In Gear | Rotary in Southern New Zealand Issue 2 | Page 42

Rotary International recently
recognised Tony’s significant
contribution in attracting new
Rotarians - he was named a Gold 6+
level member sponsor.

MY WORD
with Tony Brown,

Rotary Club of Wanaka

A story I would like to share with you is how I got
involved in Rotary and membership.
My wife, Pam, was invited along to the Wanaka Rotary
Club soon after we moved to town. As my father was
a Rotarian in Dunedin, I’d been to the odd lunchtime
meeting with him. I remembered it as a club for old
people and felt I definitely did not fit in. Instead, I put
my energy into sport, especially soccer and tennis,
and played and coached at different levels.
I’d often go to Rotary functions and get involved in
projects with Pam, so, after a while, I thought I might
as well join. At that time, club membership was down
to about 22, and the few members who were prepared
to do the work were getting worn out shouldering
all of the committees, projects, fundraising and
working bees. For a couple of years, we even had two

Remember,
people won’t
join Rotary clubs
unless they can
assess what’s in
it for them.”
members sharing the president’s role, because noone was holding up their hand to take over.
The level of despondence was such we were tossing
up whether to throw in the towel or give one last shot
at revitalising our club and do things smarter. We
worked out that if we could increase the membership
we could spread the workload. Wanaka was no
different to many other clubs where only about half
of members wanted to be proactive, while the rest
just enjoyed coming along for a meal each week.
Everyone had their designated places where they sat,

the secretary had a place to prop up their briefcase,
and members would often walk out if the speaker
went past the allotted time. Sound familiar?
A few of us went down to Dunedin to District 9980’s
Assembly, which was very similar to Showcase.
We listened to what everyone had to say and then
formulated a plan. We decided to prioritise fun.
I took on the membership role and asked people I
met on a day-to-day basis what they did, were they
new to Wanaka and did they know many people in
our town.
“Why don’t you come along to Rotary with me, or to
one of the functions we’ve organised?” I’d ask. When
we made them feel welcome, and they were meeting
new people and having fun, they almost always
wanted to join our club.
We did this for a year. Within that time, I’d brought
in 22 new Rotarians: our club’s membership had
doubled.
With new members and more energy, we started to
get back into doing projects and fundraising – but
always aware the reason the newcomers had joined
was to have fun and spend time with good people.
We continue to operate this way, and our club now
has more than 70 members and counting.
I always tell new members that they should only
come along to Rotary if they want to and not because
they have to.
I’m often asked if I get sick of going along to meetings
week in and week out. For Pam and me, what better
way to spend an evening than sharing dinner with
our closest friends, with free entertainment turned
on as well?
I introduced our 9980 district governor, Janice
Hughes, and her husband, Clayton Hope, to Rotary,
after meeting them at a Chamber of Commerce BA6.
We got talking, and I found out that they were new to
town, so I asked if they’d like to come along to Rotary
and meet some new people. Many of those members
that we brought into the club have gone on to hold
club and district leadership positions.

Page 42 | In Gear - Rotary in southern New Zealand - District 9980 | www.rotarydistrict9980.org