I have been continuing to mull over why service club membership is declining (read my earlier thoughts here), and stumbled across a PhD thesis and article by David Yates, looking largely at Freemasonry in the UK (2018, 2025). I wonder if this is something we easily say though: "Oh, I don't have time"; it is an easy excuse rather than the real reason.
Apparently, UK service organisation members in general were at a 1.65m high in the early 80s, of 3% of the population, dropping by 2009 to 600,000 (Yates, 2025). It seems likely that today membership will be closer to half a million in the UK or 0.7%, which I feel will be similar to the numbers to Aotearoa New Zealand today (although I don't have any New Zealand statistics, so this is purely guesswork).
Service organisations can be a bit of a "best kept secret" as charitable donations are not effectively promoted, reducing media exposure and community understanding (Yates, 2018, p. 144). A story untold. Another aspect of secrecy is the incorrect association with "secret societies" such as the Freemasons, with a flavour of network privilege, 'jobs for the boys' and professional corruption (Yates, 2018).
I also wonder another aspect of a rigidity mis-match is the cost of belonging. Since 2008 we have been hit with crisis after crisis: 2008 GFC; Trump 1; Covid-19; Trump II. Financial stress tend to mean we cut discretionary spending: and pulling back in will also mean we feel less free with our time as well as with our charitable donations (Conway, 2024). Costly membership fees with set meeting times and catered meals can be a significant barrier for those with less disposable income (Yates, 2018). Additionally, since Covid-19 many feel less social, still more hesitant to attend in-person gatherings (Conway, 2024). Virtual service is safer, cheaper... and easier to opt out of.
Something feels out of step between society and service organisations, whether that is a perceived "American cultural and economic imperialism" in the model (Tamayo, 2018, p. xi), or some mis-match between "organisational level message of inclusion and the exclusive nature of some clubs" (Yates, 2018, p. 229). I personally find something distasteful about Rotary and other service organisations: the protocols feel alien; as does the overly conservative viewpoint of many organisation members (Tamayo, 2018). Perhaps it is partly the increasing secularisation of society that makes service clubs seem more alien due to the underpinning Christian framework. Many internal rituals may seem arcane, such as singing a national anthem or saluting a head of state... and as fewer of us are identifying having a religion, fewer of us may be drawn to such organisations (Conway, 2024, p. 11). Worse, membership remains overwhelmingly 'white' even in diverse areas, with all the attendant implied privilege which makes joining distasteful for many groups (Conway, 2024). Many clubs are seen as male-dominated - "old boy's clubs" - having a nasty after-taste of women not being welcome, regardless of whether that remains true (Yates, 2018).
Many clubs are facing membership decline, and will effectively 'die out' if the organisations do not change with the shifting societal views (Yate, 2025). And maybe that is not a bad thing. Sometimes societal structures have reached the end of their usefulness.
Rather than sustained traditional service club commitment, there seems to be a growing shift toward 'episodic' volunteering where people deliver a one-time project, or deliver drop-in project tasks such as an annual event (Conway, 2024). Participation is more likely to be casual, and people are probably unwilling to pay AND donate their time. There may also be a move toward "mega-charities" which have the systems and resources to expertly manage events and volunteers (Yates, 2018, p. 227).
It will be interesting to see what happens.
Sam
References:
Conway, A. L. (2024). Serving the Nation: Volunteer Management from an Anthropological Perspective [Master's thesis, California State University]. https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/41687t01c
Tamayo, D. (2018). Volunteers as a Community of Practice: Rotary and Lions Clubs, the Mexican Middle Classes, and the Post-Revolutionary State, 1920s-1960s [Doctoral thesis, University of California]. https://escholarship.org/content/qt6ds9m3b3/qt6ds9m3b3_noSplash_9fe8ce200da731f05c191571e8b1b082.pdf
Yates, D. G. (2018). The Role, Status and Accountability of UK Service Clubs: An exploratory study (Doctoral Thesis, Aston University). https://publications.aston.ac.uk/id/eprint/41317/1/Yates_D.G._2019_Redacted.pdf#page=230.08
Yates, D. (2025). The Object Not of One's Desire: UK Service Club Membership Recruitment, Retention, and Public Image. Financial Accountability & Management, 41, 525-538. https://doi.org/10.1111/faam.12430
















