1. CALL ME! Dick Erdmann, 10800 Lincoln Trail, Suite 10, Fairview Heights, IL 62208; (618) 397-9798, fax 397-9799. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! YOUR GOVERNOR, ASSISTANT GOVERNORS AND I ARE ANXIOUS TO HELP YOU START A NEW ROTARY CLUB!

2. Get 2 or 3 other enthusiastic Rotarians to help locally. Even an enthusiastic non-Rotarian who wants to be a charter Rotarian in your new club, or a former Rotarian who couldn't attend his or her former club because of time or other problems but wants to be a Rotarian again.

3. Download "Organizing New Clubs-A Guide for District Governors and Special Representatives." It's full of necessary and helpful information. It's at Rotary.org. Click on Membership, then Download Center, then Resources for Recruitment and Retention. It's 56 pages. You'll need it. If you don't have internet access, call me or Rotary International (847-866-3257)

4. Learn the local community spirit. E.g. Don't hold your invitational sessions in a neighboring community if the local city hall offices don't even open the mail unless it has THEIR city's name as the city address (even if they don't have a post office in their city). Use the community spirit to your advantage; don't fight it. If there is strong local pride, make sure your invitations state that you'll buy all the coffee and goodies and other supplies for your invitational sessions in THEIR city.

5. Fill out the extension survey in the "Organizing New Clubs-A Guide for District Governors and Special Representatives," at page 37 in Chapter 8. It will force you to consider available meeting locations and other important matters.

6. Build an ever-expanding prospect list. E.g. your new prospective Rotarians will want to suggest their friends and business colleagues as new Rotarians, too, even if you don't know them to put them on a prospect list. Don't stop just because you get to 20. Check with the chamber of commerce and city for lists of businesses and owners or managers. Drive up and down the streets to remind you about business people you already know in the community. Invite people from neighboring communities, even if those communities already have a Rotary Club; the existing club may have a meeting time that is not good for the prospect, but your new club may be just what the prospect wants. If your prospect says "no thanks," ask whether another owner or manager from his or her company might be interested.

7. Invite them. Schedule a couple of invitational sessions--maybe a morning and an evening, or two--and invite your prospects to attend and learn about the exciting new Rotary Club being formed in their community.

8. Educate them. Rotary International has great short videos and handout material to help you explain what Rotary is and does. Make sure they understand attendance requirements and the classification system (remember, the new rules allow at least 5 Rotarians in a particular classification).

9. "COUNT ME IN" as a charter member. Being a charter member of a prestigious new Rotary Club is a strong selling tool. Remind your prospects that you don't get a second chance to become a charter member. Invite each prospect to fill out a sheet with "COUNT ME IN!" at the top, with all the info you will need to fill out the charter application-name, addresses, company name, classification, current position, phone and email info, gender, former Rotarian?, if former Rotarian, name of former club.

10. Meet weekly as a "provisional" (no charter yet) Rotary Club. Don't let time pass with no contact while you are submitting paperwork to RI. Schedule interesting programs.

11. Elect officers. You need them to submit the charter application. Call some likely prospects and ask them if they would consider being nominated for an office; if they say "yes", put their names in a box where other nominations may be put by others before you open nominations from the floor. Some folks will be reluctant to make nominations from the floor, especially if they really want to be nominating themselves. Try to avoid having to beg for nominations from the floor on election day. Assure the folks that you and other experienced Rotarians will be there to support them while they are learning in office.

12. Invite other clubs. Your prospects will gain strength and encouragement from other Rotarians making up their attendance at provisional meetings of your new club. The District Governor will authorize attendance at a provisional Rotary Club meeting as a makeup. Similarly, encourage your new provisional Rotarians to visit other Rotary Clubs and to participate in their activities--service projects, holiday parties, fund-raisers, etc. It's a great way to help educate the new provisional Rotarians.

13. Early service. Get them started in a service project as soon as practicable. Let them begin to experience Service Above Self. Swansea's first project while still a provisional club (no charter yet) was ringing the bells for the Salvation Army at Schnuck's Supermarket on a Saturday in December. Most shifts had at least three new provisional Rotarians scheduled; they are enthusiastic. Feed their enthusiasm.

14. Get out of their way!! Your new officers and directors will be anxious to get going, as long as you are there to help guide them. Let your new president begin presiding as soon as practicable, and your other officers and directors, too. This is their club. Steer them, but don't get in their way and slow them down.

15. Love them. They can become like your children. Guide them. Educate them. Be at every club and board meeting, or make sure some other veteran Rotarian is (such as the Assistant Governor who will serve the new club) for months, or even a year, after their charter night. Nurture them. Encourage them. Show them you really care.

Complete Extension Manual
New Club Extension Survey
Application to Charter New Club
Charter Member Forms
Standard Club Constitution
Standard Club By-Laws