| An association of some 31,000 autonomous clubs in 166
countries, Rotary International is one of the world's largest service
organizations. The goal for a club's membership is an up-to-date and progressive
representation of the community's business, vocational, and professional
interests.
An important distinction between Rotary and other
organizations is that membership in Rotary is by invitation. Rotary clubs invite
individuals to join and become members.
Membership is vital to a Rotary club's operations and
community service activities. A primary goal of the club is to continually
expand the club with committed members who have the interest and ability to get
involved in service and humanitarian projects. Prospective members must:
- hold — or be retired from — a professional,
proprietary, executive, or managerial position;
- have the capacity to meet the club's weekly attendance
or community project participation requirements;
- live or work within the locality of the club or the
surrounding area.
The membership process
Often a person being considered for membership is invited by a
member/sponsor to attend one or more club meetings to learn more about Rotary.
The sponsor may then submit the name of the candidate to the club's membership
committee.
An individual who is interested in membership but doesn't
know any Rotarians can contact our Club directly. Other resources include a
Rotary club in an adjoining community, the local chamber of commerce, the public
library, or other non-profit service organizations.
Classifications: professional representation
Rotary uses a classification system to establish and maintain a vibrant
cross-section or representation of the community's business, vocational, and
professional interests among members and to develop a pool of resources and
expertise to successfully implement service projects. This system is based on
the founders' paradigm of choosing cross-representation of each business,
profession, and institution within a community.
A classification describes either the principal business
or the professional service of the organization that the Rotarian works for or
the Rotarian's own activity within the organization. Some examples of
classifications include: high schools, universities, eye surgery, banking,
pharmaceutical-retailing, petroleum-distribution, and insurance agency.
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