The object not of one’s desire: UK service club membership recruitment, retention, and public image

Membership organizations rely on maintaining and growing their membership base, both for financial stability and to allow them to increase their impact. UK service clubs are one such kind of membership organization that has suffered a decline in membership in more recent years and is seeking to address this to maintain their presence. However, membership recruitment and retention have proven problematic for these organizations, in particular, recruitment and retention of younger members to ensure the continuity of the organization. This paper utilizes a theoretical framework based on the work of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan and contemporary philosopher Slavoj Zizek, in order to conceptualize the issues around membership and public image within the theoretical constructs of identity, ideology, and desire. This is combined with a qualitative methodological framework utilizing 42 semistructured interviews with service club members and external stakeholders (donors, beneficiaries, and local government representatives). The results of this research found that although current members profess to desire younger members to join, they are reluctant to change their organization to facilitate this. Instead, icons and rituals combine to form an image of the organization that is unappealing to younger prospective members, relegating their desire to join to an almost purely symbolic act. This, therefore, carries implications for service clubs and their membership, especially when considering the level of engagement that potential younger members would be prepared to offer in the future. The strong ideological forces at play within service clubs mean that they will continue to appeal to a relatively narrow membership profile (one that sees their current operation aligned to an organizational “ego ideal” that is symbolically constructed and maintained).