Build public image into your budget

Surprisingly, public image campaigns don’t create themselves! Make a PI plan and work it into your club’s budget to get the good word out there.

By Lorraine Coffey
District 9650 Governor 2018-19

While Public Image Grants are no longer provided by Rotary International (my former District 9650 was one of the last recipients in 2012-13), I believe that if we want to get our message out to a wider audience, we need a budget for it.

If you can’t get the funds from RI (ask your RI director to lobby for a return of the Public Image Grant) then why not get your district and your club to put a Public Image Grant in their budgets?

The person who puts their hand up for the job needs to be a brave, outgoing ‘people person’, who isn’t afraid to speak up and introduce themselves to every publicity machine in your area – TV, radio, newspapers, newssheets and, of course, social media.

When it comes to social media, don’t limit yourselves to your own Facebook page – most communities have pages of their own; contribute to these as well. And most councils have pages – get them on side.

Once you have a PI budget in place, here are some tips on how to spend it:

• A roadside billboard – ask a well-known person in your district to carry the message (we had Kylie Gillies, a former Youth Exchange student, do it for the End Polio Now ‘This Close’ campaign). Ooh Media is a good place to start, and ask for ‘mates rates’ for a charity. The message has to be short and sharp for roadside advertising.
• ‘Like’ all community and council pages in your area and contribute to them: “I am a Rotarian – ask me about Rotary!” “Did you know, as a Rotarian, you can attend a Rotary meeting in over 200 countries around the world?” Post photos of Rotarians having fun ‘at work’ in their community.
• Ask your radio stations to host a ‘call in’ session with you to invite questions about what we are and what we do.
• Run a small newspaper campaign where you ask local people to say things like “I am a mechanic (or schoolteacher, or accountant, etc.), I am also a Rotarian.” Then have them say why. End with, “Like to know more? Phone (the PI director’s number).” The funniest one we ran said, “I always thought Rotarians were ‘fat men in suits’ until I was invited to go to a Rotary meeting with a friend.” The ads don’t have to be large. The trick is to talk to people ‘one on one’ – only one person at a time is reading a newspaper or newsletter, or whatever print medium you use.
• Keep your own web and Facebook pages up to date and interesting.
• Be our own advertisement for Rotary. Ask members to always wear their Rotary pin and when people ask what it is, expand on what Rotary really is and ask if they’d like to know more. We know that when we join Rotary, we join a worldwide fellowship of friends. Why do we keep it a secret?

These are just a few ideas for ‘spreading the word’ from a now aged Rotarian who’s done a few laps ‘around the traps’, and who’s last 33 years in Rotary has been a wonderful advertisement for an organisation that gives back more than we could possibly give.