Our club has a six-year-old polar plunge type event where teams can fundraise for their nonprofit through our GiveButter site. We have typically targeted high school coaches, youth groups, and nonprofits in the community, and provided a fundraising success kit, weekly team and individual fundraiser updates to spur on competition among the teams, and we want to promote our event as an "easy way to fundraise $10K" now that we've had two teams actually do it.

For those clubs who already have this type of event, what groups do you market to, what have the most successful fundraising teams done, and could you share any other best practices that have made your event a success?

Back in 2020 the Rotary International convention was scheduled to be held in Honolulu but we all know what happened that year. I remember receiving an email that the convention shirts were available for sale so I bought a few.

Now I would like to expand my wardrobe with past RI convention shirts because not only are they official Rotary shirts, they're great conversation starters!

So do past RI conventions keep shirts in inventory anywhere, or do they get decommissioned to somewhere?

If your club has maintained sustained growth over a period of time - months, years, etc. - could you share your processes so other clubs can duplicate them?

Just curious what other clubs do for inducting a new member.

District 6960 is located in the Sarasota Area that was hard hit by Helene and then again by Milton. 8 Florida Districts  have united to bring resources, skills, and kindness to those in need. Paraphrasing our District Governor:

"Rotary has always been about coming together in service to make a difference, and now, more than ever, we have the opportunity to share that magic—by helping those who need it most.

 We are actively setting up partnerships with local emergency operations centers in several counties and establishing key volunteer locations. Our disaster response efforts are in full swing, with teams dedicated to debris removal, mucking and gutting homes, and distributing essential supplies to those in need. Team leads and many others have been working hard over the last 48 hours to provide much needed support and relief to those impacted.

You can go to RotaryFL.org to register for volunteer opportunities and to let us know of any specific needs in your area. You can make a financial contribution on RotaryFL.org as well.

Thank you for your compassion, dedication, and commitment to service in this challenging time. Together, we will get through this and help our communities rebuild and recover."

Yours in Rotary Service,
Lou Peppe, President, the Rotary E-Club of District 6960

Hello fellow Rotarians! I am an American that went on exchange to Denmark this past year. I am now working on a project with the help of my Rotary club where we will document and tell the stories of people from all over the world, and we want to hear your story! I ask that you please take ten minutes to fill out a bit of information about yourself. The story of your life will be visible to people from all corners of the world, making it capable for them to see what life is like in your area of the globe!

The website is at the following link. To add your story, please click on the "Share your story" button at the top!

https://intercontinentaldiary.com/

Our club (Virginia, USA) would like to accept event payments through Venmo. Our attempts failed because we didn’t realize we needed a social security number instead of our tax ID. We are in Venmo limbo! If you have helped your club set-up a Venmo account, please share how you made that happen. Many thanks!

Good afternoon everyone, I have been wanting to join Rotary for a while now, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to make it happen yet. I did some research online and found the club in my town, so I emailed them explaining a bit about myself and my interest in attending meetings as a guest. However, it has been two weeks, and I haven’t received a response yet. I hope I can find some guidance on this subreddit. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi all-

So far I’d been attending Rotary meetings and events as a guest.

At today’s meeting I was officially made a honorary member of Rotary.

I am humbled and honored.

Hey everyone,

I hope to find someone here from the German rotary community to get some insights.

I have applied to contribute to a Rotary Club in southern Germany a few weeks back. Unfortunately no one reached out to me and I'm unsure if it's due to my application, which simply wasn't a fit or if the message was just overseen/ forgotten.

Anyone got some insights on the typical process so that I know if reaching out again makes sense or if I should rather start looking for alternative communities 🤔

Thanks in advance

Hello, I'm going to France for an exchange trip!

I stay in France for like 3 months so i have to go to the school, but i dont talk in french

So im asking if you have some ideas to do something in school

Also thanks for reading this!

Aaaaagh!!! Apologies for the spelling error!!

Hello everyone. I have been researching places to donate recently, and frankly I was surprised by the amount of scams out there. But I found a wonderful small charity in the north of England which does amazing work for homeless and abandoned children in Malawi. It is largely staffed by volunteers, with very low overheads, and I found their website and fb pages inspirational. They run an infant home and a variety of outreach programs.

I know that Rotary Clubs sometimes help with overseas projects, and I wondered if there was a club somewhere which might be interested in helping here?

