1. Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa:
Summary of Member Survey Results: 2011
Outlined below are results of the member survey completed on-line in May 2011.
A total of 68 members or 74% of the membership completed the survey. .
Thank you to all who responded to this survey!
A FEW HIGHLIGHTS:
• Participation in club activities has increased over last three years
• Club is retaining members—increase in members who have been in club 5 – 10 yrs
• Hot topics:
o Club size
o Developing current membership
o Food/meal cost
o Rotary Minute—continue or not
o Family Christmas Luncheon—continue or not
o Desire for additional time for fellowship and networking
• Lots of ideas for programs/speakers, fundraisers, community service projects, etc…
MEMBER DEMOGRAPHICS: Who are we?
Men still outnumber women but by a smaller margin:
GENDER 2009 2010 2011
Men 63% 60% 58%
Women 37% 40% 42%
As a group, we are older than we were last this year:
AGE 2009 2010 2011
Under 45 16% 21% 19%
45 to 54 30% 34% 20%
55 to 64 44% 32% 48%
65 and over 10% 13% 13%
Median 56.0 53.6 56.9
Long-time members still make up a large portion of the membership; however, members
who have been in club for 5 to 10 years has increased significantly:
TIME IN CLUB 2009 2010 2011
20 years + 18% 23%
47%
10 - 20 years 27% 20%
5 - 10 years 19% 13% 22%
2 - 5 years 19% 19% 14%
Less than 2 years 15% 23% 13%
Half have served on the board and 70% have chaired a committee, similar to last year’s
measures.
SERVICE 2009 2010 2011
Served as a board member 56% 50% 54%
Chaired a committee 63% 61% 70%
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2. MEMBERS’ INVOLVEMENT IN THE CLUB
Participation has increased significantly over the last three years—55% of current members
participate in all or nearly all activities and projects compared to 35% in 2009.
Aside from weekly meetings,
how often to you take part in club activities and projects?
Involvement in the club has also increased over the last three years.
Q11: How involved are you in the club? 2009 - 2011
One third of those who are not very involved would like to be more involved. Posting
leadership opportunities on the web site would help.
94% feel very welcomed in the club, same as last year.
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3. MEMBERS’ SATISFACTION WITH CLUB’S EFFORTS AND PROGRAMS
Members are generally satisfied with the club’s efforts. More than 50% indicated they are
‘very satisfied’ with efforts in 11 categories.
How satisfied are you with the results of the club’s efforts in the following areas?
We continue to see an increase in “excellent” ratings. Communications and web site content
were rated excellent by two-thirds of members; food is still an issue.
How do you rate the following? % rating “excellent”
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4. WHAT DO MEMBERS THINK OF MEMBERSHIP COSTS AND WEEKLY
MEETING CONTENT?
Members are generally satisfied with the financial aspects of the club. The cost of the lunches is the
only major concern.
How do you rate the following costs associated with membership in our club?
Members would like more networking opportunities and time for fellowship.
How do you rate the following aspects of our weekly meetings?
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5. WHAT PROGRAMS AND EVENTS DO MEMBERS WANT TO SEE
CONTINUE NEXT YEAR?
Members are generally enthusiastic about continuing with most of the club’s events.
However, over half think it is time to discontinue the Family Christmas Luncheon.
Please indicate where we should continue with the following events.
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6. HOW MUCH DO MEMBERS SUPPORT OR OPPOSE CERTAIN PROJECTS
AND IDEAS?
Please tell us about your support for our international projects and other ideas.
To what extent would you support or oppose the following ideas?
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7. HOW INFORMED ARE MEMBERS?
How informed do you feel about the following areas?
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8. MEMBERS’ COMMENTS: Survey 2011
Lots of interesting comments and some concerns:
Good Club - a happy Club - a FUN Club - great leadership and wonderful, CARING membership.
Chris Gardner's meeting recap...LOVE IT
Reading Chris' report makes me disappointed that I missed the meeting. So funny, yet informative.
I think some members come to meetings and don't get involved with the club. It is more about business then being a
Rotarian
I would like to participate in more committees, but haven't been approached even though I expressed an interest in certain
ones last year? I feel that I need this experience before I would be comfortable stepping into a board position or chairing a
committee. Not sure how this usually works.
As a new member, it's difficult to know what's expected as a volunteer, how to get involved. I found that I needed to be
proactive and reach out on my own to get info on volunteering and activities.
I think it can be difficult for a new member to "get" all of what's happening. Perhaps some sort of mentor or buddy program
would be helpful.
Would like to see us do more with Engineers without Borders.
I would change rules that all statements are charged to credit card monthly automatically.
