Members and Membership at New Dawn

A satellite club, or even more than one, and associate membership seem to be the most likely outcome of the study and subsequent discussion of innovative forms of membership that Carol Stier put on the table at the meeting this week.

The idea is to look to different kinds of membership in order to broaden the scope of the club, if not necessarily its size in terms of active members.

Associate membership is used by many Rotary clubs as a way into full membership for people who are still finding their Rotary feet. A prospective member would, for example, become a non-fee paying associate member for a prescribed period of 6 months or a year before becoming a full Active Member.

    Carol Stier and Helene Bramwell, who suggested that membership should be kept as simple as possible

Rotary International recognises only two kinds of members: Active and Honorary. Honorary members also don't pay dues or have voting rights, but unlike associate members have distinguished themselves and embody Rotary ideals, or those who are chosen for their support of Rotary.

Satellite clubs were originally meant to be a stepping stone into forming an independent club. For instance a group of people might want to form their own Rotary club, for whatever reason. This could be a group of friends or associates who number less than the required 20 to be able to start their own club, or a group within an existing club or clubs who feel better suited in a club with, for instance, a different meeting time, place or meeting style.

You need only 8 members to start a satellite club and in modern Rotary times there is no longer a requirement that the satellite club has to convert to a full Rotary club once there are enough members.

    Carol with Joan Sainsbury, who spoke about how satellite clubs are evolving

Members of a satellite club are in fact members of the sponsoring club and even though they have their own office bearers - a president, secretary, treasurer, etc. and collect their own dues - the sponsoring club remains responsible for paying over their RI dues and the other compulsory Rotary International fees.

"When a satellite club grows to 20 members our more, it can choose to remain a satellite to its sponsor club or it can apply for a charter to become a stand alone Rotary club. Some clubs prefer to continue as satellite clubs regardless of their size and enjoy the benefits of being tied to the sponsor club. You decide what's right for your members," reads the relevant paragraph in the RI Guide to Satellite Clubs," on the RI website.

Satellite clubs can set their own dues as long as they are enough to cover the compulsory payments of $35 in RI dues semi-annually, R500 annually for District Dues and R110 semi-annually for subscription to Rotary Africa online magazine.

    President Julian Nagy with Lucille Blumberg, who said the club must cater for those who can't attend meetings

Other possible forms of membership that Carol highlighted are corporate membership, family membership, young professional membership and Friends of Rotary, each with their own set of rules and guidelines.

e-Members join meetings primarily online and passport members travel a lot making fixed meetings difficult, but attend meetings in the places they visit.

How many kinds of membership does Rotary have? The answer is simple: as many as you can think of. RI recognises only active, dues-paying members or honorary members, but clubs can have as many kinds as they like in order to facilitate the joining up of business and professional people with communities in need of help, advice or expertise as is the habit of Rotarians.

                                            DGN George at out Cleanup Day in September last year

Next week: The speaker is DGN George Senosha, who will be District Governor for District 9400 for the Rotary year 2024/2025. George hails from Bela-Bela, where his parents were farm labourers. DGE George is an inspiring Rotarian and we look forward to his talk.

Dates to Diarise:

15 February Bruce Fordyce will be speaking again. It's an evening meeting, starting at from 6 for 6.30. There will be a curry buffet, meaning there will be a charge of R150 for attendance to cover the cost. The theme will be Valentine's Day, with prizes to be won.

16 March: The Bridge Drive at the Ferndale Recreation Club at 38 Harley Street, Ferndale. It's a Thursday morning and starts at 9 am until just after lunch.

    Gertrude Myaka and Mike MacDonald at the meeting    

25 August: The official club Golf Day is a bit earlier this year as all the Fridays in September and October have been booked at the Parkview Golf Club already. It's at the tail end of winter, so at least there should be no rain.

Mike MacDonald, who organises the golf days, says he's planning another one for March or April at a course yet to be decided and for a cause yet to be decided.

Rotary Moment: This will become a feature of the blog at the suggestion of Amina Frense and will normally focus on the wider Rotary world, but this week we'll keep it local in keeping with the theme of the meeting this week.

Did you know that New Dawn has three Honorary members? The first is Dr Yacoob Essack of Gift of the Givers who became an honorary member in 2013 for his humanitarian wok. The second is Rev Nick Bell, a Rotarian from England who spends time with his South African family every year and joins club meetings from time to time, either in person or on Zoom. The third is Carin Holmes, an ex-member of New Dawn who was sent to Zambia by the Salvation Army, which she serves. Frayne Mathijs, also an ex-member of New Dawn, was an honorary member until she died in a car accident in January 2020.

A Thought for Prince Harry (and others): Censure is the tax a man must pay for being eminent. – Jonathan Swift (16667 – 1745)