Rotary International (RI) has simplified the goal-setting process in Rotary Club Central and we need club leaders to get their goals in. We're half way through the Rotary year, but it's never too late to set your sights on growth, innovation and giving! Learn about the new, more focused-goals process and how to get your club up to speed.
Setting Goals
Inputting your club's goals in Rotary Club Central has long been a task assigned to club leaders. There are 30+ goals you can set for your club to work on during your term, with the intention of moving your club forward in terms of membership growth, better public image, giving to The Rotary Foundation, participation in service projects and more. Some goal progress is automatically measured by RI, while others require you to check back in to enter an udpate in the system as the months go by. Incoming Club Presidents are encouraged to do this during their President Elect Learning Seminar (PELS) season, including their future leadership team in deciding what goals would be best for the club. If your club is going out for a CNY Rotary Grant, we require that these goals be set in the system.
Going through this process helps you to think ahead about the things that matter in Rotary and to your club. Including your leadership team in the decisions ensures all are on the same page, rowing in the same direction. It's worth the time to consider the many facets of a vibrant club and how you can work towards achieving them!
Going through this process helps you to think ahead about the things that matter in Rotary and to your club. Including your leadership team in the decisions ensures all are on the same page, rowing in the same direction. It's worth the time to consider the many facets of a vibrant club and how you can work towards achieving them!
What's New: The Top Six
With all that goes into preparing to lead a club and be a volunteer leader, it's understandable that this long list of goals to set for yourself could be overwhelming. Rotary International has modified the platform to highlight their top six goals and it's strongly encourage that all clubs complete these six at the very minimum. You will see them in Rotary Club Central highlighted with a star and marked as priority. If you don't see all six, click the edit button and then you will. The new top six include:
Club Membership
Club Membership
How many members do you want to be at when this Rotary year ends? Based on our CNY Rotary goal given to us by RI President Stephanie, each of our clubs should strive to end the year at +1. That means after all the membership updates shake out, and you remove who has left, add who has joined, then you end up with one more member than you had at the start of the year. This will help us hit our CNY goal of +100.
Goal achievement is automatically indicated based on the number of members reflected in the database.
Strategic Plan
This is a simple yes or no answer as to whether you club has a long-term strategy or not. If not, consider creating a committee to develop one.
Service Participation
How many of your members will participate in a service project this year? This can include participation in a fundraiser where funds go to the community, or direct service activities. You will need to circle back later in the year to update this number based on your records as Rotary will not have a way to measure this on their end.
Annual Fund Contributions
How much money will your club's members contribute to the Annual Share Fund this Rotary year? Giving to this fund is how we get money for our local and global grants programs. Your club's Foundation Chair should be the point person for expertise on The Rotary Foundation to share with your members about the benefits of supporting our globally-recognized charity. Contact our Foundation team if you need help or resources.
Rotary will track your progress to this goal based on what is received from your members.
Polio Plus Contributions
How much money will your club and members contribute to Polio Plus this Rotary year? Rotary has a global goal of $50 million in order to receive the 2:1 match from the Gates Foundation, which means every club is encouraged to give $1,500 each year. This can be done through individual member contributions or your club could conduct a fundraiser to bring in these funds.
Rotary will track your progress to this goal based on what is received from your members and club.
Benefactors
How many individuals or couples will inform The Rotary Foundation of their estate plans to include the Endowment Fund as a beneficiary or will make an outright gift of $1,000 or more to the Endowment Fund? The Endowment Fund ensures a future of giving and making an impact on the world. Gifts can be made with cash or, more commonly, by leaving money to Rotary in your will or estate. It's important to notify The Rotary Foundation if you have made this designation in your final wishes so you can be properly recognized. Speak to your club members about this option and set a goal for how many you think would sign up this year.
This is also tracked directly by Rotary.
These six goals reflect the priorities found in our Action Plan, a strategic plan from RI on ways to increase impact, grow reach, get members more engaged and help clubs adapt.
Please Take Action
If we don't have goals, how do we know where we are going, how we are doing, or what we should be working on? All club leaders should set these six goals for the current year right away and incoming club leaders for 2025-26 will need to set them for next year in the coming months. Go to my.rotary.org and log in with your My Rotary credentials or set up an account if you don't have one. Under the Knowledge & Resources tab, you will see a link to Rotary Club Central. Opening that should land you right on the goals page. Click the EDIT button to open up the goals for editing and hit SAVE when complete.
Thank you for taking the time to establish a direction for your club that CNY and RI leaders can see and support!