Would like more business socials
need to have more information on other Rotary clubs fundraisers
More direction on new member recruitment would be good to have
We are not giving new members a "look" at the things we do - we need to CONSTANTLY tell the whole "story" - after all we
keep getting new members. <> speakers have been pretty good this year - good mix <> web site is ok but needs updating abd
some way to get around - it is kind of a waize. <> Billing works good (as long as the Club can afford a bookkeeper) <>
Madonna inn is HOME - the food is good (just have to pull their string once in a while) Cost should go to $20.00 July 1st.
Work with the other Clubs is ok but "fellowshup" not so good. We each have a certain wqy of doing things - why mix them
up.
I think we could look at charitable giving for other groups such as seniors, people with specail health or educational needs. I
prefer fundraising activities to just giving $. It creates more commraderie and PR
We need to set aside 15- 20% of all fundraising $ for an endowment fund so were not always living paycheck to paycheck for
charitable giving each year.
Some specific comments about club’s size:
Don't want to see the club grow too much more
I believe the club is a good size at the moment. I think the emphasis should now be on developing what members
we have and being more selective about who we invite.
Be careful about adding members to just add members. We want quality people and they should visit several times
and meet lots of members before they join.
Growth is fine as long as each new member is great.
Club will be too big if it gets much bigger. Still have the cliques, which I think is an unfortunate behavior.
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9. Bigger (club size) is not always better--the quality of new members is more important.
Would hate to see the club get too big.
Always room for more Great Rotarians
Don't want to have so many members that you can't remember their names
We have brought in high quality new members and kept our fantastic older members.
Bigger not always better. I still haven't met all the new members, (but I know that's my own responsibility).
Food continues to be a hot topic:
I hate the food at Madonna Inn. It is too heavy. There should be some choice for a light meal at a reduced price. I think it'd be
interesting to branch out. I've seen clubs that meet at two different locations on consecutive weeks. It'd be nice to meet
downtown at a place that has healthier food.
The food choices are appalling given the healthy food that is available and that we are used to eating. I think the website
could be more exciting and interactive
I like the mediterranean mediterranean turkey sandwich that we used to have on the menu - can we substitute that in for the
halibut meal. The halibut is sooooo dry!
Madonna Inn banquet people just don't get it. People don't want meat and potatoes for lunch anymore - especially with
gravy!
Madonna has opened up food choices and the food is better. Service continues to be quite good.
I get tired of the same rotation of meals. Need some new, creative items. Also, how many times can you eat pink or brown
cake??!!
Food is much better this year. Thanks.
The food is pretty bad. Not healthy, overcooked, usually.
Please pass the Teriyaki!!!
A small percentage of members don’t feel welcome. Their comments:
There are cliques in the club. It's not bad. It's much better than it was. I think the influx of new members is diluting the
impact of these old members, who seemed to dominate the club.
Although everyone is very friendly there are still members that never move about during lunch. Maybe one day a month they
could make that effort.
Sometimes it feels like a good old boys club.
Cliques, one in particular
There remain cliques in the club--people who only sit at one table, even at other events such as the Christmas party. This is
very bad, esp. for new members.
It would be nice if sometimes the "set" tables of people actually sat with other Rotarians they may not know very well.
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10. Lots of interesting ideas for programs, fundraisers, community service projects, etc…….
Program ideas and comments:
It could be my imagination but I felt like we had a large number of non-profits pitching us for support this year.
Would like more relivant meeting topics such as discussion of the nuclear industry
I made several suggestions for speakers and received no feedback.
Programs were excellent this year. Nice work Jenifer! Food has gotten better than in the past 5 years, but it still is not great.
Venue is unique for our town and I like the quirky location.
Russ Levanway from TekTegrity - topic: overcoming adversity
Should herar from the new" Poly President - City Fire Chief - County Fier Chief - County Sheriff (Why arn't they in our Club?)
Havent herd from the Poly Football Coach. Some City Hall Folks. Throw in some headline people and politians and we have
some programs.
State budget, pensions, city binding arbitration vote for August, federal budget and debt limit and all above impact on local
businesses
Would like to have more about our local history and more goverment. Also, local and national issues.
I think we should have a multi-club collaboration to share effective speakers. Work with their program chairs to find
informative and enjoyable programs and weeding out the ineffective ones.
Garden Matchmaking www.onecoolearth.org click: Garden Matachmaking Greg Ellis: 760.382.5164 People share their yards
with other people so they can have a garden and the homeowner benefits with wonderful fresh veggies.
Speakers from various non-profits to learn about what is available in the community, health care awareness is great.
quality and variety this year was really good. tap into the expertise of club members more often.
Richard Quandt from Growers-Shippers on upcoming water restrictions.
John Hollenbeck-Nacimiento Water Project Anything on the history of SLO area
Authors, Journalists, Professionals (lawyers, doctors, etc. speaking on the state of their profession), President of Cal Poly, the
new CEO of the Chamber of Commerce (when that occurs)
Brian Kenny Division Manager of Hearst Corporation. Grass-fed, Grass-finished Beef Division.
