Volunteer shortage crippling clubs
For decades service organisations like local Rotary and Lions Clubs have been pillars of communities across Australia, but in recent years many have reported a concerning decline in membership.
Most local clubs cited generational changes as the root cause for a lack of new members and some are re-evaluating the way they operate - hoping to attract younger members needed to keep afloat and continue supporting schools, events, charities and other organisations.
According to a report by the Rotary Club of Central Melbourne, the number of Rotary members in Australia dropped by about 28 per cent in the 22 years up to 2014.
Drouin Rotary Club secretary and West Gippsland Assistant Governor for Rotary District 9820 Tim Wills is responsible for six local clubs. Mr Wills said Rotary was an organisation with an “ageing membership” and described the difficulties faced by many when recruiting new members.
“There is a difficulty in recruiting new members, particularly if we are targeting members of a much younger demographic...people in their 30s, 40s or even 50s,” he explained.
“Their preoccupation is work and family, and even for some older people - who would probably fit in - their preoccupation is regularly grandparenting.”
Mr Wills said many local clubs were taking steps like altering the regularity and time of meetings in the hope it will cater to a wider variety of people.
He believes the issue was not people don’t want to volunteer, “it’s just that people need to have appropriate ways to volunteer”.
One such club taking steps to modernise meetings is Bunyip-Garfield Rotary. Since COVID the club has been hosting 50 per cent of its meetings over Zoom, with significant success.
Bunyip-Garfield Rotary president John Legione said COVID had the club “re-thinking” about how it ran meetings and decided to change the frequency.
Instead of the traditional once-a-week dinners
Fire recovery review
A team from Melbourne University is evaluating the recovery response to the 2019 Bunyip forest complex bushfires.
Cardinia Shire Council has commissioned the independent research to look into council’s response and help guide future planning.
The study team is keen to hear from people that were involved in any way with the recovery efforts including volunteers, paid staff and community members immediately after the fires and since. It would like to hear of activities by people and groups in recovery activities, events or programs.
Irrespective of whether the involvement was extensive or brief the researchers would like to learn of what worked or could be improved in responding to disasters such as the 2019 fires.
Information about the project and registering to take part is available on the university’s online form and by contacting Professor Louise Harms via email at louisekh@unimelb.edu.au or by telephoning (03) 8344 9413. that have been held by the majority of Australian Rotary Clubs, Bunyip-Garfield meet every second Wednesday in person, and every fourth Wednesday in an online meeting.
Mr Legione said in-person meetings often deal with admin and online ones usually feature a guest speaker. He said the online format allowed the club to have a wider variety of speakers and suited some members better than in-person meetings.
For older members he said, online meetings were much easier to attend in the colder months, they could avoid travelling at night and take the opportunity to tune in while on holidays.
“It’s working really well for us,” Mr Legione said.
Like Mr Wills, he cited demands on younger families and a lack of time for the lack of younger members, as did Warragul Rotary president Teresa Mitchell.
“My perspective is that a lot of young people are so busy with their families, with their jobs,” she said.
“They are more likely to volunteer on a oneevent item.”
Both Warragul and Drouin Lions Clubs are also experiencing a decline in membership due to a lack of new members.
Warragul Lions Club secretary Ian Inglis said the average age of club members was over 70, and the majority had retired from the workforce.
Mr Inglis said most members recall joining the Lions Club in their 30s or 40s, however, this was not happening now and it appeared people don’t consider volunteering with organisations like the Lions Club until they are retired.
Many local clubs said COVID did not significantly impact their membership numbers - however, it had impacted their volunteering opportunities.
Drouin Lions Club said a slew of requirements must be met before volunteers can enter several settings they used to access with ease. These requirements can be a deterrent for some members, adding lots of paperwork and extra preparation.
Additionally, Drouin Lions president Erika Wassenberg said a lack of funds to afford membership and regular dinner meetings could be a factor contributing to declining numbers.
She said some clubs had switched from dinner meetings to supper, making it more affordable for members.
Mike Dickson, a long-time member of the club, said because of the ageing membership Lions members also had to re-evaluate the way they go about raising money.
In regards to steps forward for local service organisations, Mr Willis said organisers needed to find different ways to accommodate the changing needs of people in order to survive.
“There are several breakfast clubs around...everything finishes by 20 past eight and people go off to work,” he said.
“Volunteering nowadays does have an issue if it’s highly structured and formalised in the way it behaves.”
“Rotary is now investigating the likes of corporate memberships, where a company would pay a membership fee and any of their staff or employees can get involved when it suits them in different ways,” he said.