New PR Grant Structure

The RI Board of Directors has approved the continuation of Public Relations (PR) Grants in 2009-10.

PR Grants enable districts to place television and radio public service announcements (PSAs), billboards, banners, ads and newspaper supplements in their communities.

Following is the grant structure for 2009-10:

1. Grants of up to $10,000 per district will be available until funds are depleted.

2. Only districts are eligible to apply. One application will be considered per district.

3. Funds are awarded based on the quality of the application and with the goal of ensuring an equitable spread of Rotary promotion worldwide.

4. Districts may organize their PR Grant project in a variety of ways, including:

A project developed at the district level in which every club participates

A project developed by the District PR Committee in which several clubs participate

A project developed by an individual club which is selected by the District Governor to become the district’s application

5. PR Grant applications must be signed and approved by the District Governor.

6. Districts must contribute a minimum of 1/3 of the total PR Grant amount requested.

7. Complete PR Grant applications are due to RI Headquarters by 15 July 2009 (please note new date for application).

Effective public relations campaigns can increase awareness and foster a positive public image of Rotary, which in turn aids membership development efforts. District PR Committees should be encouraged to apply for a PR Grant, and as RRIMC, you can work with your districts to make those PR initiatives a valuable part of your overall membership development strategy.

PR Grant applications have been emailed to all district governors-elect. They are also available on the RI Web site or you can download one here.

PR Grants: Frequently Asked Questions can be viewed here.

“Young Rotarians” Video

Many RRIMCs at the recent training seminar in Chicago were impressed by the video “Young Rotarians”, which was shown during the Identifying Prospective Members discussion group. (The district that produced the video has recently changed the name of the video to “Rotary Now”.)

While each region may have its own set of challenges to recruitment and this video would not be effective in all districts, similar videos could be used to address the unique issues affecting membership in your districts. Storytelling is a powerful tool and each district, club, and member has a story to tell.

RRIMCs can work to develop a prospective member information program at the district level that serves to educate prospective members about Rotary and dispel notions about Rotary that are just not true. “Rotary Now” or a video like it could be featured at prospective member information sessions. Showing this video to clubs may also spark ideas for clubs or districts to produce their own videos. A production of this type would make good use of district or PR grant funds, or even RRIMC allocation funds -- perhaps sharing costs between interested parties.

RI does not have rights to the content of this video, and we cannot pass it along electronically, but if you are interested in purchasing copies from the district, you may order them here.

“Rotary Now” was produced by Rotary district 7090 in New York State, USA. The District Governor is Pravin Suchak, pravin.suchak@gmail.com.

Check out the Rotary You Tube site for other existing videos that might be used to promote membership.

Preparing for PETS

Presidents-elect Training Seminar (PETS) is right around the corner. If you haven’t already, be sure to contact the DGEs in your districts, as appropriate, to offer your services.

One way to contribute would be to offer to speak about the membership resources that are available to clubs. The following membership-related publications were included in the PETS mailing that went to DGEs for distribution to their club presidents:

901 Membership Development and Extension Award Program
421 Membership Development Initiative Form
416 Recognition of Smaller Club Membership Growth
808 Organizing New Clubs Guide
001 This is Rotary
595 Rotary Basics
254 How to Propose a New Member
422 Recognition of Membership Development Initiatives
641 Your Club, the District and RI: Partners in Membership Development
--- Membership Goal Report Form
414 New Member Orientation
417 Membership Development Resource Guide

All of these publications are available on the www.rotary.org website and many are on your field tool kit CD-ROM or your 2009-10 jump drive.

As always, if you are attending PETS, make sure your travel is pre-approved by RITS. A link to the RITS Travel Request Form can be found on the left side of this blog.

Welcome 2009-10 RRIMCs

RI Membership Development would like to congratulate the new 2009-10 RRIMCs on their appointment to this important role for Rotary. The RI Membership Development staff enjoyed meeting all of you at the recent RRIMC Training Seminar in Chicago, and we look forward to working with you over the next three years as you promote membership development at the district and zone levels.

This blog site was established to allow communication from RI to you and from you to us. We have added you to the blog’s email list so that you will receive notification when a new post is added. We hope all RRIMCs will come to the blog regularly to read news and post comments. The blog can be a valuable tool for RRIMCs to communicate on topical issues and share ideas.

In addition, if you have information you would like to pass on or have an idea that you feel would benefit the RRIMC program and would like to see it here, please send your post to Carrie Moore at carrie.moore@rotary.org.