Officially a Rotary Club only moves from the 'interim' stage to full membership when it receives its Charter. In this early period of Rotary, clubs had to apply for affiliation to the newly formed National (from 1912, International) Association of Rotary Clubs. Sometimes because of administrative delays or even lack of knowledge of the correct procedure, some of Rotary's earliest clubs failed to be chartered for several months or even years after their inaugural meeting. Thus, Winnipeg was formed at a meeting on November 3, 1910, but did not receive its Charter until 1912.

A similar situation occurred with the clubs in Britain where news of their creation could take a long time to reach Chicago. Because there was occasionally some dispute about the amount of the affiliation fee, not all clubs joined immediately. This has led to discrepancies in the numbering of the clubs. Thus:
 

Dublin

Belfast

London

Manchester

Glasgow

Edinburgh

Liverpool

Birmingham

In the above list apart from the transposition of London and Belfast, the RIBI numbering follows the order of the club's creation. The RI numbering on the other hand reflects the order of the issuing of the club's official charter by the payment of an affiliation fee to the IARC in America. Thus, Dublin did not affiliate until April 4, 1913 and Belfast until May 4, 1914.

The idea of a club combining fellowship and trade appealed to the businessmen of many towns and some saw in Rotary, exactly the opportunity they sought. Whether this was what appealed to the people of Brighton in Sussex, is not certain, but at a meeting in January 1913, "it was unanimously decided that it was highly desirable to have a Rotary Club for Brighton and Hove" and a club was formed. This club was not known to any other club until 1914 and it was not until 1917 that Brighton paid an affiliation fee and joined the recently created British Association of Rotary Clubs. It is now numbered RIBI 9.

Basil Lewis