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Club Visioning

It's a common problem in many clubs: Because we change leadership every year, we sometimes forget to plan for the medium and long-term. Sometimes we do things "because we've always done them - it's tradition!" long after those things have ceased to carry major benefits for us.

Rotary clubs - like any organization - need a business plan to help them create their own future. This plan should:

  • Be compatible with the object, core values, and constitutional documents of Rotary.
  • Be decided by its own members, under the guidance and facilitation of a trained team of experienced Rotarian facilitators.
  • Be incorporated in the annual plans of successive club Presidents.

Recognizing this ideal, PDG Steve Wilcox, a Rotarian and a consultant by trade, has developed a visioning process specifically designed for Rotary Clubs, and which was debuted in our District at the District Assembly in April 2010.  The Rotary Club Vision Facilitation program has already been incorporated into more than 60 Rotary Districts throughout North America, Australia and New Zealand, and it invariably gets high marks from those clubs that choose to invest in their own future in this manner.

Our District has a trained group of Rotary facilitators who are prepared to help your club develop strategies that will serve it well for the next five years.

Here's how it works: The initial workshop takes place on an evening or Saturday morning, and includes new club members as well as traditional club leadership. The point is to get involvement from as many members of the club - and from as many levels of experience and interest groups within the club - as possible.  Throughout the course of the session, the facilitation team will lead your club through a process that solicits short and long term goals, prioritizes those goals, and helps your club build consensus on these decisions.  All of the ideas come from your club members.  The facilitation team merely provides the framework and process to bring your ideas forward and turn them into actionable goals. 

After that initial workshop, the real work begins, when the club must follow through with what it discovered in the workshop.  The District Facilitation Team is available to provide additional support, but the real decisions, tactics and execution are up to you and your club.

For more information, check out the