Current playbook index title and category plus an internally authored detailed-guide draft
Initiative-specific development wave
How this draft was developed
These sources support general principles for mentoring, member development, voluntary participation and accessible meetings; they do not constitute Rotary International or Australian Human Rights Commission endorsement of the named Member Mentoring Circles initiative or this locally designed delivery model.
Primary references consulted
Engage Emerging Leaders(Rotary International) Used for: Rotary encourages clubs to learn what inspires members, make useful introductions and check in as members find their place.; The guidance describes mentoring as an important connection and development opportunity rather than a substitute for member choice.
Deliver Continued Value(Rotary International) Used for: Rotary identifies mentoring, leadership development, skill-building and cross-generational connections as ways clubs can continue providing value.; Member needs change over time, so clubs should create more than one way for people to remain engaged.
Hosting accessible and inclusive online meetings and events(Australian Human Rights Commission) Used for: Online meetings should offer accessible materials, a contact for access requirements and an alternative dial-in route where needed.; Hosts should use plain language, actively manage participation and avoid assuming that access needs are visible.
Candidate District material consulted
These records remain draft evidence and still need a human source decision.
Club Playbook - Theme 2 Small mentoring circles of three to five new and experienced members,Monthly guided discussion and mutual support,Belonging, pathway awareness and trust as draft outcome intentions,Discussion prompts and a facilitator as the proposed starting resources
Theme 2 source-assurance wave
What has been checked
3 current primary pages used by this guide were reopened on 9 August 2026.
6 attributed source claim(s) were mapped to their bounded use in this initiative.
Candidate District material remains separate and does not establish this result.
See each source's scope and limit
Engage Emerging Leaders Supports: Member-centred discovery, mentoring, feedback, emerging-leader support and club-health review principles during renewal. Does not establish: That a person is ready for office, should be selected, has consented to a role or that a proposed renewal pathway will work locally.
Deliver Continued Value Supports: The 49 attributed Theme 2 claims attached to this source, limited to the implementation elements and supporting documents named in each initiative-level claim mapping. Does not establish: That the initiative is endorsed by Rotary International or District 9510, that it is permitted by the club's governing documents, that members want it, that it suits the local club, or that it will achieve the intended outcome.
Hosting accessible and inclusive online meetings and events Supports: Practical accessibility and inclusion safeguards for online and hybrid renewal meetings, consultations, learning and events. Does not establish: Accessibility conformance, the adjustments a person needs or the suitability of a particular platform, format, recording practice or meeting design.
What still needs a person to confirm
Confirm the member, prospective-member, past-member and community needs, preferences and consent that the local design assumes.
Confirm which privacy, safeguarding, incorporated-association, charity, work health and safety, food, liquor, copyright, licensing, screening and other duties apply to the club and the activity.
Test accessibility, cultural safety, belonging, language and alternative participation routes with affected people and recognise First Nations cultural authority rather than inferring suitability from the guide.
Confirm every local fact, starting point, cost, role, current service contact, measure, stopping condition and platform capability before the club decides to proceed.
Confirm the authority and current scope of each primary source, resolve login-gated or moved-page references and keep any candidate District material attributed and unapproved until its source decision is made.
The source-verification release gate remains closed.
Checks still on hold
The club must approve the facilitator role, privacy boundary, concern route and referral map before inviting personal disclosures.
Facilitators must not act as counsellors, complaint investigators, financial advisers or decision-makers outside their authorised club role.
Any notes retained beyond action and referral tracking require a stated purpose, minimum access, retention period and secure disposal arrangement.
Interclub circles require each participating club to agree responsibility for participant safety, complaints, privacy and follow-up.
Still an internal draft: source interpretation, local suitability, accessibility, governance and editorial approval remain open checks.
Why a club might use this
It helps knowledge, confidence and encouragement move between members instead of resting with a few people.
It may suit: Members seeking guidance or a new challenge, and the people offering practical support.
Use it when
Consider Member Mentoring Circles when members want guidance or a next challenge but the available pathways are hard to see.
Clubs with more people seeking guidance than the current pool of one-to-one mentors can reasonably support.
