100 Percent Attendance

Regular attendance is essential to a strong and active Rotary club. The emphasis on attendance is traced back to 1922 when Rotary International announced a worldwide attendance contest that motivated thousands of Rotarians to achieve 100 percent attendance year after year. Many Rotarians take great pride in maintaining their 100 percent record in their own club or by making up at other Rotary club meetings.

Although the bylaws of Rotary require members to attend only 60 percent of all meetings, the custom has emerged in many clubs that 100 percent is desirable level. Rotary stresses regular attendance because each member represents his or her own business or profession and thus the absence of any member deprives the club of the values of its diversified membership and the personal fellowship of each member. Club directors may determine appropriate reasons for excusing absences. From time to time, proposals have been made to give attendance credit for various reasons or to lower the minimum requirement, but such attempts have not been adopted by the Council on Legislation.