Program:

As January marks the half way mark of the 2019-2020 Rotary year, President Lorna and the Board of Directors used the opportunity to provide an update on Club committee work, finances and accomplishments to date.

President Lorna prefaced the update by emphasizing the board’s use of the 2019 member survey as a driving force of its focus. Of the 73 responses to the survey, 93% of members are satisfied or very satisfied with our club overall.

Financial Summary

Gus Struhlreyer led a review of finances, pointing out the four revenue sources for Norfolk Rotary Charities:1) interest from the endowment held at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, 2) district grants (none in FY 19 but $35k in FY 20), 3) fundraising, and 4) local endowment (contributions from members). A notable change from year’s past is that annual distributions made to our major fundraising partners (the Zoo, Norfolk Botanical Gardens and our Suds & Buds third charity) will no longer be accounted for as fundraising expenses, but rather as an annual distribution. 

Laurie Harrison said the board has looked closely at the size of the cash reserves for both the club and charities, as members expressed interest in better utilizing them.The Board has voted to move some of these funds from the club to the charities so the grant making committee will have more funds to give away. The club’s goal is to give $100,000 to charities this year. Annual distributions in FY 19 was $75,000 to 25 different organizations.

Administration Committee Update (Angela Kerns)

This committee has been resurrected (it includes the House committee and sergeant at arms). One of the main goals with it is organizing corporate intelligence so we don’t waste time reinventing the wheel. A lot of documents have been added to the website, and Angela encouraged people to visit the website (after logging into the member area, go to “My club runner”, then “documents”). This area can be used to send emails to committee members and to find the recently updated “Administrative Guidelines” that that defines what each committee does. Watch for this section to continue to grow as Angela suggested adding documents that your committee uses on a regular basis. She thanked Lisa Barnes for going to the Rotary office and going through the files and cleaning things out. 

Membership Committee Update/ Discover Rotary

Konner Pritchard said the Membership Committee’s focus is getting members within the club active and engaged. He noted a lot of new members drop off within a year. He encouraged members to reach out to prospective members (wear your pin in public, engage with people on Rotary).The committee is considering developing a 30 second elevator pitch, forming a group of ambassadors to meet regularly with new members to make them feel included, and establishing table captains at meetings to start conversation. 

Barbara Lipskis noted there have been a lot of ideas on the membership fee and they are most in favor of offering a 50% trial membership in which new members pay ½ price for a full year, with the onus on the club to get the new members engaged so they will renew at full price. We will be seeking out Rotary minded individuals and start pushing business cards for members to invite prospective members. Discover Rotary events – small intimate one hour events - will be set up to introduce prospective members to Rotary. Finally, she noted that they have recognized the need for better communication on our club to a wide variety of audiences that include friends/family and young people. 

William A Hunton YMCA

Lorna reported that the kitchen renovation and little readers library are almost complete. Once the district grant project is finished, we will have a formal ribbon cutting. In 2020 and beyond, there are lots of opportunities do continue to work with the Hunton Y on service projects such as– reading, physical activities (replenishing bouncing houses and tricycle riding), tutoring, and assisting with fundraising (Friday fish fry).