During last week’s meeting I gave out a questionnaire on Membership Satisfaction. It is a set of questions to assess how a member feels about the club, its leadership, its functions, activities and the member’s INVOLVEMENT. Though the result may not be truly conclusive, I find some alarming responses that the Club Admin Committee and the Membership Committee ought to look into and address the issues arising from it.

Of the twenty-four members who were each given a set of the questionnaire with the instruction to hand in the accomplished form before leaving the meeting, only nine or roughly 37% complied. (Talk about INVOLVEMENT!!!)

Here under are the other interesting results:

On Feeling Welcomed to the Club- All nine respondents feel welcomed.On Being Comfortable Sharing Concerns with Club Leaders- All nine are comfortable sharing concerns with club leaders.

On Your Perception of the Club’s Involvement in: Membership Development- 1 feels it is insufficient and the rest feel either adequate or excellent. Orientation and Education- 1 feels it is insufficient and the rest are either adequate or excellent. Local Service Projects- All 9 feel it is either adequate or excellent. Club Public Relations- All feel it is either adequate or excellent. Fundraising- 2 feel it is insufficient, the rest are either adequate or excellent. Rotary Foundation- 1 feels it is insufficient, the rest are either adequate or excellent. Fellowship- The respondents are unanimous in their rating of excellent. International Service Projects- 1 feels it is insufficient and the rest are either adequate or excellent.

On the Member’s Involvement in: Membership Development- 2 are already involved while 3 would want to get involved. Member Orientation and Education- 1 is already involved while 3 would want to get involved. Local Service Project- 4 are already involved, none wants to get involved. International Service Project- 2 are now involved and 2 would want to get involved. Club PR- I is already involved, and 3 would want to get involved. Fundraising- 2 are now involved and 2 would want to get involved. Rotary Foundation- 3 are now involved and 1 would want to get involved. Fellowship- 3 are now involved and 2 would want to get involved.

Level of Satisfaction in Club Involvement- Of the 5 who are now involved and would still want get involved in other activities, 1 feels very satisfied with his involvement while 4 are satisfied. There are 2 who are not yet involved but would want to get involved. Amazingly, there are 2 others who are not involved, don’t want to get involved but are satisfied with their involvement. Perhaps what this means is being satisfied with their non physical involvement but actively support the club activity in some other way.

All respondents find our Club Dues and other costs reasonable.

On Weekly Meetings: Amt of Rotary Content- 4 think it is excellent, four find it adequate and 1 believes it is insufficient. Length- 8 think it is adequate while one finds it insufficient. Program Organization- 2 rated it excellent, 6 adequate and one insufficient. Time for Fellowship- 3 rated it excellent and 6 adequate. Networking Opportunities- 2 rated it excellent and 7 adequate.

Meeting Time and Place- 8 find the meeting time and place convenient while 1 finds it inconvenient.

Which Aspect of our Meeting/Venue do you find Unsatisfactory: No fixed room, poor food selection, unpleasant atmosphere.

Changes to Improve Club Meetings: Need for better speakers. Variety of Program topics. Better time management. Increased emphasis on vocational information. Focus on fellowship. More service opportunities.

Amount of Club Fellowship: 7 say it is of the right amount while 2 say it is too few. Amount of Rotary Info Provided in Metro Post/web site: 9 say it is adequate. Words to Describe Metro Post/website: Interesting, Useful, Informative. Anything You Would Like To See Changed: No interaction with new Rotarians. No prescribed attire during meetings. No one wears the Rotary pin anymore. Response of Spouse/Family to your INVOLVEMENT in Rotary: All answered Feels Proud of My Involvement. (How INVOLVED are we really?!!)

A lot can be said of the responses to the above questions and it can be a true reflection of who and what we are as a member of RCMI. There may be some contradictions in the answers with what I had experienced in the last three months. However I just hope that my perceptions are wrong and that we can still achieve a lot more in the next three or four months to come. Now is the time for all of us to step up and do what we can do if we want our club to be the strongest and the best in the district.