E-137 · A 90-day try-out

A club plan for Alumni Advisory Panel

Use this as a starting point. Cross out what does not fit, add what is missing and make it your club's own.

Where this idea came from

Playbook entry: E-137 · Alumni Advisory Panel
Theme: Theme 2: Engagement & Belonging · Subtheme 8: Past Member Re-Engagement
Source material: 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 listening, accessible participation and minimum information collection; they are not an endorsement of the named Alumni Advisory Panel or authority for any participant, advice, representation or board decision.

Primary references consulted

Engage Emerging Leaders (Rotary International)
Used for: Rotary encourages clubs to ask what people want, learn what inspires them and take their ideas seriously.
Hosting accessible and inclusive online meetings and events (Australian Human Rights Commission)
Used for: Online meetings should provide accessible materials, participation management and alternative access routes.
Chapter 3: APP 3 Collection of Solicited Personal Information (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner)
Used for: Personal-information collection should be fair, proportionate and limited to what is reasonably necessary where the Australian Privacy Principles apply.

Candidate District material consulted

These records remain draft evidence and still need a human source decision.

Club Playbook - Theme 2
Candidate records 57 Young Rotarian Listening Circle and 96 Quarterly Club Forum Night provide related listening, dialogue and leadership-response concepts. Neither is a literal current-title match or supplies alumni contact, panel selection, advisory authority, conflict, evidence, attribution, complaint transfer, response or sunset controls.

Theme 2 source-assurance wave

What has been checked

3 current primary pages used by this guide were reopened on 9 August 2026.
3 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.
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.
Chapter 3: APP 3 Collection of solicited personal information
Supports: Data-minimisation, collection-purpose, proportionality and consent safeguards where the Privacy Act and APP 3 apply.
Does not establish: Whether a particular Rotary club is an APP entity or whether a proposed renewal survey, diagnostic or member record is lawful in its actual circumstances.

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 board must approve the question, scope, advisory authority, selection, evidence, information exclusions, response and sunset before invitation.
The panel cannot investigate cases, decide club matters, approve expenditure, select leaders or represent all former members.
Contact, participation, attribution and publication choices must be specific and no rejoining interest may be inferred.
The board must respond by the promised date and working contact, notes and recordings must be closed at sunset.

Still an internal draft: source interpretation, local suitability, accessibility, governance and editorial approval remain open checks.

1. Is this worth trying here?

What we hope will change: Use Alumni Advisory Panel to offer former members a respectful way to reconnect without assuming that they want to rejoin.

What is happening in our club or community now?What is the smallest useful version we could try? What will we leave out?

Board contactPerson leading the workPerson checking what happened

2. Our 90-day try-out

What our club will do for Alumni Advisory Panel
Step	What we will do	Who could lead it	Our date	How we will know it is done
1	Approve one decision question, what is in and out of scope, the panel's advisory-only authority, evidence, owner, timetable, response and sunset.	Club board sponsor	Ten weeks before the panel	A decision-linked panel charter
2	Design a transparent selection frame, check conflicts and contact authority and invite people privately with full terms, access support and no expectation of rejoining.	Panel coordinator	Eight weeks before the panel	A varied voluntary panel
3	Provide the question, accessible evidence, information exclusions, confidentiality limits, attribution choices, payment or expenses and concern route before participants confirm.	Decision owner and facilitator	Three weeks before the panel	Informed participant agreements
4	Facilitate equal participation around evidence and alternatives, prevent individual-case and departure interrogation and record themes, disagreements and uncertainty without names by default.	Independent or trusted facilitator	Panel session	A bounded advisory record
5	Check the de-identified summary with participants for accuracy, remove unauthorised attribution and send it to the named decision owner with limitations visible.	Facilitator and panel coordinator	Within ten club days	A participant-checked advice summary
6	Make the authorised decision through normal governance, report what was accepted, changed or not adopted and why, close concerns and delete working information at sunset.	Club board sponsor	By the promised decision date	A transparent response and panel closeout

3. Checks before we start

Things our club needs to check
Question	What it means for us	Who will check	Done?
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.
The panel becomes a shadow board or public endorsement group. — Use an advisory-only charter, keep decisions in normal governance and prohibit representation, approval and promotional claims.
Selection favours supportive, prominent or recently departed people. — Use transparent dimensions, document gaps and limitations and add other evidence rather than claiming panel representativeness.
Discussion reopens individual complaints or reveals sensitive departure details. — Exclude individual cases, provide a private transfer route and pause or remove any content that cannot safely remain in the advisory process.
Participants contribute but receive no response. — Name a decision owner and date before invitation and publish a plain explanation of what changed, did not change and why.
The board must approve the question, scope, advisory authority, selection, evidence, information exclusions, response and sunset before invitation.
The panel cannot investigate cases, decide club matters, approve expenditure, select leaders or represent all former members.
Contact, participation, attribution and publication choices must be specific and no rejoining interest may be inferred.
The board must respond by the promised date and working contact, notes and recordings must be closed at sunset.

4. What changed?

What we will keep an eye on
What matters	Where we are now	What we hope to see	How we will check	Who
After 90 days, review Alumni Advisory Panel. Look for respectful reconnections made with consent, chosen next steps and follow-up that honours people who decline further contact.
Panel work linked to one approved question, decision owner, authority limit, response date and sunset.
Selection evidence showing varied perspectives and explicit limitations rather than a claim of representation.
Participants reporting informed choice, equitable contribution and accurate de-identified synthesis.
Board response delivered by the promised date and working recordings, notes and contact data closed.

After 30 days

Is it reaching the right people? Is anything unsafe, unfair or harder than expected?

After 60 days

Make one useful change based on what people have told you.

After 90 days

Compare with where you started. Decide whether to change it, continue it 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.

Alumni Advisory Panel Charter

Link a time-limited panel to one board decision without transferring authority.

Open supporting document

Panel Selection and Participant Agreement

Create a varied voluntary panel with clear terms and safe choices.

Open supporting document

Panel Advice, Limitations and Board Response

Preserve useful themes and show how accountable decision-makers responded.

Open supporting document

Before your club says yes

Does the idea fit?

Talk with the people it is meant to serve and check that the need is real.

We have checked this

Who can say yes?

Name the person or group that can approve the work, spending and any safety arrangements.

We have checked this

Are people protected?

Check privacy, consent and safety. Collect only the information you genuinely need.

We have checked this

Can everyone take part?

Check the language, format, place, technology and cost for barriers.

We have checked this

Are the facts and permissions right?

Check names, claims, images, quotations, partner references and Rotary branding.

We have checked this

How will we learn?

Note where things stand now, check in at 30, 60 and 90 days, and decide what to do next.

We have checked this

Worksheets for your club

Open them online, print them or change them to suit the way your club works.

Conversation guide

Use this worksheet to hold a respectful conversation, hear different views and tell people what happens next.

Open worksheet

Are we ready to try this?

Use this worksheet to decide whether a small first try is realistic and what the club must settle before it starts.

Open worksheet

Member pulse check

Use this worksheet to hear what people experienced and decide what to change next.

Open worksheet