Rotary membership is by invitation, but the process starts with you simply turning up. Nobody is expected to commit before they have seen what a club evening is like.
How joining works
- Visit a meeting. Come as a guest. No cost, no obligation. Come twice if you want — most people do.
- Meet the members. Rotary is a fellowship before it is anything else. If the people are not a fit, nothing else matters.
- See a project. Join a service activity. This is the honest test of whether the work appeals to you, and it tells the club as much about you as it tells you about the club.
- A member proposes you. A current member sponsors your application to the board.
- The board considers it, and the proposal is circulated to the club.
- Induction. You are formally welcomed at a club meeting and paired with a mentor for your first year.
What is expected
- Attendance. Rotary meets weekly. Members are expected to attend regularly; make-ups at other clubs count.
- Participation. Every member takes part in service projects. Rotary is not a subscription — it is a working club.
- Dues. Annual dues cover club running costs, district and international per-capita dues, and meeting expenses.
- The Four-Way Test in professional conduct as well as club life.
What you get
A network of business and professional people who know each other well enough to be useful to each other. Service work with the structure and funding to actually finish. Access to Rotary’s global programmes and, through the Foundation, the ability to fund work far larger than a single club could manage. And, for most members, the friendships turn out to be the part that lasts.
Who Rotary is looking for
Rotary clubs aim for a membership that reflects the professions and businesses of the community they serve, and increasingly for one that reflects the community itself — in age, in gender and in background. If you are wondering whether a club would want someone at your career stage or in your line of work, the answer is almost certainly yes.