Nelson is renowned for the quality of its weather with a record of one of the sunniest climates in New Zealand. With this climate and the closeness of sheltered waters the Rotary Club of Nelson reflects this in both its membership and its activities. Members include those offering holiday accomodation while activities include sailing and fishing. The Nelson Rotary Marine Show is a biennial event and fishing trips are popular as club social events.

The Rotary Club of Nelson banner depicts the Rotary Emblem and within it the Nelson City Coat of Arms.

The coat of arms contains a shield with a bishop's mitre depicting that Nelson is a cathedral city. The black cross comes from Lord Nelson's own coat of arms. The battlements above the shield depict city status. The rampant lion with the sun within its paws refers to the renown Nelson has for record high sunshine hours for New Zealand. The black bird is a native bird, Huia, (now extinct) a royal bird of the native Maori. The white bird is a Kotuku or White Heron, another native bird revered for both its beauty and rarity. The motto "Palmam qui meruit ferat" is taken from Lord Nelson's own motto and means "Let him who has deserved it bear the palm".

Significant club programmes over the years have been many and varied. The Club has had successful programmes in the community sphere, but has been prominent also in youth work and in international projects. Matched student exchanges with Australia have been particularly successful along with the sponsoring and hosting of Rotary Youth Exchange and Group Study Exchange students from all parts of the world.

In community affairs a Significant Achievement Award was given to the Club by the District Governor for a Charity Ball held in 1984 which raised $16,000 for charities and in 1988 for the Water Show, an appropriate theme in a city renowned for its maritime interests. Beautification and tree planting projects have always been a feature of Rotary activity. In the 1980's the Nelson Club was responsible for the provision of a scented garden walk around Nelson Cathedral with plaques in Braille and in English for each scented shrub. Late in the decade hundreds of camellias were planted in Fairfield Park close to the centre of the city and extensive landscaping work was carried out in Newman Grove at the city's northern entrance in the 1990's.

In vocational service there has been the continual use of Own Job talks, What's New in My Line talks, visits to local industry and the joint meetings with other clubs to ensure Rotarians have a good knowledge of fellow Rotarians' vocations. Another most important vocational activity is the promotion of careers evenings for students of the two local colleges in the Club's area.