DOWAGIAC — Rotarians get into an analytical mindset at their weekly meeting.

Rotarian Kellee Miller, the marketing and community liaison at The Timbers of Cass County, 55432 Colby St., Dowagiac, led fellow Rotary members in an exercise she does with her Timbers staff every year.

Miller divided Rotarians into four different groups and handed each of them a blank sheet of paper full of possibilities. Miller explained she wanted to use the SWOT analysis to help Rotarians engage in thinking about the future of the club.

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Each of the groups was designated a separate word to analyze.

“Strength and weaknesses are more internal,” Miller said. “They are the things you have control over and things that you can change. Opportunities and threats are more external, so things that are going on outside of the club or in the larger market. Can you take advantage of opportunities to protect against threats? You can’t necessarily change them.”

The strength group came up with several ideas, and listed a core group of members and strong lunch programs. 

They also listed community involvement with projects like Rotary Villa, scholarships and Rotary Park. The group also listed its leadership as a strength.

“When we have people that step up, we always have good leadership that helps motivate the club,” said Rotarian Mark Herman.

Moving onto weaknesses, the group listed attendance and finding volunteers for activities as two weaknesses.

The group also listed communication as a weakness but hoped to counteract that issue by using a newly created Dowagiac Rotary Facebook page to help spread the word about club meetings and activities.

Another weakness the group listed was the orientation process.

“Years ago, when I joined Rotary, it was kind of formal thing,” said Larry Crandall. “You went to dinner, and we talked.”

The club decided to change the formality, but Crandall said there should still be full disclosure about the membership fees associated with the club.

“Just let people know some of the things that we do in Rotary so they have some kind of reference group to go back to and ask questions,” Crandall said.

The opportunities group listed the ability to invite new business people in town to meetings.

“We have the opportunity to serve the community in different ways like the Christmas gifts we provide to a family in need,” said Rotarian Barbara Groner.

The group also listed an opportunity for a positive image and longevity by being a presence in the community.

Lastly, the threats table listed that Rotary could have an elitist perception to possible members of the community. Other possible threats included population, busy lifestyles and less workplace flexibility.

“These are all things that we as a group have control over changing,” Miller said. “We can really decide how we can move forward with that, which is so empowering.”