Rotary is facing a membership crisis and is at a crossroads in many parts of the world, especially in North America, John Hewko, the General Secretary of Rotary International, warned Rotary leaders in the western United States at a meeting this week in Spokane, WA.
The greatest challenge Rotary faces, Hewko said, is in membership. Globally, Rotary membership has remained flat at 1.2 million for the last 20-25 years, “and the only reason we haven’t lost membership is because our numbers have been growing in Asia, Africa and parts of eastern Europe. In North America, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Latin America, we have a membership crisis.”
For the first time in Rotary’s history, membership in North America has fallen below 30% of worldwide membership, and if present trends continue, North America’s membership will be around 15% of the worldwide membership and Asia will have about 50%, he said. “Particularly here in North America, we are facing a crisis.” Over the last few years, Hewko said, about 150,000 new members join Rotary each year, but about the same number leave.