Z34 Rotary Public Relations Grans 06-05-12
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Zone 34 Strengthening Clubs Seminar - Public Relations Grants - Cynthia Palmer-Kenzer, PR Senior Coordinator / Evanston, IL June 5, 2012
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Z34 Rotary Public Relations Grans 06-05-12
- 1. A Guide for Successful PR Grants Cynthia Palmer-Kenzer PR Grant Specialist – Rotary International
- 2. PR GRANTS • Support RI Strategic Plan to Enhance Public Image and awareness • Increases membership inquiries • Increases donations • Recruits volunteers • Builds pride in Rotary membership
- 3. Logistics • Tells Rotary’s story • Part of a comprehensive PR Plan • US$15,000 with 1/3 match • Single or multi-district or both • Multi-year option 2012 RC/RPIC Institute | 3
- 4. Think long-range 2012 RC/RPIC Institute | 4
- 5. Plan Ahead Set Goals 2012 RC/RPIC Institute | 5
- 6. Determine who you wish to reach. Rotary’s target audience is professionals between 35 – 55 years. 2012 RC/RPIC Institute | 6
- 7. Increase your buying power • Increase your reach • Give a consistent message 2012 RC/RPIC Institute | 7
- 8. PR Grants are part of a marketing plan. •Does their website face outward? •What is the media mix? •How is the district following up on leads? 2012 RC/RPIC Institute | 8
- 9. “This Close” EPN ads
- 10. Tell your story… Use Humanity in motion to tell Rotary’s story
- 12. Thank you
Editor's Notes
- I am going to give you a quick update on the PR Grant program and on your role in appling for a successful grant. As you all know, Rotary International has identified Enhancing Public Image and awareness as one of the three pillars of our strategic plan. This recognizes that a positive public image enhances all aspects of the plan. It helps to strengthen clubs by building pride in members, brings in new members and volunteers by building positive perceptions in our potential member population, enhances our abilities to raise funding for projects as well as builds our reputation as an excellent partner for many projects. PR Grants are the seed money to help you with your public relations planning locally.
- Public Relations is the way in which we tell Rotary’s story to the general public. We want to get people telling our story and passing it on to others. PR Grants should be a part of a comprehensive district PR plan. This plan should look at publicity for events and projects, your website and/or Facebook pages, advertising and member involvement and even crisis management. PR Grants are part of the outreach to the general public and can help by supplementing district PR budgets for up to US$15,000 . The districts are required to provide a 1/3 match to grant funds. This means placing $20,000 in the budget to spend on public image. PR Grant applications for 2012-13 are here. We have a record number of applications – 377. We have 9 applications from Zone 34 – a little more than half. Some of the enhancements for this coming year included offering the option of a second grant to those districts participating in a multi-district grant. Total for the two grants may not exceed $15,000.
- Also new this year – to encourage long range planning we are offering the option of multi-year grants. Districts can apply for up to three years. The advantage of this grant is that districts are guaranteed the funds for a three year period and can run a program continuously – no waiting period at the beginning of the year. What this means for your district is that your district governor, governor elect and governor nominee can plan a program over a three year cycle. They will be able to continue a grant past the 1 June deadline into the new year. All we ask is that each year the incoming governor for the new year affirm participation by the grant deadline date. Planning is done. We do understand that grants may need adjustment to align with goals. If a district need to modify their grant please have them contact me to discuss it. And there is no need to wait three years for reimbursement. As each phase is completed, the district may apply for reimbursement. This kind of long range planning help bring continuity to a campaign. Ads can run in the summer and/or early fall which has been difficult up until now. I do recommend that you counsel against using the presidential theme logo in long range advertising. This is an internal message to the Rotary clubs and can be confusing to the general public. Also, with long term media, it becomes outdated as of 30 June.
