Generations X, Y, & Z Blog

The nation's three largest service club organizations - Lions Clubs International, Rotary International, and Kiwanis International - have made recent attempts to reinvent century-old traditions, recruit younger members, and reverse membership declines.

Why is membership down? Partly because we're a busier society and partly because there are more opportunities to volunteer in the community than in years past. Groups like Habitat for Humanity don’t require volunteers to be members and pay dues.

But membership is also down because today's young professionals aren't joining. And they aren't joining either because they perceive the clubs to be outdated and irrevelant, they haven't been invited to join, or they feel they don't belong.

What are three of the nation's largest clubs doing to woo young members?

I gleaned several publications to collect the information below. I believe businesses and associations alike can learn a lot about how these organizations are responding to crisis and working to bridge the generation gap.


Kiwanis - New Leadership
Kiwanis International membership is at 260,000, down 20 percent from its peak of 324,727 in 1992. The organization focuses on serving children of the world.

Historically, the organization has been guided by an international president elected annually. What the board wanted was someone to focus long term on building a bigger organization; someone who was a change agent.

Last year, the association hired its first CEO -- Rob Parker, former CEO of Sunbeam -- to accomplish its goal of reaching 1 million members by its 100th birthday in 2015.

Under Parker's reign, Kiwanis has been positioned to think like a fast-growing organization.

So that all employees, including himself, constantly think of the million member goal, Parker placed in his office a giant LED clock, which in red numbers counts down the year, day, hours and minutes until 2015.

Parker revamped an old lounge where managers reclined for a meeting every month or so. Managers now stand around the table during a 10-minute 'daily huddle.' After the meeting, those managers then address their own departments so by 9:30 a.m. everybody in the organization is aligned.

Parker is focused on outreach to younger generations and the use of more technology. Online Kiwanis clubs have been created, including one with worldwide membership.

Young Professional clubs have been organized as well. The DC Metro Young Professionals club has a monthly business meeting that lasts no longer than 45 minutes and organizes several service projects via an interactive calendar on its Web site. The club doesn't take attendance or require participation in a set number of projects.

Kiwanis is also developing family clubs for both parents with childcare provided, and the club boasts the fact that it builds leaders at every level—from the youngest Kiwanis Kids all the way through several youth programs and adult programs.


Lions - A New Brand
In 1978, Lions Clubs International had more than 570,000 members in the USA. That number has declined to 400,000. The Lions work to eradicate blindness.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, a Lion, nominated Lions for the Nobel Peace Prize, and the organization received a distinguished ranking in July 2007 when Financial Times named Lions the #1 global NGO (non-governmental organization).

However, organizational surveys revealed the club had a strong reputation, but one that isn’t widely promoted or understood. The club also discovered that other organizations were expending 25 to 80 times more than they were on media.

Lions leaders have set out to reverse this trend with a major brand renewal effort. Guided by consultants , Lions leaders are undertaking an initiative to help people understand who the Lions are and what they do.

In addition to making updating the historic logo, the club is revamping THE LION magazine and revamping its Web site. The organization will also launch a targeted ad campaign in North America and engage marketing firms in Latin America, Europe, South Asia and East Asia to continue the thrust of the North America ad campaign.

Lions is hopeful the renewed branding and marketing efforts will help the organization reach more people and engage more members. In the meantime, like Kiwanis, Lions has chartered dozens of new family clubs.


Rotary - New Technology
Rotary International had a peak U.S. membership of 421,953 in 1993. It has been below 400,000 since 1999. Rotary humanitarian activities is helping stamp out polio.

Rotary introduced New Generations month for the month of September, identifying that one of the key elements of an effective Rotary Club is the development of leaders. Rotary is encouraging club leaders to prepare younger members for leadership positions and now offers a leadership development skills training program.

Rotary recently launched a new Web site, featuring a problem-solving forum. The topic for the month of September was a lack of younger members and Rotarians posted their ideas for resolving the recruiting and retention challenges. The site also features a copy of the New Generations issue of Rotary International Interactive e-newsletter featuring links to YouTube videos created by Interact (Rotary) Clubs.

The site also features Rotarian Video Magazine (RVM), a DVD series that showcases Rotary projects and people from around the world; Rotary Images, a photo library containing thousands of images of Rotarians and Rotary projects from around the world; and Rotary e-cards.


*How do you think these organizations are doing? If you have ideas or comments to share, I'd love to hear from you!

Labels: Kiwanis, Lions Clubs, membership declines in service clubs, Rotary