What Does it Cost to be a Rotarian?

We are in the process of starting a new Rotary club. Our club is going to operate primarily online with a monthly "get together." This type of club is a hybrid E-Club. A pure E-Club is not limited by geography and meets only online. A hybrid E-Club is normally associated with a Rotary district and is required to physically meet one a month.

Standard Rotary Clubs meet weekly for a meal. They have less overhead than an E-Club because E-Clubs have the additional cost of video conferencing, etc. So, is it more expensive to be a member of an E-Club than a standard club?

Here is the calculation:

A standard UK Rotary club typically charges each member approximately £100 per year in membership fees. This covers club administration costs, fees due to RIBI (Rotary in Britain and Ireland) and fees due to their Rotary district.

An E-Club will typically charge a little more. Our club's membership fees are approximately £140 per member per year. The additional fees are for the online services, video conferencing, etc., that are a necessity to allow the club to operate.

So, on the face of it, it costs 40% more to be a member of an E-Club.

However, if you take into account the weekly cost of a meal at a standard club, say £10, plus a drink say £5. If you attend 40 meetings per year you have an additional cost of £600 per year.

The comparable costs are:

Standard Club: £100 membership fees + £600 weekly meeting costs = £700 per year (£53.33 per month)
Hybrid Club: £140 membership fees + £150 monthly meeting costs = £290 per year (£24.17 per month)
Pure E-CLub: £140 membership fees + £0 monthly meeting costs = £150 per year (£12.50 per month)