Congratulations to CP Jeannette Hon and the 24 Charter Members of the Rotary Club of Eminence Hong Kong, which has been approved by Rotary International as the 106^th Rotary Club in D3450.

The above Rotary Club evolved from the Rotary Satellite Club of Metropolitan Hong Kong- West Point.  Though faced with the Covid-19 pandemic and the social distancing rules which must be strictly abided, CP Jeannette managed to organize meetings and recruit sufficient members to charter the above new club.  Meetings were arranged in the first half of the current Rotary Year for members of the new club to attend talks delivered by DG Eric on “An Ideal Rotary Club”; by PDG Jones on “Essentials of the Rotary Foundation”, and PDG HW on “Rotary’s Attractiveness”, hence the 24 Members were well prepared to join hands to charter the new club.

The new club has been assigned as the 7^th club joining Area 11, and the Rotary Club of Metropolitan HK is the sponsoring club. 

DG Eric and CP Jeannette Hon after DG Eric delivered his talk on “An Ideal Rotary Club” to the provisional club on 13 Nov 2020

Membership of D3450 as at 31 Dec 2020

It is good time to take stock of our district’s membership as we enter the second half of the Rotary Year 2020-21.  With reference to official figures on the Rotary International website, 35 Rotary Clubs existent on 1 Jul 2020 have recorded net gain in membership bringing about an increase of 78 members, whereas 25 Rotary Clubs existent on 1 Jul 2020 have recorded net loss in membership bringing about a decrease of 61 members.  Taking the gain and loss together, there is a net increase of 17 members among clubs which were existent on 1 Jul 2020. 

The above figures have not included membership increase brought about by the new Rotary Club of Eminence HK chartered on 17 Dec 2020.  Of the 24 charter members in the new club, 22 were recruited after 1 Jul 2020.  Adding these 22 members of the new Rotary Club to the net increase of 17 members among clubs existent on 1 Jul 2020, the total net increase of membership in D3450 during 1 Jul – 31 Dec 2020 amounted to 39.

The distribution of the 35 Rotary Clubs with net gain in membership and that of the 25 Rotary Clubs with net loss in membership are summarized below:

1.   Rotary Clubs with net membership gain during 1 Jul – 31 Dec 2020

Net gain in members per club	No. of clubs	Total increase
1	16	16
2	9	18
3	3	9
4	4	16
5	1	5
6	1	6
8*	1	8
Total	35	78

*A new satellite club with 8 members was set up in Oct 2020

•   Rotary Clubs with net membership loss during 1 Jul-31 Dec 2020

Net loss in members per club	No. of clubs	Total decrease
1	10	10
2	7	14
3	1	3
4	3	12
5	2	10
6	2	12
Total	25	61

Special monetary incentives for new Rotary Clubs and clubs with net gain in membership

Special incentives are offered to new Rotary Clubs, as well as clubs with net gain in members in Rotary Year 2020-21. 

For every new Rotary Club, there are the following incentives:

(i)   Monetary incentive amounting to NT$30,000 (equivalent to about HK$8,200) for each new Rotary Club from our Zone 9 Rotary Coordinator PDG Kambo; and

(ii)  Monetary incentive amounting to HK$15,000 for each new Rotary Club from D3450.

For Rotary Clubs existent on 1 Jul 2020, there are the following incentives for net gain in membership recorded during 1 Jul 2020-30 Jun 2021:

•   For the net gain of every member, there will be a monetary

incentive of HK$1,000, up to a maximum of HK$15,000 per club.

•   For the club with the highest net gain in membership, there will be

a monetary award of HK$10,000; the club with the second highest net gain in membership, HK$6,000; and the club with the third highest net gain in membership, HK$4,000.

•   For the Area with the highest net gain in membership, there will be

a monetary award of HK$15,000; the Area with the second highest net gain in membership, HK$10,000; and the Area with the third highest net gain in membership, HK$6,000.

Clubs are reminded that the above incentives/awards are applicable to net gain in membership achieved between 1 Jul 2020 and 1 Jul 2021.  They are also applicable to new membership arising from Satellite Clubs sponsored by Rotary Clubs.

We would like to congratulate those clubs which have accomplished net gain in membership during the past 6 months and wish they could achieve further gain in membership at the end of this Rotary Year.  We wish the other clubs would be able to convert any net loss in membership to a net gain, or improve their status quo from no change to an increase in membership.  And Happy New Year!! 

District Membership Committee, January 2021