of opportunities to do so.

On September 6, the club is planning to spend a day working at the Ave Maria Village, which is our housing development project with Gawad Kalinga in Tanay, Rizal.

That evening, the Ann of Christophe, Michelle, is organizing a benefit. Apart from seeing a good show and having a nice dinner, you also contribute to the Operation Smile, which helps repair the deformities of children suffering from a cleft lip.

We also have fellowship dinners and golf. Last Friday, for example, 10 members played at the Alabang Country Club. There are talks about organizing a monthly golf/fellowship activity.

We need to organize other activities for non-golfers, as there are many in our club. We used to have a small group, led by Director Robert Syjuco, who played badminton at Manila Polo Club. The group has since disbanded, but Robert still plays – badminton, that is. People who are interested should get together with him.

Director Bench Sy Chu is into shooting. Anyone interested in that?

There are several civic projects you can get involved in. Past President Gus Lagman is working on a computer project for public schools in Pampanga. Rotarian Tony Newnham was working on another computer project for the less fortunate in rural areas. Of course, we have a feeding program and other community projects in barangay Singkamas and Santa Cruz.

Past President Porong Herrera had the right idea when he said that we should have fun in Rotary. As you see from this report, there are various ways to do that.