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Former Governor General and long time Rotarian Sir Anand Satyanand believes the service clubs can survive but with changes.
Rotary is an international organisation which has been going since 1905, with the first clubs established in New Zealand in 1921.
But now some local clubs are disappearing and others have memberships so low they are facing a similar fate.
Sir Anand has been involved for more than 20 years.
He told Nine to Noon the clubs can continue but they will have to be smaller, more nimble and more active in different sort of ways.
“Rotary needs to look at itself both in the round as well as relating to individual clubs.”
He said times had changed from the 1960s and 70s when Rotary had “what some people call its golden days”.
“We have today a world in which there are changed community attitudes, changed financial circumstances, and people’s attitudes towards life in general is quite different.”
Sir Anand suggested that Rotary should adopt a similar structure to the one in Ireland where the club should have one district covering the whole country but currently New Zealand has two and until last year it was five.
“So Rotary had become a little bit like a muscle-bound athlete, not able to function because of all of the sinews, if one may put it that way.”
He said he had been to meetings where amalgamation was a discussion.
“I think Rotary is engaged on a process which will end up with fewer districts and fewer clubs. The same chemistry is being encountered in Australia.”
He said Rotary still had more than 5000 members and more than 200 clubs spread across the country.
The clubs are involved with many programmes from collecting canned food for food banks to native tree planting.
Sir Anand said that while clubs used to have things like weekly compulsory meetings, the rules have changed to attract a diverse range of members, particularly young people.
“There are clubs that meet at lunchtime, others at breakfast, others at dinner, others not necessarily every week and not connected with meals.”
“Younger people can join clubs in which the membership are also younger people.”
Sir Anand had hope saying that if there were more contemporary Rotary clubs three will be new members and activity.
“I feel that the organisation has a future to look forward to. It has been a signal part of the New Zealand way of life in the past and it hasn’t lost that.”
-RNZ