The organization is called Open Arms Malawi. Their web page is openarmsmalawi.org and they can be emailed at Info@openarmsmalawi.org

I hope somewhere some help may be available for them. Thanks very much indeed.

As a young adult (18-30) I’m starting to see why people around my age don’t want to join a community service organisation these days, as the youngest member of my Rotary club I’m always the first person to put up their hand with projects etc however when it comes time to nominate for the executive positions of the club, some of the members go “oh your too young” or “you don’t have enough experience”. I’m thinking then help me actually gain the experience to be like a youth director or secretary then??

The club has watched me grown up from being a shy introverted young boy to an out going young adult since 2014 when I started doing the Rotary youth programs including RYLA in 2019 just before I joined Rotaract and a satellite club of my current club. So I’m starting to feel like I’m only there to fill in the number of members now.

As above I said that I joined Rotaract just after RYLA in 2019 and I’m definitely a Rotaractor at heart because I’m doing a hell of a lot more with Rotaract than with Rotary. I was the IT director of my first club (2019), was the secretary for a provisional club in 2020 and 2021, came back to Rotaract in 2023 because a good friend of mine from the provisional club suggested that I join the national Rotaract MDIO to help them out as secretary and now I’m back as an IT director with my second year with them, on top of all that I was the acting vice president of a Rotaract Club in my district for 23-24 because they needed help to stay alive and now I’m the president due to unrelated reasons from this post.

I am so annoyed at my Rotary club for talking down to me when I want to put my hand up for a position because I’m willing to do all the work needed required for it. So after all that I’m I best of either, leaving Rotary but staying in Rotaract, change to the other Rotary club in town or just leave all together because I’m exhausted from being burnt out??

I have a 1990 mazda rx7 fc and when i start and driving my car unless im stepping on the gas pedal my rpm drops down all the way to 0 and i have to start the car again. How can i fix this

Aloha!

I am a Freshman Community College student who will study law in the future, and I’m wondering what to expect from Rotary, as I am going to attend a meeting next Friday.

I’ve heard about the prices for membership, and the membership contains mainly 40+ years old, but if anyone has any advice for me, please comment and shoot me a message,

(By the way, before anyone asks, there is no Rotaract club where I live)

Thanks everyone for your help!

Hello, I am 17 and I have done volunteer work at the local rotary club and it is a very small town, nothing crazy. Since I'm helping so often, I am friends with some members in the circle, who I usually assist in helping. I came across a competition called ROTARY DISTRICT YOUTH LEADERSHIP, and it is not an action in my native. It would be nice to receive that certificate. As it's a relatively small town, the club has only middle-aged people, and I've helped throughout the years as I've tagged along with a family member. Should I request a certificate from an official member as a tangible recognition of the volunteering I've done? EDIT: It'll help with college applications, and I came across this certificate online

Is there a rotary club we could connect with and volunteer with in Sofia, Bulgari? I'll be there for 2.5 months starting mid sept

On several Rotary webinars recently, I have heard the book "The Road to Poverty" mentioned but no additional identifying information has been provided. Is this the one they're talking about?

https://www.amazon.com/Road-Poverty-Billings-Blee/dp/0521655463

I'm struggling to find the most cost effective way to engage members with texts. We do Facebook and emails of course, but from my understanding, any my own personal experience, I feel like texts are more on point and better at giving people reminders that they'll actually see and read of upcoming events and needs.

Best options I can find are about $25/month for non-profits looking to send the number of texts I'm considering. This would be no more than 8 texts per month for about 50 members.

That's not awful and if it created a meaningful uptick in engagement I think it could be justified, but wondering if anyone else has experience or other options they can share.

Thank you.

As Mazda is a big part for rotary’s, does anyone have any rear louvers for sale for a Mazda 323 1984.

(Pseudonyms are being used for individual names)

I had been actively involved in my Rotary Club for the past year, and as a 28-year-old, I was by far the youngest member. I put in a lot of effort to engage with the community and elevate the club’s presence. I organized fundraisers and silent auctions for our local Make-A-Wish Foundation, even performing in them, and modernized our social media as a former performer turned professional digital marketer. I created new brand kits, updated the club's social media strategy, and increased our organic reach by over 400% in the first month on Instagram.

