USA: In the early 1900s, businessmen created social and professional networks like the Lions Club, the Rotarians, and the Kiwanis, then expanded them to focus on humanitarian causes, now work to fight hunger, disease and homelessness worldwide. The Lions work to eradicate blindness, Rotarians to (among other things) stamp out polio, Kiwanis to serve ‘the children of the world’. All three clubs’ membership has declined:

Lions Clubs had 570,000 in 1978, now have about 400,000 members.
Rotarians had peak membership of 421,953 in 1993, has been below 400,000 since 1999.
Kiwanis hit peak US membership in 1992 at 325,000, declined 5%/year until 2006, rebounded to 260,000.

Some have family clubs involving parents and children. Pancake breakfasts and spaghetti dinners change to early-coffee-mornings and evening gatherings to adjust to young professionals’ hectic work schedules—more flexible, more available.

People still want to volunteer, but with their families and kids. ‘They want to get their hands dirty. They want to build houses and playgrounds’, sayd Dane LaJoye of Lions Clubs. Lions have started dozens of family clubs. Women now are 22% of membership.

‘Everyone’s so time-crunched that we just passed a change in attendance requirements…taking people’s lifestyles and personal and professional commitments into play,’ says Donna McDonald of Rotary, which now allows 50% attendance at weekly club meetings and started an e-club allowing members to meet online. Another club simply meets less frequently.

A new Kiwanis club of young professionals meets monthly for 45 minutes, organizes 405 service projects a month through interactive calendars on their website, doesn’t take attendance or require members to participate on a minimum number of projects. It uses meetup.com and a Google group to organize itself. They can’t take 2-3 hours once a week away from work, family, graduate school.

Kiwanis is shifting emphasis to leadership development. The next generation is community-oriented and savvy. Many did community service as part of middle school or high school. They care about environment, equality, global thinking.