You probably have a club website, but are you using it to its full potential? Rotary’s web team will talk about writing content and telling stories to inspire your members and intrigue potential Rotarians.

1. Telling Your Rotary Story Online
Teresa Schmedding, managing editor, Rotary International
June 13, 2017
Rotary International Convention

2. TITLE | 2
People are wired to hear stories
One Spot/https://visual.ly/science-storytelling

3. TITLE | 3
We learn through stories
• Stories connect us
to strangers
• Stories allow
listeners to turn an
idea into their own
idea and experience
• Stories create
emotional
resonance

4. TITLE | 4
Which would you read?
Thrifty widow leaves her
entire £1.2MILLION fortune to
help poor children in Africa
Retired music teacher Helen
Ruddock, 96, spent as little as
possible on food and clothes
and invested shrewdly
The Rotary Foundation of the
United Kingdom receives gift
of £1.25 million from
accomplished pianist and
teacher

5. TITLE | 5
5 Cs to great storytelling
1. Core message: What should they remember
2. Connection: Emotional pull
3. Character: The human element
4. Conflict: Why needed
5. Call to action: What do you want them to do?

6. TITLE | 6
Who is your audience?
• Internal: Instill
pride in Rotarians
• External: Make
people want to
join, donate
Content that appeals to
external audience will appeal
to internal, but not vice versa

7. TITLE | 7
What drives people to join?
• Passion for a cause
• Friendships, connections
• Conveys value to world
• They want to do something
• Make a difference
• Belief

8. TITLE | 8
What drives donors?
• Passion for a
cause
• They want to do
something
• Memorialize
someone
• Belief

9. TITLE | 9
What do people think Rotary is?

10. TITLE | 10
Great storytelling at Rotary
Supports our brand mission
1. Action-oriented
2. Leaders
3. Inclusive
4. Innovative
5. Diverse
6. Global
7. Demonstrates
impact

11. TITLE | 11
Our stories need to
• Tell a story with characters and conflict
• Show impact
• Show action
• Change Rotary image
• Polished, professional
• External audience
• Honest

12. TITLE | 12
In a digital world
• Hyperconnected people are inundated with
information.
– You need to stand out from the clutter.

13. TITLE | 13
Every 60 seconds online
http://www.dr4ward.com @drDR4WARD

14. TITLE | 14
In a digital world
One Spot/https://visual.ly/science-storytelling

15. TITLE | 15
Wait! Don’t be afraid to go long
• Respect reader’s time
• Is this long because it’s
rich with detail,
characters, conflict?
• Is this long because
you have a lot you
want to say?

16. TITLE | 16
On rotary.org

17. TITLE | 17
On rotary.org

18. TITLE | 18
Questions?

19. TITLE | 19
Don’t forget
“In our world of 24/7 news feeds, social media, etc., we are
trying to drink from a firehose of information, and we’re
finding ourselves bowled over yet still thirsty. … The
storytelling movement is about restoring … a more
authentic means of learning from each other and drawing
meaning from our own experiences."
— Sarah White,
“A Storied Career” by Katharine Hansen, PhD

20. The Rotary Foundation of the United
Kingdom receives gift of £1.25
million from accomplished pianist
and teacher
Helen Ruddock of Suffolk, England bequeathed a generous donation of £1.25 million to The Rotary
Foundation. Having passed away in 2015 at the age of 96, and although not a Rotarian herself, Mrs
Ruddock had a passion for improving the lives of others.
Her introduction to Rotary and The Rotary Foundation was made by a close friend, who was a
member of the Rotary Club of Halstead for a number of years.
Complying with Mrs Ruddock's wishes, the spendable earnings from her gift, known as the Helen
Ruddock Foundation Endowed Fund, will exclusively fund charitable service projects in the area of
water and sanitation to improve the provision of clean water and hygiene practices in communities
across Africa through the Rotary Global Grants programme.
Despite not being a member of Rotary, Mrs. Ruddock exhibited many of the values of Rotary
throughout her life with her involvement in her local community and by devoting her time and talents
to help others.
Music was central to her life and for many years she split her time between tending the farm her
parent's had owned and teaching piano, after being educated at institutions including the Royal
College of Music.
She married her beloved husband Ted in 1956 and after his death in 1970 she went on to become a
highly respected piano teacher, sharing her knowledge at South Lee School in Bury St. Edmunds,
Fairstead House School in Newmarket and Riverwalk School, where she worked with children with
severe learning difficulties.
Renowned for her ability to inspire her pupil's to get the best out of themselves, a number of those
she taught went on to study at the most prestigious universities and music colleges, with many more
holding fond memories of her as a teacher.

