June 2023 Governor's Message

As we are in the final stages of winding down the 2022-2023 Rotary year, we're simultaneously ramping up for 2023-2024. Many of you are likely looking ahead to next year, club leadership is changing over, new goals are being set and your working through how you help contribute to their success. But before we move ahead to next year, here's a quick update on some of our key district wide goals.

District wide membership is relatively flat, and is down 38 members district wide. We're still almost 2,400 members strong and several clubs have seen success in membership growth or stability this year. Here's a list of several clubs that have seen a net membership gain or have stayed even on the year. Several other clubs have invited many new people into Rotary while also losing a similar amount or a few more, resulting in a net loss. Wherever your club is from a membership standpoint, it's just as important now as it was at the beginning of this Rotary year to focus on our club experience and provide a comforting, caring environment where people truly feel welcomed and that they belong. Good luck to all of our clubs for a future of growth and sustainability.

Our giving to the Rotary Foundation is incredibly strong and the numbers show how generous our clubs and members are. With 2 weeks left in the Rotary Year, we are 6% over our Annual Fund giving goal with over $348,000 given to date. These dollars provide so much support to amazing projects right here in our District and all over the world. Giving to the annual fund comes back to our District clubs through District and Global Grant dollars and amplifies what we do as Rotarians.

We're 93% to our Polio Plus goal with members giving over $102,000 to date. This support helps contribute to our global effort to eradicate polio and is crucial to the final push to achieve that goal. What we're doing is working, there's only been one …. Just ONE case of wild poliovirus in the last six months, and your support of Polio Plus makes it possible.

Thank you for your generosity and congratulations on a successful year!

An update on a few changes happening in our District. First, our website is receiving a bit of a facelift so be on the lookout for some reorganized pages and navigation. All of this is being done in an effort to enhance the user experience of the website, make information easier to find and to keep this great source of information and resources beautiful and organized for everyone that uses it. If a page you visit frequently seems to be missing, it may have just been relocated in the navigation. A great way to find what you're looking for is to use the search function at the top of the site. We're hopeful that the time spent enhancing the site will make it an even better tool to help support clubs and members here in District 6250.

Another change you likely are aware of is the change in our administrative and financial support structure. For over 15 years, Heather Dyer and her team at Morgan Data Solutions have provided backend support to District leaders and clubs. Heather has been a friendly face at many District Conferences and events for a long time and we're so grateful for her contributions to club and district success over the years. To go a different direction and make this kind of change is never easy, especially when you have such a deep relationship with good people, who’ve been a part of the 6250 family for so long, both as paid staff and as Rotarians themselves. To Heather and the entire MDS team, thank you for your support and care over the last 15+ years.

Looking to the future, We’ll be changing our model slightly and having our administrative and financial support coming from two providers starting officially on July 1st. Rotarian Megs Lunn has worked with several Rotarians and Clubs in District 6250 and we look forward to her providing administrative support like Roster management, event planning, website, newsletter and social media support to name a few. Hawkins Ash is a highly reputable firm with vast resources and familiarity with our systems and they’ll help provide our financial support. Several members of their organization are also Rotarians. Of course, the two will likely interact with each other from time to time and we look forward to working with them. We appreciate the experience and foundational support that MDS has provided and look forward to the transition to these new providers.

As we update some systems and processes, we'll keep you informed by communicating those changes and we'll keep key updates posted at this link on our website to keep you in the loop and so you can reference those updates as needed.

Well the time has come for me to say goodbye for now. I hope these messages have been helpful and maybe even inspirational for you throughout the year.  Some of you have asked what is next for me. I'll be an active Past District Governor and really look forward to being a bit more active in my own club in Marshfield. I'll be serving as an Assistant Rotary Public Image Coordinator on the Region 36 team, providing support to the same 3 Districts that collaborate on TriCon, our multi-District conference.

Outside of Rotary, I'm still serving on a couple of other local boards, Credit Union industry committees and making up for some slack on the dad and husband front. I'll be coaching my son Charlie's 8U baseball team and soaking up some extra time at home.

I'm so excited for our incoming District Governor Michelle McGrath as she embarks on our journey together to take what we've imagined for Rotary and Create Hope in the world. Good luck to Michelle, the entire District leadership team and most importantly to all of you, the members of our clubs in District 6250. Thank you all, farewell for now, and enjoy your summer!