PUBLIC RELATIONS Rotary Shares July 2007 Gretchen Cochran, Rotary District 6360 district

Why share Rotary’s story ? Grow membership Increase loyalty Leverage power –Partnerships –Services –Money

Where to begin ? First step: make a p.r. plan Base plan on club objectives for year Then target activities, based on those objectives If you don’t have a website, get one. Print it on everything

Create a p.r. calendar Consider most-newsworthy efforts Put dates on a calendar Consider media news cycle –September school starts, UN International Literacy Day Sept. 8 –Promote Rotary literacy project

What is news? Making grants to the community. Group study exchange visit –Think in terms of outcomes, benefits: Hundreds of Dowagiac families will enjoy dining in the park, thanks to a $1,000 Rotary donation for picnic tables.

Target marketing Get the right people rather than more people. Who do you want to reach? How do you reach them?

Calendar entire year Budgets manpower, media attention Work backwards to plan workload Assign tasks –Designate club photographer with a digital camera

Be redundant It takes 7 to 13 impressions to get someone off his or her couch to do something People respond differently to different media. Use all forms at once.

Get Help Go to rotary.org Click on Club-District Support Scroll listing for Effective Public Relations Check menu bar at left for tools See right hand box to subscribe to bi-weekly PR Tips newsletter Gretchen Cochran, Check for

A sample event: Literacy Do Dah Does it meet one of Club’s objectives for year (Increase visibility to increase membership) Leverage partnership Make a deal with the school administration, include what it will do in return for what you will do

Hosting a press conference Commonly forgotten: Prepare a press packet Have Rotary logo prominently displayed Rotarians identified wearing ID Designate spokesperson Create a catchy slogan, e.g. “Readers are Leaders”