Where Next for St Andrews Rotary

The meeting began with a celebration of long-standing member Ian Johnstone’s 90th Birthday with a rousing chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ and a cake. Guests included Bill McSeveney, Assistant Governor District 1010, Patricio Ramos Cervero, President of Rotaract, and Akhil Shaji who will succeed him in that role. Guest speaker was Leah Thomson, a recent St Andrews graduate in Psychology, currently studying for a Masters in Business Management, one of five postgraduate students who developed a marketing strategy for St Andrews Rotary Club, which, like many voluntary organisations, has an ageing membership and needs new recruits in order to remain vibrant. Leah delivered an extremely comprehensive PowerPoint presentation of a strategy that targeted university staff, particularly younger ones and women. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis identified the club’s reputation for community impact and international service, and its close connections with the university, as key strengths. Perceived weaknesses included little diversity in age and gender, a substantial membership fee and lack of a digital presence. Opportunities included leveraging digital platforms to enhance visibility and increase recruitment; threats included  a declining and ageing membership, making it difficult to find individuals to fulfil leadership roles. The meeting agreed with Leah that the club needs to update its website and make more use of different types of social media, rather than relying on email, in order to reach a wider audience. Different and more flexible types of membership were suggested, including Corporate Membership for institutions and businesses. Hosting more events and marketing them more efficiently would help raise awareness locally of what the Rotary Club of St Andrews actually does for the community. Going forward, Rotary needs to adapt to changing lifestyles by becoming  more flexible in the way it meets and communicates.