TOOLS TO TELL YOUR ROTARY STORY TITLE Thanks to efforts of Rotarians around the world, and to our initiative to strengthen our global brand, the percentage of people who report in surveys that they are aware of Rotary has increased from 60 percent to 75 percent in 2015. But we still have a lot of work to do. Today, I want to share with you some of the great tools available from Rotary to help you TELL YOUR ROTARY STORY RPIC Mike Forney Zone 27 (Part of) 2017

“We’re Rotary!” “News and Media/Rotary Videos” (31 seconds) -Potential Uses (Facebook; Websites) (Video: We’re Rotary - No Limit PSA– 30-seconds. Brand Center -Images and video) Our new People of Action program highlights how Rotarians share a unique perspective and passion for taking action, seeing hope in the face of challenges. Where others see problems, our members find solutions and mobilize their communities to bring ideas to life. Through this campaign, every Rotary club –large and small, new and old – will be able to easily and effectively tell its story and describe its impact on the community. Clubs can craft their own People of Action stories through campaign materials such as ads and digital images.

ROTARY STRATEGIC PLAN Enhancing public image and awareness has been one of the three major strategic initiatives within Rotary for several years. However, it has reached a new level of urgency in the past year following the continued decline of Rotary membership in North America. The irony is that a strong, positive image of Rotary at the club level leads directly into the success in achieving the other strategic objectives – strengthening the clubs and focusing on humanitarian service. If more people understand Rotary’s role as responsible leaders who are TAKING ACTION to solve challenges, our membership retention and recruitment will clearly benefit.

ROTARY: MAKING A DIFFERENCE RI President Ian Riseley has been of the most forceful Rotary International leaders in recent memory to emphasize the need for Rotarians to build local awareness about Rotary. It is a key section in his Presidential Citation. He has list eight different public image initiatives and requires the successful completion of at least four, including: Use of the Rotary master brand, showcasing Rotary activities in club websites and social media, Hosting a World Polio Day event, gaining media coverage for a club project or event (and posting the results on Rotary Showcase), or sponsoring a Rotary Youth Exchange or RYLA participant.

“DOING GOOD IN THE WORLD” The Rotary Foundation “News and Media/Rotary Videos” (40 seconds) -Potential Uses (Facebook; Websites) Rotary International’s public relations department continues to support our key public image strategy with a wide variety of videos, publications and graphic materials. This is a great video about The Rotary Foundation which can be found at MY ROTARY/NEWS AND MEDIA/ROTARY VIDEOS. This is a great message to use on your public Facebook page, or even at a club meeting.

RESOURCES Rotary Showcase Rotary Ideas Rotary Images Rotary Videos Rotary Social Media Rotary Brand Center “People of Action” I want to touch on the key areas within the Rotary.org website that feature great stories and great resources you can use to get across your own Rotary story. ROTARY SHOWCASE and ROTARY IDEAS are two sites that provide super suggestions for projects already completed, or those in the planning stage or underway. Excellent, high resolution pictures and videos are readily available and easy to download for use at the club or district level. The ROTARY BRAND CENTER is the first place to go for templates, graphics and promotional materials. And, of course, there is our new public image initiative PEOPLE OF ACTION.

“POLIO ON THE BRINK” Drop to Zero (Polio) “News and Media/Rotary Videos” (2:41) -Potential Uses (Facebook; Websites; club meetings) This is a wonderful feature about Rotary efforts to eradicate polio. It is also found on the NEWS AND MEDIA SECTION of MY ROTARY. Just click on Rotary Videos to find this excellent mini-documentary.

ROTARY SHOWCASE President Riseley has encouraged every club with a community initiative to post their story with pictures on ROTARY SHOWCASE. By the way, the editorial staff of the Rotary magazine THE ROTARIAN get a lot of their leads for feature stories from this site. You’ll find ROTARY SHOWCASE in the member section of ROTARY.ORG. This is what the site looks like.

ROTARY SHOWCASE Although we Rotarians are really just starting to use some of these new public image tools, you can see by the IMAGE TRACKER on the ROTARY SHOWCASE site how results posted by Rotarians add up to some 37 MILLION volunteer hours and 561 MILLION US DOLLARS in actual cash contributions. The members of clubs who have totaled up their contributions in scholarships, grants and community gifts have been absolutely amazed at the impact they are having. When our members learn about their own clubs’ philanthropy, don’t you think this has a positive impact on member retention?

ROTARY SHOWCASE I’ve pulled down just a few examples from clubs in our Zones 21B and 27 to demonstrate the creativity Rotarians display when LEADERS JOIN TOGETHER, EXCHANGE IDEAS AND TAKE ACTION! This club in Idaho has a very successful event that not only raises money, but raises their own profile for both fun and community service. Some of the other pictures on their ROTARY SHOWCASE submission are absolutely priceless.

ROTARY SHOWCASE What is Needed: Title Project overview Project details Project location Start and end date Project category Project contacts Partners Pictures and videos Impact information. There’s an excellent user guide you can download at ROTARY.ORG slash SHOWCASE that will make submitting your project extremely easy.

COVE HOUSE SHELTER RAMP Community Collaboration Killeen Heights (TX) Rotary Central Texas College Rotaract United Methodist Church Cove House volunteers Exchange Club Scholarship Ambassadors This ROTARY SHOWCASE project involved a number of local organizations, the Rotary club and their Rotaract club. It also received great media coverage in the local newspaper. Not the big picture of a working Rotarians. Also please note that you can tell this is Rotary because of the Rotary shirt with the new master brand!

CARDBOARD CITY “Cardboard houses built to raise awareness for homeless” Fredricksburg (Texas) Interact Club Slept overnight in the houses $3,000 raised to buy Shelter Boxes Rotary Showcase is a natural tool for our Interact and Rotaract members. They understand how to use social media technology to tell their stories!

YOUTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM 5th and 6th graders at low income schools Boise (Idaho) Sunrise Rotary Club 100 students; Fourth year of program Basic education and literacy Students plan and implement community service Here’s a great annual project involving young boys and girls in Boise, Idaho. This will be a super project to visit when we have the 2018 Zone Institute in Boise.

MERRY SOCKMAS 1176 pairs of socks to homeless shelter Most needed and least donated! Christmas distribution San Antonio Northeast (Texas) Rotary Finally, this project I discovered on ROTARY SHOWCASE that just knocked my socks off. Who would believe that something as simple as socks could turn into a great holiday project for this San Antonio club. It’s also clear that a good photo makes a great project!

Rotary social media Rotary has an amazing array of social media outlets. You can download terrific content for your own social media sites. You can also link some of these sites directly to your own Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter accounts. Materials on the Rotary sites can also be incorporated into dynamic YouTube features that can also be added to your own sites.

ROTARY SHORT VIDEOS ROTARY “rocks” :26 What is ROTARY? :33 I wanted to give you a picture of some other videos now available through Rotary International. WHAT IS ROTARY is a 33-second feature on MY ROTARY –NEWS AND MEDIA –ROTARY VIDEOS. This is found under OUR CAUSES. ROTARY ROCKS is all music, only 26 seconds, and also found under ROTARY VIDEOS. MY ROTARY STORY is a great example of a local club producing a 13-second video that personalizes the Rotary membership experience. I also found this in ROTARY VIDEOS under WHO WE ARE. This kind of video is easy to produce and great for your FACEBOOK page. ‘News and Media/Rotary Videos/Our Causes (or Who We Are)” My ROTARY Story :13

ROTARY BRAND CENTER This is what the ROTARY BRAND CENTER page looks like. There you can find an easy-to-use template to update your club logo to the new ROTARY MASTER BRAND. We’ll be telling you more about PEOPLE OF ACTION in a moment, but information about the new initiative, along with graphic materials is right there in the BRAND CENTER. TELL ROTARY’S STORY is an excellent 50-plus page manual with both guidelines and rational for promoting Rotary’s public image. I urge all of you to spend time on this site. It is loaded with great ideas and materials you can use to feature your own club.

ROTARY IDEAS ROTARY IDEAS has an amazing collection of projects. Some are underway. Others are looking for funding from other clubs. If you are looking for a project that will engage your own members, this is an excellent place to start looking!

VIMEO.COM/ROTARY Rotary also has some great videos on VIMEO. Just go to VIMEO.COM/ROTARY for video clips like these. Some are also on the Rotary website too.

“THIS CLOSE” End Polio Celebrity Update – May, 2017 -Potential Uses Funding Polio Immunization (.37) Rotary Videos Here are two super videos just produced this year. You can see the actual link to the VIMEO site as well. But there are also on IMAGES AND VIDEO inside the ROTARY BRAND CENTER site. I think every Rotarian and every club should see this video. During a regular meeting following by a discussion about Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio would be an excellent way for members to feel part of this amazing story. -Potential Uses (Facebook, Club Meetings, Websites) End Polio Celebrity Update – May, 2017 https://vimeo.com/217084702 (1:00)

PEOPLE OF ACTION People of Action Rotary Brand Center 1:30 Potential Uses: Public and/or club meetings; Facebook; Websites This is the 90-second video used at the International Convention. It can be downloaded from the ROTARY BRAND CENTER under PEOPLE OF ACTION for use in meetings or social media.

PEOPLE OF ACTION Rotary Brand Center “People of Action” PEOPLE OF ACTION was launched as a world-wide ROTARY initiative this year. It was previewed at the ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION this year in SEOUL, KOREA. These are Facebooks ads for your club and district social media sites. There are also vertical ads with standard copy, which can be modified with your own words and stories for use in a wide variety of ways. Our new People of Action program highlights how Rotarians share a unique perspective and passion for taking action, seeing hope in the face of challenges. Where others see problems, our members find solutions and mobilize their communities to bring ideas to life. Through this campaign, every Rotary club –large and small, new and old – will be able to easily and effectively tell its story and describe its impact on the community. Clubs can craft their own People of Action stories through campaign materials such as ads and digital images.

TELLING YOUR PEOPLE OF ACTION STORY Photograph Action! Rotary Identity! Inspiring! “Together, We…. Celebrate! Connect! Eradicate! Inspire! Transform! Your Story… Who did it? What did they do? Why was it needed? What were the outcomes? “That’s what people of action do!” What do you want the reader to do? You can build your own Facebook and website advertisements using the People of Action theme. Here’s a simple process you can follow: Make sure you have a compelling photograph. Using the People of Action concept, “TOGETHER WE…” build your own club story. But keep it short and punchy! Don’t forget your call to action. Do you want them to join your club? Support your fund-raiser? Learn more about Rotary? Be sure to close the deal.

DOWNLOAD VIDEOS I’ve mentioned how easy it is to DOWNLOAD these terrific ROTARY videos. A child can do it, but it is probably a bit harder for those of us of a certain age. Here’s a five-step guideline in the ROTARY BRAND CENTER that will help those of us technology-challenged.

TOOLS TO TELL YOUR ROTARY STORY President Ian Riseley and the professional media people from Rotary International have given us the tools to fulfill our mission to enhance Rotary’s public image and awareness. I would hasten to add, however, that this is not a public relations program. This is a membership attraction program. This is a membership retention program. This is a program that will increase giving to The Rotary Foundation. Because this is a story about what Rotary is, what Rotary does, and why Rotary and Rotarians are MAKING A DIFFERENCE.