Southwest Cabarrus Rotary Club - Prospective Members

Is Rotary right for me?

Am I in a leadership role within my company?
Rotary International requirest that members hold—or be retired from—a professional, proprietary, executive, or managerial position.

Do I have the time and flexibity needed to be a rotarian?
Rotarians must have the capacity to meet the club's weekly attendance or community project participation requirements. For our club, this means close to 100% attendance. If you cannot make a meeting, makeups are strongly encouraged through other local rotary clubs or committee meetings.

Is this club's meeting location convenient for me?
Because of Rotary's strict attendance guidelines, it is important that you live or work within the locality of the club or the surrounding area.

E-mail our President for more information about our club.

Benefits of Rotary

Rotary membership provides the opportunity to:

— Become connected to your community.
— Work with others in addressing community needs.
— Interact with other professionals in your community.
— Assist with RI's international humanitarian service efforts.
— Establish contacts with an international network of professionals.
— Develop leadership skills.
— Involve family in promoting service efforts.

Member Responsibilities

Members are expected to attend weekly programs of the club. Opportunities to make up attendance include attending the regular meeting of another Rotary club, attending various other Rotary meetings, or attending a club service project authorized by the club board of directors.

Members are required to pay annual dues to their clubs, their districts, and to Rotary International.

Members are required to maintain their attendance at minimum of 60% to retain their membership in Rotary.

Members are expected to participate in local or international activities or projects of the Rotary club.

Clubs encourage members to aspire to leadership or committee roles within their clubs.

Membership Process

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.

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 the local club directly. Search the Club Locator and Rotary Web Sites databases to find contact information for clubs. Some Rotary clubs maintain an office and may be listed in your telephone directory. Other resources include a Rotary club in an adjoining community, the local chamber of commerce, the public library, or other non-profit service organizations.

Membership Process Summary
A prospective member must attend at least two meetings. After the Secretary receives a sponsor proposal (which is to be kept confidential from the proposed member), it is sent to the Classification Committee. Upon their approval and assigning of a classification, the proposal then goes to the Membership Committee for their approval. After this the Board receives the sponsor proposal (still confidential to the club and the proposed member).The sponsoring member will be required to appear before the Board to discuss the proposed member. Standing meetings of the Board may be called for this purpose to facilitate the process. The sponsoring member will leave the meeting prior to the Board’s vote. If the Board approves, the member is invited to apply for membership by the sponsor. After this has been received, the prospective member's name is read to the club. Any member has one week to voice concerns/objections. If there are none, the member is usually inducted the following (second week after the name has been read) week. If there is an objection(s), the Board takes another vote. If the objection is upheld the prospective member's application is declined. If the Board still votes to approve, induction is held at the following meeting.

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.

Membership Forms

Membership Application Form (94 KB PDF)

Membership Data Form (63 KB PDF)

Click Here to Download Acrobat Reader (if necessary)