Rotary Club: Motive Plus Work = Good Results

Here’s a bit of Rotary history as written in this month’s Rotarian Magazine. In 1905, when Rotary began, it was not based on the idea of Service Above Self.
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Instead, the two main aims of the Chicago club were ‘’the promotion of the business interests of its members’’ and “‘good fellowship and other desiderata ordinarily incident to Social Clubs.”

But for Paul Harris, the club founder, that wasn’t enough. He wanted the club to get involved in civic affairs and to benefit the community. He and others became “‘struck by the selfish character of the organization.”

They introduced a Third Object of Rotary: ‘’the advancement of the best interests of Chicago.” They concluded that the most practical method of introducing community service would be to find a worthy cause and then induce members to work for it.”

The club began by buying a horse for a farmer whose animal had died. Then they provided a newsboy with a suit of warm clothes. Harris planned bigger things, creating a committee to find civic projects for Rotary.

The first was the lack of public restrooms in downtown Chicago. There was only one choice at the time – a saloon.

Once there, it was said, men could be tempted to take a drink or two. As for women, entering such an establishment was simply out of the question. Harris and his committee persuaded the City Council to fund public facilities to the tune of $20,000 in taxpayer money.

Those Chicago Rotarians got so much satisfaction in seeing the results of their work they made “Service Above Self“ an operating principle and, eventually, Rotary’s official motto.
Many people join because they want to give back to society, and community service is what Rotarians often say makes their membership worthwhile.

But clubs struggle to this day to find projects that will inspire their members and attract new ones. Rotarians enjoy the meals, the socializing, the networking, and the fundraisers, but when a community service project comes up, often they are ‘’too busy.” Every Rotarian leader has to ask those members why they joined a service organization if they are “too busy”.

According to Americus Reed, professor of marketing at the Wharton School, a major obstacle to involvement is “time aversion”.

All of us have limited time on earth and we are very choosy about how we spend it. He found that service-oriented people such as Rotarians are most likely to spend their time on charitable acts that express their inner motivations.

The Three Needs Theory, proposed by psychologist David McClelland in the 1960s, shows that most people are primarily motivated by one of three factors: achievement, affiliation, or power.

Achievement-oriented people like to work on concrete tasks where excellence is valued and a sense of closure can eventually be found.

Affiliation-oriented volunteers want to work in groups and have interactions with recipients of service efforts.

Power-motivated people prefer to be in charge and are happy giving advice or being involved in tasks that result in personal recognition.

Because Rotary is filled with each of these types, community service projects that are soul-satisfying to all members are rare. Rotary leaders try to find projects that fit the interests of the volunteers and still make the community better.

If you are interested in learning more and would like to “give back” Rotary will welcome you. In Orange, the Club meets Friday at noon for lunch and discussion.

Visit us some Friday for lunch to learn if you’d like to join Rotary. We practice “Service Above Self” and we abide by a strict code of fairness and honesty in all we do. Your invitation is on our website: http://www.rotarycluboforange.org/