In an attempt to be more relevant to a changing demographic and increase membership, the Greater Mankato Rotary has decided to try changing the format of meetings. Instead of noon meetings with a guest speaker each week, the club will transition this month to a cycle that includes two traditional meetings, one meeting for committees, and one wild card meeting that may include service to the community, networking opportunities, or a club social. These wild card events will be held on the fourth week of the month but may not be at the traditional day and time of noon Wednesdays. In addition, months with five Wednesdays will host an evening social or happy hour. Social events may include family members so that members can connect more fully and better support each other.
In addition, the committees have been restructured to better align with the district and Rotary International. These new committees may house many of our old committees as subcommittees. The new committees are:
- Club Engagement: (Programing and Fun Committees)Schedules speakers, wild card events, and socials.
- REA (Retention, Expansion, and Attraction): (Membership Committee) Communicates with potential new members, onboards new members, focuses on diversity and inclusion, and retains current members.
- Public Image: Maintains the website, club Facebook site, newsletter, handles public relations, and markets events.
- Service Projects: (Service Above Self, Speech and Debate, Human Trafficking, Fundraising, and Youth) Focuses on community service, including fundraising for club projects.
- Rotary Foundation: Grants and fundraising for grants, communication of goals and successes of the Foundation, including promotion of Paul Harris Awards.