Rotary FAQs

Number 1

Service Above Self

October 24, 2002

Introduction

From time to time, new and old Rotarians have questions about Rotary International history, events, or policies.  This column is an attempt to answer some of those frequently asked questions (FAQs).  The initial focus will be on Rotary basics and membership questions.

What is Rotary?

Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.

Rotary is the world’s first service club.  The first Rotary club was founded in Chicago on February 23, 1905.

Rotary is some 1.2 million service-minded men and women belonging to more than 30,000 Rotary clubs in some 160 countries in the world.

What are the values espoused by Rotarians?

The values that Rotarians strive to live by are spelled out in the “Object of Rotary”, the “Four-Way Test”, the “Declaration of Rotarians in Businesses and Professions”, and Rotary’s twin mottoes.

Object of Rotary

The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

FIRST. The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;

SECOND. High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society;

THIRD. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life;

FOURTH. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

(Constitution of Rotary International, Article IV)

Four-Way Test

The 4-Way Test asks the following four questions:

“Of the things we think, say or do:

1.      Is it the TRUTH?

2.      Is it FAIR to all concerned?

3.      Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

4.       Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”

Declaration of Rotarians in Businesses and Professions

The Declaration of Rotarians in Businesses and Professions was adopted by the Rotary International Council on Legislation in 1989 to provide more specific guidelines for the high ethical standards called for in the Object of Rotary:

·        As a Rotarian engaged in a business or profession, I am expected to:

·        Consider my vocation to be another opportunity to serve;

·        Be faithful to the letter and to the spirit of the ethical codes of my vocation, to the laws of my country, and to the moral standards of my community;

·        Do all in my power to dignify my vocation and to promote the highest ethical standards in my chosen vocation;

·        Be fair to my employer, employees, associates, competitors, customers, the public, and all those with whom I have a business or professional relationship;

·        Recognize the honor and respect due to all occupations which are useful to society;

·        Offer my vocational talents: to provide opportunities for young people, to work for the relief of the special needs of others, and to improve the quality of life in my community;

·        Adhere to honesty in my advertising and in all representations to the public concerning my business or profession;

·        Neither seek from nor grant to a fellow Rotarian a privilege or advantage not normally accorded others in a business or professional relationship.

Rotary Mottoes

These objectives are summarized by the twin mottoes:

“Service above self”

and

“He Profits Most Who Serves Best”.

What are the types of membership in a Rotary Club?

A club may have two kinds of membership, active and honorary.

What are Rotary International’s requirements for active members?

A club shall be composed of active members who are adult persons of good character and good business and professional reputation,

(i) engaged as a proprietor, partner, corporate officer, or manager of any worthy and recognized business or profession; or

(ii) hold an important position in any worthy and recognized business or profession or any branch or agency thereof and have executive capacity with discretionary authority; or

(iii) having retired from any position listed in sub-subsection (i) or (ii) of this subsection

and

having their places of business or residence located in the locality of the club or the surrounding area. An active member moving from the locality of the club or the surrounding area may retain membership in the club where the member’s board grants such permission and said active member continues to stay active in the same classification. If a member retires, or a member with three or more years of service changes residence or place of business so that the member no longer meets the foregoing locality requirements, the club may continue the member’s membership without change of classification.

(b) Each club shall have a well-balanced membership in which no one business or profession predominates. The club shall not elect a person to active membership from a classification if the club already has five or more members from that classification, unless the club has more than 50 members, in which case the club may elect a person to active membership in a classification so long as it will not result in the classification making up more than 10 percent of the club’s active membership. Members who are retired shall not be included in the total number of members from a classification. If a member changes classification, the club may continue the member’s membership under the new classification notwithstanding these limitations.  (Constitution of Rotary International Article V Section 2)

What is the classification principle and why is it important?

A classification describes either the principal business or the professional service of the organization that the Rotarian works for or the Rotarian's own activity within the organization. Some examples of classifications include: high schools, universities, eye surgery, banking, pharmaceutical-retailing, petroleum-distribution, and insurance agency.  The limits imposed by the classification system are set forth above in V 2 (b). 

Rotary uses a classification system to establish and maintain a vibrant cross-section or representation of the community's business, vocational, and professional interests among members and to develop a pool of resources and expertise to successfully implement service projects. This system is based on the founders' paradigm of choosing cross-representation of each business, profession, and institution within a community.

According to Rotary's classification principle, members join Rotary as the representative of their particular business or profession. This gives Rotarians the dual responsibility of representing their vocation within the club and of exemplifying the ideals of Rotary within the workplace.

What is expected of Rotarians?

Rotary club membership carries with it certain responsibilities:

·        Members are expected to achieve 60% attendance at weekly programs of the club. Opportunities to make up attendance include attending the regular meeting of another Rotary club, attending various other Rotary meetings, or participating in a club service project authorized by the club board of directors.  This rule emphasizes that Rotary is a participatory organization that highly values regular attendance.  When a member is absent the entire club loses the personal association with that member.

·         Members are required to pay annual dues to their clubs, their districts, and to Rotary International.

·        Members are expected to participate in local or international activities or projects of the Rotary club.

·        Clubs encourage members to aspire to leadership or committee roles within their clubs.

	Rotary Questions? Just ask.   Better yet, Share the results of your research.

 

Reported by Bob Boudreau

Edited November 4, 2002