- First we look at goals. The first thing a district should determine are what goals you wish to achieve. Are you looking to raise awareness? Increase membership? Increase specific membership in women, younger people or minorities? Increase donations? Are you looking for more volunteers? Set a reasonable, achievable goal. Keep records to determine if those goals are met. For example if the goal is to raise membership by 5%, note what current membership is, how many inquiries the district is receiving either by phone or electronically. Now keep a record of whether those numbers increase during and after the PR grant project. Note other factors. Was there an article in the weekly newspaper. Did the district have a large event that received publicity. By setting goals and understanding what the you wish to accomplish you can determine the course of your PR program and by keeping records the you will also know when they are successful as District 7000 was able to do on 2010-11.
- Defining goals will help you to determine your target audience. In general, Rotary wishes to reach professionals between 35-55 years of age. However, your district may have more specific goals. If the goal is to increase membership by 5% and to increase professional women and New Generations in particular by 10% then a district may look to social media, women’s professional magazines and websites for possible placements. To support the ads, the website should show younger professionals and women in particular interacting and having fun on the home page! Encourage all your districts and clubs to look closely at their websites. Remove any jargon from the home page and make it easier for the non-Rotary member to learn what a great organization this is. You can see that there is more to this than “Let’s do a billboard!” Talk to your vendors about the target audience they reach. Vendors will have plenty of material about who they reach and how well. We look at grants for a good media mix where possible. The more ways we tell Rotary’s story, the more likely we will be heard. You can always contact your RPIC – Carlos Giraldo, for help if you are unsure about how to research this.
- Consider working with other districts. I have seen successful grants where two districts in a state combined to cover an entire state. By combining PR Grants together, districts will increase their buying power, have a better overall reach in any given market and present a consistent message. This can only improve Rotary’s image. As an example, District 5970 & 6000 cover the whole state of Iowa. By working together, they have been able to get the state newspaper association and their state broadcast association to work with them to cover the entire state. And they have received more than $100,000 in in-kind value!
- PR Grants are only a part of a comprehensive marketing plan. You also need to examine their websites to determine if they will bring in new volunteers or turn them away. You should look at the media mix in your campaign. How can you bring social media into the campaign. How are you following up on leads? And what is your reporting structure? PR Grant reports are requiring more detailed information and hard numbers to determine if projects are being successful.
- As Rotary plans for the end of polio, we are trying to insure that we receive full credit for all of the work that we have done to eradicate this horrible disease. Therefore, even in countries where polio has been eradicated for a long time, it is important that we share this story with the general public. For this reason, we are giving preference to PR Grant applications that feature Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio. This Close ads featuring more than 20 celebrities from around the world are available in print, billboards, TV and online in all Rotary languages. We encourage you to enlist local celebrities as “This Close” ambassadors. Engage them in local events to heighten publicity in polio eradication efforts. This will also help insure media coverage of your events.
- Rotary has pre-produced materials called Humanity in Motion that can be localized for use in PR campaigns. There are print, radio, TV, web ads and billboards. To encourage districts to use these materials we will speed applications with Humanity in motion or This Close ads through the application process. Districts will increase your success by adding a local Call to Action (district website or microsite information), and by switching local photos for some of the others etc. Some successful examples of HIM follow:
- Humanity in motions as were placed in the lobbies of over 500 different office buildings around Taiwan. Here you see The Faces of Rotary campaign. An add-on to this campaign was that Rotaractors were enlisted to Tweet whenever they saw a bus go by with an ad. The Rotaractor with the most tweets received a prize. And the district got the best prize of all – participation in a free social media campaign, involvement of younger members and pride and excitement of all of their members! In district 4290 (Colombia) They took the polio drop billboard and used this format for their literacy projects. This is a great format that lends itself well to localization. And finally – here is a digital billboard at the baggage display in a New York airport. A number of these billboards were either free or greatly discounted. It NEVER hurts to ASK!!
- There are as many different ways to present grant applications as there are districts and then some. As you have seen, we encourage customization of the RI produced materials. Remember: Set a goal, make a comprehensive plan and record your success. Thank you.