Members who would benefit from several perspectives across Rotary experience, service, leadership or community connections.
A 90-day trial with three facilitated conversations and a clear choice to continue, rematch or conclude.
Before the club starts
A short expression-of-interest process that asks what each person wants to explore, what experience they may offer and any access or scheduling needs.
A circle charter covering voluntary participation, privacy, respectful challenge, referral boundaries, contact expectations and an end date.
A facilitator brief and a small, current directory of club, district, Rotary learning, service and leadership pathways.
A private route for rematching, reporting a concern or ending participation without needing to explain the decision to the whole circle.
Capacity guide
Likely cost
Low; usually limited to coffee, simple materials and coordination time.
Lead time
About three weeks to recruit mentors, map pathways and make the first matches.
People
One coordinator and four to eight mentors, scaled to the number of participating members.
A useful club conversation
Questions worth asking
What would you like to be more confident, connected or capable of doing by the end of these three conversations?
What experience can you offer without assuming that your way is the only way?
Which part of this discussion belongs in the circle, and which part should be referred to someone with the right role or expertise?
Common traps
Trying Member Mentoring Circles when Counselling, grievance handling, performance management or advice that requires a qualified professional or an authorised club officer.
Proceeding with Member Mentoring Circles when A compulsory grouping in which participants cannot choose their level of disclosure, leave safely or request a different circle.
The circle becomes a pleasant monthly conversation without changing anyone's pathway. — End every meeting with one member-owned action, start the next meeting by checking it, and close the trial with an explicit pathway decision.
A practical 90-day path
Three milestones for Member Mentoring Circles
When
What the club does
Evidence to keep
Days 1–30: Agree the local design
Ask interested members which goals, questions or transitions would make a circle worthwhile, and test whether a mixed-experience group is preferable to one-to-one mentoring. Invite opt-in expressions of interest, explain what the circle can and cannot provide, and collect only the information needed to form workable groups.
An anonymised needs summary and a decision to proceed, revise or use another pathway A consented participant list with goals, offers, availability and access needs
Days 31–60: Run and adjust the first version
Form circles of four to six people, check the proposed mix privately with every participant and brief one facilitator for each group. Open the first meeting by agreeing the charter, letting each person name one goal and one contribution, and choosing one realistic action before the next meeting.
Confirmed circles, facilitator briefs and any agreed adjustments A signed or acknowledged charter and a private goal-and-action card for each participant
Days 61–90: Review the evidence and decide
Run two further monthly conversations using a check-in, one or two member cases, peer questions and a closing commitment; refer matters outside the circle's competence rather than improvising advice. Review the experience privately and as a circle, close any unfinished promises, and let each participant choose to continue, rematch, move to another pathway or finish.
Two de-identified session logs, completed actions and any named referrals A 90-day decision record and an agreed next step for every participant
Fit it to the club you have
Small club
Use one circle with an external district member or neighbouring-club facilitator where local relationships make privacy difficult. Keep the group to one shared topic and three meetings.
Larger club
Offer several goal-based circles and let members rank two preferences. Use one coordinator, a common charter and a light facilitator community of practice so the experience is consistent without becoming scripted.
Regional or rural club
Use a predictable low-bandwidth or telephone option, avoid peak seasonal periods and consider an interclub circle when distance or a small local mentor pool limits useful matching.
Metropolitan, hybrid or online club
Offer in-person and online circles, provide captions or other requested adjustments, circulate accessible materials early and avoid recording personal mentoring conversations.
Learn, adapt and know when to stop
Evidence worth keeping
Invited participants who accept the proposed circle after seeing its purpose, membership and boundaries.
Circles that complete all three planned conversations with no unresolved access request or unassigned concern.
Participants who complete at least one action linked to a goal they chose themselves.
Change course when
A participant feels pressured to disclose personal information or accept advice from a more experienced member. — Keep disclosure voluntary, use questions before advice, let members pass without explanation and repeat the private exit and rematch routes at every meeting.