Despite these efforts, tensions arose when I started calling out local corruption involving city leadership, which is closely tied to some of the older Rotarians. I also raised concerns about the fraudulent practices of a member, "Diana," in her foundation. Diana's foundation had all its active board members from our Rotary Club, including the chairperson and executive director, and the club and its members were primary donors. My goal was to encourage people to divest from her foundation, which I discovered was taking advantage of donors and not using funds ethically. After working closely with her, I estimated that only about $6k of her entire $200k budget was being used for its intended purpose, while the rest funded Diana’s personal projects and extravagant lifestyle.

I asked the club president if he had noticed all the work I’d been doing. His response? He only paid attention to things he was personally involved in, so, no, he hadn’t noticed. I had feared that might be the case, and his response confirmed it.

The breaking point came when a former member, who had previously managed the club's social media accounts, returned. I had been managing these accounts pro bono for a year, significantly enhancing our digital presence. This member, having been preoccupied with other commitments like obtaining her EMT certification, assumed she would resume control of the social media, effectively making my role redundant. Without any heads-up, she took issue with a flyer I posted—something I had permission from the club president to do. The president had not informed her that we were expected to collaborate moving forward. In her frustration, she removed my access to the accounts and labeled me an “entitled millennial.” Instead of mediating, the president sided with her, which went against the principles that Rotary stands for.

It was particularly disheartening when, despite my transparency about my concerns with Diana, she was awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship for her "work." I had been present with her during the work cited in the award, which included defrauding people in a poor developing area of $40,000. The recognition she received felt like a slap in the face to the genuine efforts of those who adhere to Rotary’s values.

After suggesting a compromise where I could contribute through a new service project without attending the politically charged luncheons, I received an email from my Rotary Club. They told me that my earlier email to Rotary International, stating that I had joined to serve my local community (and not to transfer to another club or join an international one), was taken as my resignation. It’s already been processed, and I’ll be getting a refund for my membership dues soon. Honestly, I didn’t think that was possible, so this feels like a weight off my shoulders.

While I’m relieved, it’s also disappointing. Rotary was like a family to me, and it’s disheartening to see the club move away from its core values under poor leadership. Our club is one of the last truly active ones in the area, and most others are dwindling. If the current trend of prioritizing the desires of older members over the fresh perspectives of new members continues, this club will likely fail soon too. I worry that "Diana" will be remembered as someone who exploited well-meaning people and undermined efforts to revitalize our community.

In the end, I realized that I don't want to stay in an environment where my contributions aren't valued, and where there’s a disconnect from the values we’re supposed to uphold. I’d rather volunteer independently for causes that genuinely appreciate my efforts and where I can make a real difference.

Our Rotary club in the midwestern USA invites at least one speaker a month to talk on the monthly theme. Sometimes it's someone from the district, other times it's an organization filling that need, and a few times it's been an outstanding community member.

I'm drawing a blank on February's theme though - who could I reach out to?

Seeking Rotary Exchange Opportunities

Looking to explore exchange opportunities with Rotary clubs around the world. We believe that these exchanges foster cultural understanding, strengthen global friendships, and enhance our service projects.

Honestly, it was the fastest fundraiser of all time. We have a breakfast meeting at my home club in DeSoto. One of the members said "Oh yeah, today after the meeting if any of you guys have time to go to the jail, the police chief will put us in cells. From there we can call people and tell them we need bail money. Have the money pledged and keep a record, or have bail money sent to our donation button on the website, or we have a paypal account they can send to.

Make up any story you want for why you are in jail, but tell them that the police require cash in the amount of....I don't know, name your own price depending on who you call... in order to make bail. It's ok to string them along until you admit that it is a fundraiser. If you have a smart phone (this was a while ago) you can take photos with the police on duty or behind bars to "verify". Chief says you can stay for an hour - or longer depending on who is on duty."

It was fun. Only four of us had the spare time, but we just stood in the cells, took photos and called people who either had a good sense of humor or had $$ to burn and made our case as to why they should send us money to get out of jail.

This was right after breakfast so we were in the jail by 8:05am and started calling people and pretending it was our one phone call.

Some of us did it as a prank and played it serious, some of us just blatantly said it was a fund raiser and that bail money would go toward our donations to the food bank or whatever project it was at the time.

Guys, it was literally zero planning except one person set it up with the police chief and a couple of cops - and at the club meeting that morning we learned about it, went for maybe be 90 minutes and made a couple thousand bucks between the four of us.

Depending on your members, it can be a pretty humorous gag and people like to give when they laugh.

We are in a seasonal/tourist town. Need a GREAT idea for fundraising with one big event.