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While serving as District Governor, one of my clubs notified the Cabinet that they would disband at the end of the year. The Club was approaching 50 years of service to their community.

At the October District Cabinet meeting, the announcement was made that this club would disband. Members of the Cabinet agreed that we could not let this particular Club die. We were well aware that part of the District Cabinets responsibilities was growth and development, which included recruiting new members.

Several of us attended the Club’s December meeting. This was to be the Club last meeting. The Club told us that they were unable to recruit new members and that they were getting to old to keep the Club going. The youngest member was 57 years old. They had tried but had been unsuccessful in their effort to get new members. We ask to Club to give us the change to work in the community. They agreed to hold final action on disbanding until the Cabinet had a chance to work within the community.

We asked the club to provide us with a list of people in the community that they thought would make good Ruritan members. We also ask for a list of the club’s accomplishments over the past years. [i.e., things the club had done in and for the community.] Once we received this information, we formulated a plan to go door to door in the community. The Cabinet took the list of accomplishments and made a flyer. On one side we listed the accomplishments, on the other we put an invitation to a Community Meeting. We set a date, which was the club regular meeting night, for what we called a community information meeting.

On a Saturday, about two weeks prior to the meeting date, we met at the Ruritan Club and divided into teams. We took the list of names and sorted them by areas. Each team took a specific area and started going door to door telling people about Ruritan and inviting them to the “Community Meeting”. We left the flyers and a Ruritan Brochure at each house we visited. We spent about two hours that morning going door to door and visited approximately 200 households. Key people in the community were visited more than once. We also left flyers at local convenience stores and other businesses.

On the night of the “community meeting”, three people showed up. Needless to say we were somewhat disappointed. We went ahead and put on a program about what Ruritan is and what we do. We had refreshments instead of a meal.

We set another meeting for the next month and invited each person back. That night, the original three returned but this time they each brought at least one person with them. We had a total on seven people there. We again did a program on Ruritan. After the program, we held a short question and answer session. We ask each what they thought of Ruritan and if they thought the community needed the club. Each person there agreed that the community did need the club and six of the seven people joined the club that night. We then explained that the group needed to choose a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. We opened the floor nomination for each office. By the end of the night, the officers were chosen. We held a short training session after the meeting for the new Officers and told them that there would be a member of the District Cabinet attend their meeting each month for the rest of the year or until they felt comfortable in what they were doing.

The Club had started the year with ten members and a vote to disband. They ended the year with 29 members and a healthily viable club. Only three of the 29 members were members of the club at the beginning of the year. The Club won the highest percentage membership increase at the District and National level. (190% increase)

There is no guarantee that this process will work in every community, but this is a proven concept that can be adapted for a community large or small. It is even conceivable that this process would work in forming a new club in a new community. Any District Cabinet can use this concept in communities where weak Ruritan Clubs are struggling.

Written by National Director Rick Taylor, Davy Crockett District, Tennessee. Edited for online presentation.