RI President D.K. Lee Challenges Rotary To Grow By 10%

RI president, D. K. Lee has challenged Rotary districts and clubs this year to a net membership increase of 10 percent and to add two new clubs in each district. New clubs are a means of reaching demographic groups that cannot get involved in current club meetings.
"If we do not bring in younger members, we will miss out on a great deal of energy and expertise," Lee said during a visit to the Rotary Club of Chicago in early July. "And we will not be providing a new generation of members to become club presidents, district governors, and senior RI leaders in the years to come."
In seeking to recruite new members, clubs should look to new enterprises, professions and occupations, such as web developers or technicians, that may have been previously overlooked, Lee urged.
Two clubs in Korea have been experiencing great success in membership growth. The Rotary Club of Gwangju-Ibseog in Gwangju, Korea, nearly doubled its membership in the 2007-08 year, and the Rotary Club of Iri Dong in Jeonrabug grew from 112 to 152 members last year. Read their stories.