The circle drifts into counselling, grievance handling or decisions outside its authority. — Give facilitators a referral map and require them to pause and refer safeguarding, complaint, financial, legal, health or governance matters.
The same confident voices dominate and the group reinforces one narrow model of Rotary participation. — Use timed rounds, written or asynchronous input and rotating case ownership; ask whose experience is missing before the group settles on advice.
How to put it into practice
Detailed implementation steps for Member Mentoring Circles
Step
Action
Suggested owner
Timing
Evidence or output
1
Ask interested members which goals, questions or transitions would make a circle worthwhile, and test whether a mixed-experience group is preferable to one-to-one mentoring.
Mentoring coordinator
Three weeks before the first circle
An anonymised needs summary and a decision to proceed, revise or use another pathway
2
Invite opt-in expressions of interest, explain what the circle can and cannot provide, and collect only the information needed to form workable groups.
Mentoring coordinator
Two to three weeks before the first circle
A consented participant list with goals, offers, availability and access needs
3
Form circles of four to six people, check the proposed mix privately with every participant and brief one facilitator for each group.
Mentoring coordinator with inclusion contact
One week before the first circle
Confirmed circles, facilitator briefs and any agreed adjustments
4
Open the first meeting by agreeing the charter, letting each person name one goal and one contribution, and choosing one realistic action before the next meeting.
Circle facilitator
Meeting one, 60 to 75 minutes
A signed or acknowledged charter and a private goal-and-action card for each participant
5
Run two further monthly conversations using a check-in, one or two member cases, peer questions and a closing commitment; refer matters outside the circle's competence rather than improvising advice.
Circle facilitator and participants
Months two and three
Two de-identified session logs, completed actions and any named referrals
6
Review the experience privately and as a circle, close any unfinished promises, and let each participant choose to continue, rematch, move to another pathway or finish.
Mentoring coordinator
Within seven days of the third meeting
A 90-day decision record and an agreed next step for every participant
Controls and safeguards
Check the idea with the people affected and confirm its purpose, owner and practical limits before putting it into use.
Protect member choice and privacy, make participation accessible, and do not infer belonging or satisfaction from attendance alone.
A participant feels pressured to disclose personal information or accept advice from a more experienced member. — Keep disclosure voluntary, use questions before advice, let members pass without explanation and repeat the private exit and rematch routes at every meeting.
The circle drifts into counselling, grievance handling or decisions outside its authority. — Give facilitators a referral map and require them to pause and refer safeguarding, complaint, financial, legal, health or governance matters.
The same confident voices dominate and the group reinforces one narrow model of Rotary participation. — Use timed rounds, written or asynchronous input and rotating case ownership; ask whose experience is missing before the group settles on advice.
The circle becomes a pleasant monthly conversation without changing anyone's pathway. — End every meeting with one member-owned action, start the next meeting by checking it, and close the trial with an explicit pathway decision.
The club must approve the facilitator role, privacy boundary, concern route and referral map before inviting personal disclosures.
Facilitators must not act as counsellors, complaint investigators, financial advisers or decision-makers outside their authorised club role.
Any notes retained beyond action and referral tracking require a stated purpose, minimum access, retention period and secure disposal arrangement.
Interclub circles require each participating club to agree responsibility for participant safety, complaints, privacy and follow-up.
What to measure
After 90 days, review Member Mentoring Circles. Look for suitable matches, regular check-ins and progress against goals chosen by the participating member.
Invited participants who accept the proposed circle after seeing its purpose, membership and boundaries.
Circles that complete all three planned conversations with no unresolved access request or unassigned concern.
Participants who complete at least one action linked to a goal they chose themselves.
Participants who make an explicit continue, rematch, move or conclude decision at the 90-day review.
Follow-up: At the 90-day review, compare the recorded measures with the starting point, resolve the listed governance holds and tell participants whether Member Mentoring Circles will change, continue or stop.
Made for this initiative
Tailored supporting documents
These working documents use the decisions, safeguards and evidence needs of this initiative. Complete them with the people affected and keep the agreed version with the club's project record.
01
Mentoring Circle Charter
Set a safe, time-limited agreement before members begin sharing goals or experience.
