President’s Message – May 2025

Membership in any group or organization provides one with a sense of belonging, a sense of camaraderie with others who value and share some of the same things that we do. Whether it’s membership in a book club, a golf group, a wine club, a political party, a Facebook Group, Costco, or Probus, membership has its rights and benefits. Membership enables us to join in the activities of the group and enjoy the rights and benefits provided by the group. BUT … as we well know, every right has a related responsibility. As a member, we are expected to honour the guidelines of the group and do our part to help improve and advance the purpose of the group. With rights come responsibilities.

As elected members of our Probus Club, your Management Committee spent a significant portion of our annual planning meeting, held on March 30^th, discussing the issue of membership. Prior to the Covid outbreak, our club membership was close to 120. In 2023, that dipped to about 110 members and last year we had 106 registered members. Following our Membership Renewal campaign, which ended in late March, we had 86 members renew for 2025. We had a total of 20 members from 2024 who did not renew for 2025 – five moved out of our area and the rest did not renew for a variety of personal reasons.

We built our 2025 budget on the basis of 100 members. So …. we have work to do to reach that target. It appears that a healthy membership base for our club is between 110 – 120 members.

The Management Committee discovered that every single member of the committee first became involved in Probus because they were invited to attend a meeting to see what Probus was all about. When we asked those attending our meeting on April 4^th this same question, the vast majority of folks raised their hands. The face-to-face invitation is the most effective recruitment approach – so let’s make the most of it.

The months of May, June and July are being designated as our New Membership Drive. The major initiative of this drive is a very simple one. We are asking each of our members to approach one of your neighbours, friends or acquaintances and ask them if they might be interested in our Probus Club. That’s all – and if they are, invite them to attend a meeting, as your guest. If each of us becomes a recruiter, we might be quite surprised with the results.

To make it more interesting, we have set up a contest for members who accept this challenge. And there are prizes too – for those who make the most contacts, for those who have guests attend and for those whose invitation generates a new member. Look for more details about the contest in this Newsletter – and at our May 2^nd meeting.

Active membership is the life blood of every healthy organization. Without it, groups whither and disappear. Remember that old Red Cross slogan about making blood donations?

“You have it in you to give!”

It’s time for each of us to give something to our club.

Jim McKinlay
President