Extracted from The Rotarian 1st June 2021
The Rotary Club of Berwick has worked hard on its Public Image over the years, but with too few members trained up and focused on raising our Club's profile in the community, we are not getting the impact that we could have. Creating awareness of what we do and why we do it, are important ways of attracting the right people to join us. People who see and understand what we are about will strengthen our ability to do a lot more good work than we are able to do now.
Illustration by James Graham
The Rotary Club of Philadelphia does great work, such as volunteering to support a food pantry during the pandemic. But the club wasn’t getting its message out in the place where most people could find it: online! "Our old website was hard to use and was actually doing our club a disservice," says Jay Pennie, club president.
As part of a three-year strategic plan that includes boosting its public image, the club built a new website, turning to the Rotary Brand Center for resources such as logos, color schemes, and photos. "Our local photos show our personality and the friendships that we have formed," says Lisa Leonard, the club’s public image chair. "The Brand Center photos show a bigger view of Rotary, which to a prospective member is very attractive."
The club also enlisted a professional videographer to create an eight-minute video, in which members told stories about what it’s like to be part of the club; the video was posted on the refreshed website and shared on social media channels, including LinkedIn. Pennie says visits to the updated website have increased, and over the past two years, the club has seen a healthy growth in membership.
"We polled our new members about how they had heard about us, and they’re all coming through our website," says Pennie. "It’s opening us up to the people we didn’t know before."
— Joseph Derr
REBOOT YOUR WEBSITE
DO IT NOW
- Simplify the content on your website and make sure that images are strong and that all text is clear, accurate, and concise. The Rotary Club of Manly, Australia, divides its site into three main sections: club, projects, and speakers. This helps ensure that calls to action such as "Get involved" and "Donate" stand out prominently.
- Incorporate Rotary’s 'People of Action' graphics and web banners, which are available on the Rotary Brand Center. This will help you to make your content relevant to your club, while staying true to Rotary’s global brand.
DO IT NEXT
- Make sure your website is easy to maintain so you can spend less time updating and more time focusing on fellowship and community service.
- Integrate social media feeds into your website. This ensures that there is always something new for visitors to your site to see; it also helps increase traffic to both your website and your social media channels. "Think of your website as your digital home and of social media as the space in which to connect with like-minded individuals and organizations."
— Andy Sternberg, head of social media at RI 59
BE MORE SOCIAL
FACEBOOK FIXES
DO IT NOW
- Add a "Donate" button to your club’s Facebook page. This is a simple way to increase your online fundraising. As always, make sure that the content on your page is engaging and up to date.
DO IT NEXT
- Consider a paid advertising campaign. This can be a relatively low-cost way to boost visits to your page or promote your next online fundraiser. You can also target your audience, Pennie notes. "That’s the advantage of digital versus traditional advertising."
TWITTER TWEAKS
DO IT NOW
- Get on Twitter if your club isn’t already there. This channel is a great way to share news stories and inspirational messages, retweet Rotary International, and share photos and graphics from your events. Once you have an account, make a plan to tweet on a regular basis. One way to do that is to follow and retweet Rotary International, other Rotary clubs, your district, and other Rotary members.
DO IT NEXT
- Now that you’re tweeting with confidence, upgrade that chirp by identifying Rotaract leaders in your area and retweeting their Rotary-related content.
OTHER SOCIAL CHANNELS
DO IT NOW
- LinkedIn: Many clubs use this channel to attract professionals who share Rotary’s values. You can repost articles from Rotary.org and My Rotary, or share relevant news.
- Instagram: With more than 1 billion active monthly users, Instagram is a great place for visual storytelling.
DO IT NEXT
- Consider YouTube and TikTok. Although videos require more work, the payoff can be huge. Check out the Rotary Club of Philadelphia’s YouTube video at philadelphiarotary.org.
LOGO TO GO
- The stories you tell about Rotary and the way you tell them matter, and Rotary’s brand provides a consistent context for a variety of stories from clubs around the world. If you haven’t updated your site recently, you may be using an outdated logo. Visit the Brand Center at brandcenter.rotary.org and download everything you need for use across your club’s digital presence.
