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From August - The Rotarian Magazine

A new Rotarian devises an innovative system to track his club's service efforts.
'Projects rule!' by Wayne Hearn

TRUTH BE TOLD, Rotarian Scott Dick is more a redshirt freshman than a true rookie, having joined the Rotary Club of Carmel Valley, Calif., USA, nearly two years ago, in October 2001.

"But believe me, I haven't felt like a real member until just lately," says the 46-year-old computer business owner and recent military retiree.

That's because Dick nearly became a classic example of a revolving door Rotarian, someone who quits within months of joining because the experience doesn't meet expectations. But thanks to his ability to identify problems and devise solutions, he eventually made his own Rotary experience relevant by helping his dub become more effective as a volunteer service provider — and thus more fulfilling to its members.

"After 20 years of military service, I wanted to return something to the local community, and that was my objective in accepting an offer to become a member," explains Dick, who is married and the father of two grown children.

However, he soon recognized a problem that vexes many Rotary clubs and districts: an emphasis on recruiting new members that isn't balanced by sufficient efforts to retain them. Dick insists that retention hinges on involving members in rewarding, meaningful projects.

"I see Rotary as projects, and the quality of projects defines the quality of the organization locally, nationally, and internationally," says Dick. "It dawned on me that there is a people-projects cycle that makes Rotary relevant. Good projects attract and keep good people, and mediocre projects attract no one.

And while the 55-member Carmel Valley club was involved in numerous quality projects, no single person seemed to have a handle on the big picture: exactly who was doing what — and who wasn't doing anything at all.

"I kept asking, but there was nobody who knew about all the projects, and there was no central place to keep records or lists or anything," he recalls. "How can a club keep track of successful projects, justify fundraisers, attract new members, and transfer leadership responsibilities each year without a comprehensive projects list?"

So Dick rose to the bait when club leaders challenged him to do something about it. Through the use of surveys and questionnaires — and generally becoming "an annoying little bugger" — he devised a computerized organizing system that identifies every club project, its leader, participants, and status. Each project also now has its own electronic worksheet that traces its progress from planning through completion.

"We were astounded," says Warren Kaufman, the club's membership development committee chairman in 2002- 03. "Suddenly, everybody knew what was going on."

Equally important, Dick's system identifies which members have been less active. Nancy Rushmer, last year's club president, says leadership was quick to use the new system to increase participation.

"Every organization like this has a few stars, the people who seem to do everything, but there are many others who sort of sit on the sidelines waiting to get involved, and unless they do get involved, they're at risk to drop out," Rushmer says. "So this really is a matter of retention. We can see what every member is doing, and when we notice someone hasn't been so active, we can give them a call and ask, 'How about this project or that project?' Sometimes we just expect members to jump in and volunteer, and that doesn't always happen. But maybe all it takes is a phone call. It's amazing how eager they can be to work on something, but we have to find out who they are first."

Kaufman says Dick's system led to the creation of a retention co-chair position on the membership development committee so that less-active members can be identified and nurtured. Kaufman says he's sure that participation has already increased across the board, even though the system has been in effect only a few months.

"I've been blown away by the (club) board's support and enthusiasm," says Dick. "Now I want to produce a big poster — say 4 by 5 feet — with the projects list on it, so that at every meeting all the members and our guests will be able to see what we do. Projects rule!"

Most recently, Dick — who has been named the club's first projects manager — completed a survey of members' hobbies and outside interests, plus skills they'd like to learn.

"Its purpose is to capture the information we need to match project objectives with hobbies and learning interests," he explains. "I received some very interesting results." He notes that he benefited from the concept himself during last year's Carmel Valley High School garden project, in which club members pitched in to create an outdoor "living laboratory" for biology students. "We had to survey the plot first, so I finally got to learn how to use a surveyor's level," Dick says. "I had always wanted to know what those guys were looking at with those things."

To hear Dick and Kaufman talk about the evolution of the new system, ongoing friendly bickering helped propel the whole thing along. "I kept asking Warren about projects, and he kept saying, 'I don't know, I don't know,' which was hardly reassuring from the membership chair man," Dick recalls with a laugh. "As I was complaining to him for about the 50th time, he finally told me to do something about it instead of whining and quitting, so I did. He was smart, and he challenged me."

Says Kaufman: 'Actually, I had only joined the dub about nine months before he did, so I really didn't have the answers, but I sure wasn't going to let a guy like Scott get away."

* Wayne Hearn is deputy editor of THE ROTARIAN.

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