Middle East (history; conflicts; trends; etc) Alternative energy; oil. SLO City issues (traffic; budget; homeless) Muscial
performance programs.
Need to have fewer cal poly related speakers
Current mix is good.
Just be sure the speaker is a good speaker. eg., the victim assistance speaker today was a poor speaker. You must have a
good topic and a proven speaker.
More relivant programs specific to business people
There are Cal Poly faculty and administrators I could recommend.
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11. Elias Niemeh, Exec Director for Senion Nutrition
Less non-profit organizations. Need to have coaches from CalPoly come and talk about the teams. Same with Cuesta and the
high school
Business topic - update on the state of healthcare costs and reimbursements for individuals in the future.
Cancer Society - updates on cancer prevention & treatment.
Rotarians who have gone on international projects ie NIDs other service projects.
Speaker on the local business climate Speaker on the local arts scene in SLO
World travel
Andrew Carter, Katy Lipteg (or whatever her name is) and CIty Controller
Fundraiser Ideas
We could probably do some of the projects like the Interact Club is doing = Carl could count the change.
Rotary de Tolosa Medical Marijuana Club?
Had comedy for several years, maybe try a musical act.
Reverse drawing.
Music at the PAC instead of a comedy show
Time to switch from comedy to a different type entertainment. Let's be creative--we can sell anything!
Fall is busier that Spring. Save it for Spring.
Perhaps not always comedy? Maybe another venue like music?
I feel that one big fundraiser per year should be enough. There is a lot of money already being "donated" by club members to
many activities.
Comedy is great!
Concerts are good, comedy is OK
Community Service Ideas:
Why don't the Clubs get together and fix up the older Community Gardens as a memmorial to Chief John - espelly the one by
Station Three. The Club should do some smaller things all over town - let people see Rotary til they are crosseyed/
More solar panels on Phil's house, failing that I wonder if we can put in another community garden somewhere.
We've grown out of the Monday Club! Move back over to the Elks or another venue where we can all sit and bring our
spouses.
Firefighter's memorial in honor of John Callahan
Join with habitat for humanity in a project
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12. Yes, I tendered a harvest project to the high school club to do jointly with us, but they apparently were somewhat
dysfunctional this year but I hope they'll bite on it next year.
Child Spree is hands down my favorite community service project. I would love to see another joint project as successful as
the Community Garden. Any ideas?
Comments about meetings:
The fines have been VERY low the last two years - They must forget that the dues are a part of the BUDGET. If the President's
Club was back at $100.00 more members might join up on their own.
Meetings every other week would be perfect!
Seems like meetings tried to include too many things every week, not enough time for fines, etc. maybe alternative weeks for
some items.
Meetings need to start on time
Define Rotary content, club business.
The rotary minute has run it's course--I suggest cut it back to every other week.
The Rotary minute has been interesting, as long as members keep it to a minute!
Comments about social activities:
I liked the family Christmas luncheon in the past, but it needs to be revamped.
I think the # social activities now is just about perfect
All the above are good. The Family Christnas Luncheou was not done (lack of interest?) BUT we have a lot of new members
and we should find out how many have kids/grandkids that could enjoy such a party. My kids and grandkids always looked
foreward to it - it was a SPECIAL teat to go to the Rotary Meeting.
Hikes or bike rides.
We chould make the 4-H BBQ/Family BBQ a combined event?
We could probably use a fresh look at some of these things.
Some single women have created their own "4 Seasons" since they are not in couples. I suggest this might be open to all
singles.
more business socials
There was not a family Xmas luncheon this past year?
Christmas Luncheon isn't much without a bunch of children, and there aren't many around now days.
New Generations:
I'm delighted that we support Interact, and am proud of our work with Mission Prep but it seems odd that we are not paired
with SLO High School.
Keep theme all going. Send even more students to RYLA...Rotarians too!
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13. No but love the interact club
Whoever goes to RYLA should get a year long makeup.
Perhaps a business day for high school seniors for them to visit a member,s business
Have members of Rotaract & Interact come to our meetings more often and let us know what thay are doing.
Would like to see and hear more about the student we sponsor each year.
International Projects:
Keep up support for the rig....something like that takes time. NIDS is a great thing - we are going to work ourselves out of this
one soon, hopefully soom. Jump at things that pop up - join in with others Rotary Clubs on joint projects.
Yes, work with Engineers without Borders at Cal Poly.
Maybe we can partner up with a local business in SLO which supports to other international projects
what happened to the hospital/orphanage in Romania?
Micro Loans - makes sense to support business in emerging markets.
Any shorter term projects in Mexico where members could go for a long weekend?
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