On the evening of November 14, 2008 the District 5300 Vision Facilitation Team met with one third of the members of the Rotary Club of Arcadia. The purpose was to create a vision of what our Rotary Club might look like 5 years from now. As the illustration above illustrates action without a plan can have serious untended consequences. When Helen Keller was asked about being blind she responded that it was better to be without sight than to be without a vision. From our efforts we have the beginning of a vision.

It is an interesting consensus of our combined vision that the Rotary Club of Arcadia should have a membership of 150. Statistics tell us that we lose about 10% of our members each year, meaning that we need approximately 1 new member every month to maintain our current membership of 106.  To increase our membership by 50% over the next 5 years will require the addition of 2 members every month for the next 60 months. Since we have actually experienced a loss of membership of about 1% a year over the past decade our combined vision would suggest a different approach to membership development.

Another piece of our combined vision that is directly related to the ability to increase our membership is the idea that our membership should be younger than the current average age. Since we currently have a median age of 60, and average well above that number, we need to recognize that many of us must actively seek new members who are of our children’s generation.