21. The Rotary Foundation this year celebrates its centennial anniversary. Over the last 100 years, the
Foundation has funded over $3 billion worth of projects in Rotary's Six Areas of Focus in
communities around the world.
Alison Budge from Ashtons Legal, who provided legal advice to Mrs Ruddock said: "We are seeing
more and more clients leaving money to good causes in their Wills, and know how much these
charities rely on legacy gifts. I knew Helen for many years both as a friend and a client and I greatly
appreciated her lively character and indefatigable spirit. Helen was very explicit in her wishes and it
was a pleasure assisting her in setting up the Helen Ruddock Foundation Endowed Fund."

22. Thrifty widow leaves her
entire £1.2MILLION
fortune to help poor
children in Africa
Retired music teacher Helen Ruddock, 96, spent as little as possible
on food and clothes and invested shrewdly
A frugal widow who lived without any luxuries has left her estate of more than £1.25million to charity.
Helen Ruddock, 96, spent as little as possible on food and clothes and used buses despite being a
millionaire.
The retired music teacher amassed her fortune by shrewdly investing on the stock market and buying
and selling property.
The thrifty pensioner, who had no children or close family, shocked her friends by leaving a net estate of
£1,269,628.
She donated the entire amount to a Rotary Foundation fund to provide clean water for communities
and children in sub-Saharan Africa.
Friend Joyce Amtower, 76, said: “She did not spend a great deal on food or clothes and she never
bought anything expensive, although she always had a nice home.
“When she was getting infirm, I used to tell her that she should spend some more money on herself, but
she did not like to.
“But although she was frugal with herself, she had a generous nature when it came to others.
“She always wanted to leave her money to benefit children after her death and she put a lot of thought
into where she wanted it to go.
“As well as losing two children herself, she had quite a lonely childhood as an only child living on isolated
farms.
“She once told me that it was her ambition to leave £1million – and now we know that she actually
managed it.”

23. Helen was described by friends as a “formidable” woman who taught the piano and singing for around
80 years until she was aged 95.
She had faced heartbreak in her lifetime by losing two children in childbirth before her husband Ted
Ruddock died in 1970 after 14 years of marriage.
The pensioner, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, died in a nursing home in October 2015.
Solicitor Alison Budge, who helped her write her will, said: “She was a lady who knew her mind and was
not someone who lived a lavish lifestyle.
“She was careful with money. Even when she was in her 90s, she used to catch the bus into town rather
than getting a taxi.
“She also recycled things and you could tell that the furnishings in her house had been around a long
time.
“I remember that she would move furniture around her herself when her house was being redecorated
rather than paying someone to do it.
“She also didn’t believe in taking benefits from the government like the winter fuel allowance.”
Her money has been put into an endowment fund called the Helen Ruddock Foundation and ring-fenced
to be used exclusively for water and sanitation projects.
A Rotary Foundation spokesman said: “Although not a Rotarian herself, Mrs Ruddock had a passion for
improving the lives of others.
“She exhibited many of the values of Rotary throughout her life with her involvement in her local
community and by devoting her time and talents to help others.”

24. Teresa Schmedding, managing editor, Rotary.org
HOW CAN WE TELL OUR STORIES?
People act from the heart, not the head. Our stories must contain more than numbers and pie charts.
On Rotary.org, our goal is to publish three-star stories,
Three star: Full treatment, possibly including videos, custom infographics, multiple photos, etc.
Two star: One or two images/videos.
One star: Text only information.
BRANDING MISSION
To break the myths of Rotary, our key feature web stories must show that Rotarians are:
Action oriented
Connecting the right people
Leaders
Inclusive
Innovative
Diverse
Global
Demonstrates impact
AUDIENCE
Define your primary audience. Not everyone you think might be interested in the story, but how it the
primary audience?
Everyone
Rotarians
Rotaract
Interact
RYLA
Other
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
What is the primary geographic location of the story? How can this appeal to a global audience?