The Portage la Prairie Rotary Club has outlined their vision for the next four years. This afternoon's Rotary Luncheon says President Cathie McFarlane unveil the final draft of their 2016-2020 strategic plan, which focuses on community and international service, membership, finance, and youth. McFarlane says much of the plan simply puts what's already being done into a formal document, while other aspects will see slight changes. She notes one of the changes is the club will clearly identify which projects their fundraisers are supporting, in an effort to better link the club with its work.

Part of the initial draft of the plan included the creation of a reserve, which would help fund major projects that arise in the future. The club cited the PCU Centre as one example where having a reserve would have helped, noting it would take some of the pressure off of the group's fundraising efforts. However, McFarlane says they've changed that plan to include a cap on the reserve, to ensure a balance between immediate community support, and support for future projects.

"There was a concern that we would get so focused on the community reserve that we wouldn't do any projects. That's not our intent. The community reserve is for when we have a large project coming up --we don't have one right now, but when we do-- to ensure we have funds available so we don't have to fundraise because we've made a commitment and we didn't have the funds available at that time."

When it comes to membership, McFarlane says ensuring their club accurately reflects Portage's population is one of their goals. They're hoping to attract at least five new members each year and lose no more than two members. She says they want to attract a wide range of members, including some demographics which are currently underrepresented.

"We have a large number of women, so it's nice to see our club membership reflect our population in Portage. We want to have more women, younger members, middle members, we're really interested in all members because they all have a different perspective on what we can do."

She says one way they're looking to revamp membership is by providing a clearer picture of just who the club consists of. McFarlane admits there's a misconception that the club's membership is made up of older individuals, but she notes they have a wide range of people involved with their work.