Honorary Membership

Honorary Membership of Rotary

According to Articles 4.010 and 4.050 of the 2016 Manual of Procedure, a club is permitted to grant Honorary membership solely to a Guest Rotarian from a different club or to an individual who is not a Rotarian.

NOTE

This means that an Active Member cannot hold Honorary Membership in their own club!

Many members of Rotary are unaware of this guideline. Nevertheless, we lack the authority to alter it. Our only option is to direct these individuals to the Manual of Procedure.

In various countries, clubs adopt a distinct approach and also offer honorary membership to their active members. To facilitate this, Polaris differentiates between these situations:

1. RI Honorary membership awarded to Rotarians who are not club members (in accordance with RI regulations)

2. RI Honorary membership awarded to individuals who are not Rotarians (in accordance with RI regulations)

3. Local honorary membership awarded to Rotarians within their own club (as per local regulations)

1. Awarding RI Honorary Membership to a Rotarian

This is achievable solely for Rotarians from different clubs. Two scenarios may occur:

• The club of the Rotarian that is to receive the honor is using Polaris and is in the same instance (country) as the club that is granting the honorary membership.
   Then you invite the Rotarian as a Guest Member in your club and modify his/her relationship. Here, you can grant upon him/her RI honorary membership.

• The club of the Rotarian is either not utilizing Polaris or is not located in the same instance (country) as the club that is providing the honorary membership.
   In this situation, you need to initially request the Polaris administrator to designate the Rotarian as an Active Member within the RMD, after which you can categorize him/her as a Guest Member in your club and modify his/her relationship. Subsequently, you can bestow upon him/her honorary membership of RI.

Rotarians may hold honorary membership in various clubs, but they cannot do so in their own club. Each honorary membership is documented to RI.

When a Rotarian steps down from their club or passes away, their honorary membership with RI will be automatically canceled. Additionally, their guest status will also be automatically ended.

If a Rotarian moves to a different club within Polaris, their RI honorary membership will continue. However, if they transfer to a club outside of Polaris, both their RI honorary membership and guest membership will be automatically canceled.

2. Awarding RI Honorary Membership to an individual who is not a Rotarian

This can only be done for Other Contacts within your club. Two scenarios may occur:

• The individual is solely an RI Honorary member within your club.
   Then add the individual as an Other Contact and configure the RI honorary membership within the Community settings > Enable “Assign RI honorary membership status”.

• The individual holds the status of an RI honorary member across several clubs, all of which utilize Polaris and are part of the same instance (country).
   Then you need to initially request the Polaris administrator to register the individual as an Other Contact in the RMD, after which you can designate him/her as a Guest Member in your club. Next, configure the RI honorary membership within the Community settings > Enable “Assign RI honorary membership status”.

Also, a Non-Rotarian (Other Contact) may hold honorary membership in several clubs within RI. Each honorary membership is documented to RI.

When an individual is no longer part of the club, either their record is removed or their guest status is ended. In either scenario, the RI honorary membership will be automatically canceled.

If a Non-Rotarian moves to a different club within Polaris, their RI honorary membership will continue. However, if they transfer to a club outside of Polaris, both their RI honorary membership and Guest membership will be automatically canceled.

3. Awarding Local Honorary Membership to a Rotarian within their own club

This is available solely to the club's Active Members.
 You establish the criteria for Local honorary membership within the Community settings > Enable “Assign local honorary membership status (not forwarded to RI)” (see screenshot above).

When you provide local honorary membership to one of your members, this honorary status will solely be visible in Polaris. He/she cannot be registered with RI as an Honorary member due to a breach of RI policy.

He/she is required to pay the annual membership fee to RI.