An
important distinction between
Rotary and other organizations
is that membership in Rotary is
by invitation. The club's classification
committee maintains a list of
the types of businesses and professions
in its community and seeks candidates
to fill classifications not already
held by an active member of the
club. (Examples of classifications:
High Schools; Universities; Eye
Surgery; Tires - Distributing;
Tires - Retailing; Dramatic Arts;
Law - Civil.) In this manner, a
club is assured it includes a
significant cross section of its
community's vocational life, and
has the widest possible resources
and expertise for its service
programs and projects.
In most instances,
a person being considered for
membership is invited by a member/sponsor
to attend one or more club meetings
to learn more about Rotary. The
sponsor may then submit the name
of the candidate to the membership
committee to begin the evaluation
process. Others who are interested
in membership, but don't know
any Rotarians,can contact their
local club directly.
If the local Rotary
club maintains an office, it may
be listed in the white pages of
the telephone directory under
"Rotary." Otherwise
the local chamber of commerces
should be able to provide information.
Contact your local Chamber of
Commerce or similar organization.
Often, there will be a Rotarian
on staff. If not, the Chamber
should be able to provide information
about the local Rotary club.
Membership in a Rotary
club is by invitation and was
based on the founders' paradigm
of choosing one representative
of each business, profession and
institution in the community.What
is called the "classification
principle" is used to ensure
that the members of a club comprise
a cross section of their community's
business and professional life.
A Rotarian's classification
describes either the principal
business or professional service
of the organization that he or
she works for or the individual
Rotarian's own activity within
the organization. The classification
is determined by activities or
services to society rather than
by the position held by the particular
individual. In other words, if
a person is president of a local
bank, he or she is not classified
as "bank president"
but under the classification "banking."
Theclassification principle fosters
a fellowship for service based
on diversity of interest, and
seeks to prevent the predominance
in the club of any one group.
When a person becomes
an active member of a Rotary clubs,
it is said that a the member has
been "loaned" a classification.He
or she may propose one additional
active member in that classification.
On completing five, ten or fifteen
years of service, depending on
the individual's age, he or she
becomes a "senior active"
member and their classification
is released to enable another
person to join the club.
If
you are interested in membership
in the San Diego Downtown Breakfast
Rotary Club, contact the following:
