Rotary club looks for advice on improving community engagement through survey

Oct 28, 2021 | 6:00 AM

An online survey has been launched by the Silver Star Rotary Club to seek input on how to better engage with the public.

Eric Gombrich with the club says they do lots of work with organizations and groups to give back to the community, such as by putting together meals for food insecure children, cleaning the community, assisting in shelter projects, volunteering and assisting in putting together events, and more.

He told Vernon Matters that this survey is being used to find the needs of the community, what’s at the top of mind for people and what are they concerned about, and what are the best methods to connect with people in the community.

Gombrich said there are often things they would like to communicate with the public, such as events and projects they are running, and they also want to connect with people to get them involved with Rotary.

“Letting various individuals in the community know who we are and what we’re doing, because a lot of people are interested in giving back to the community and they may be perfect members for our club,” said Gombrich.

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He noted that, traditionally, members of Rotary clubs tend to be older with more time on their hands to volunteer, but they want to reach out to the next generations and find out the best ways to connect with those demographics.

“So we’re trying to figure out what the younger generations are using, and that draws us into the conversation with Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, LinkedIn and other communication channels,” said Gombrich.

“We’re trying to figure out first of all which of those communication channels are most appropriate for us to be using. Obviously there’s some things going on in the world right now with Facebook that we’re paying attention to because we have a set of guiding principals at Rotary that require that all things we do are truthful and honest and benefit all concerned, and there’s some questions around that, given what’s happening with Facebook, so we’re having to pay attention to that.”

He notes Rotary also has to make sure they are communicating the messages appropriately and in the best way possible to connect with individuals and businesses to form partnerships and work together to give back to the community.

The Silver Star Rotary Club’s online survey can be found here. It’s expected to be open through Friday, Oct 29. The data collected through the survey will be analyzed at a later date and used to create engagement strategies for the group going forward.

Gombrich noted there is no specific area boundaries for membership and people looking to get involved with the club, and he invites anyone who wants to learn more about the organization to contact them through their website.

by Liam Verster

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