Rotary evolution: Nonprofit looks to E-clubs to recruit millennials – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In 1905, a group of men in Chicago began meeting, socializing and volunteeringto make their community a better place. What started as the Rotary Club of Chicago so-called because meetings rotated among the offices of those initial members became Rotary International, now 1.2 million members strong in 200 countries.

In its long history, the nonprofit service organization has encountered many changes and challenges. Perhaps known best for working to help eradicate polio and for funding scholarships that send students to study abroad, Rotarians from more than 35,000 clubs contribute to a dizzying array of projects in their communities and around the globe. Members put in an estimated 16 million volunteer hours each year.

But while the organizations mission of Service Above Self hasnt changed over the past 112 years, leaders here say that members have found it necessary to adjust to the challenges of todays 24/7 lifestyle and to work harder to boost membership, which is by invitation.

If we dont keep our numbers up, we are in danger of needing to merge with another district, Stuart Benson of the North Boroughs Rotary Club said. We are really looking for young blood while at the same time recruiting retirees, said the attorney who lives in Hampton.

Indeed, last month Pam Moore of Uniontown, governor of RotaryDistrict 7330, acknowledged that the numbers are slipping in her district, which covers 39 clubs in seven counties, as well as in Mr. Bensons District 7300, which oversees 46 clubs in Allegheny and parts of Westmoreland and Beaver counties.

The decline in active members, Ms. Moore said, is due to an aging Rotarian base some online reports claim the average age is 60-plus and the demands of todays mobile, busy lifestyles.

In a nod to the changing times, Mr. Bensons district early last year chartered an e-club, which, rather than holding the traditional breakfast, lunch or dinner meetings, meets via conference call. The 20-some members gather by phone at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays.

This way members dont need to make weekly in-person meetings but instead participate on their own time and at their own pace through anonline meeting layout on the groups website, Ms. Moore said, adding that her district may at some point look to implement the new tool.

Such e-clubs may be the the next generation of Rotary, she said. The new format gives members all of the benefits of Rotary but in a streamlined process, she said.

The e-club model is directed at attractingmillennialsin this mobile world, she acknowledged. But the work and service of Rotary will not change nor will the traditional face-to-face meeting ever go away.

In the past, Rotarians were mostly professionals, business owners or corporate executives.

That profile has changed, according to Mr. Benson and Stephanie A. Urchick, a member of the Canonsburg-Houston-Southpointe Rotary Club.

Membership is open and every club has a lot of latitude in accepting members, Mr. Benson said.

The requirement is you want to give to the community, Ms. Urchick said. We are looking for people with a desire to make the world a better place.

2017 milestones

Rotary International has two big milestones this year: the 100-year anniversary of the Rotary Foundation, the endowment arm that has raised $3 billion for the organizations work over the past century, and the 30-year anniversary of Rotary admitting women into its ranks.

Where would Rotary be without women? was the topic of a talk Mr. Benson gave at a recent meeting. He joined Rotary in 1978, before women were part of the organization, and now serves as parliamentarian for District 7300.

Ms. Urchick, of Canonsburg, knows all about the impact women have had on Rotary. She joined Rotary in 1991and has become steadily more involved. From 2012-2014, she was a trustee of the Rotary Foundation only the third woman to serve in that capacity.

Her club, the Canonsburg-Houston-Southpointe Rotary Club, has undertaken local projects that include giving a dictionary to every third-grade student in the Chartiers-Houston and Canon-Macmillan school districts and making regular visits to senior citizen facilities for game days and dessert socials.

I have been all over the world for Rotary, Ms. Urchick said, including India, Nigeria, Poland and the Dominican Republic.

Humanitarianism should start in your backyard, but it should not end there, she said.

Her professional resume includes 30 years in administration at Westmoreland County Community College and California University of Pennsylvania. She received a doctorate in leadership from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2004 and is currently executive director of the Southpointe CEO Association and co-founder and partner of Doctors at Work, a consulting and training company in Cranberry.

Ms. Urchick chairs the Rotary Foundation Centennial Celebration Committee and its Strategic Planning Committee, which is looking at ways to maintain and expand membership.

A few years ago, Jennifer Miele came to the White Oak Rotary Club as a guest speaker and, I have never left, she said.

I have never met a group that is so committed to helping community, she said. As a millennial, I felt like a piece of my pie was missing. Other organizations never really harnessed my energy.

Rotary members use their knowledge of their community to find projects and use their life skills to implement them, said William Latta, president of the White Oak club. Members of his club recently put in a paved sidewalk, deck and ramp to make a house accessible for a high school student who uses a wheelchair.

We did not have to hire a contractor and we got it done in a week, Mr. Latta said.

Four years ago, the club raised $17,000 at a spaghetti dinner and auction for a 5-year-old child with cancer, he said. The club has raised $72,000 in scholarships for students at Serra Catholic and McKeesport Area high schools and that is only a partial list of what the club has accomplished, he said.

Dan Dougherty handles the White Oak clubs Facebook page and other communication efforts. The biggest thing I wanted to do was raise awareness, he said.

The right fit

Every club has a different personality, said Mr. Benson, and hes willing to help prospective Rotarians find the right fit.

For information: email Mr. Benson at stubenson3@gmail.comor go to http://www.rotary.organd click club finder or join at the top right. Members pay dues.

Linda Wilson Fuoco: lfuoco@post-gazette.comor 412-263-1953.

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Rotary evolution: Nonprofit looks to E-clubs to recruit millennials - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette