Rotary Brand Central

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For more than 100 years, Rotary has united leaders who are committed to using their expertise to take action and improve their communities. Awareness of Rotary is high. But public understanding of who we are, what we do, and the value we bring to communities is concerningly low. It’s important that we tell our story in ways that help people everywhere understand what Rotary does, how we’re different, and why our work matters. Without this understanding, we can’t reach our full potential and bring more people together and improve even more communities worldwide.

No other organization is quite like Rotary. By using our unique voice consistently in all our messaging, we can ensure that our communications reflect our distinct character.  If we speak, write, and design in one voice, our communications will sound, read, and look unmistakably like Rotary. This will give our audiences a better understanding of who we are. Together, we can show the world that we’re people of action.

Rotary as a Brand

A brand is more than a logo. Rotary’s brand is much bigger than its wheel. It’s a perception: it’s how others think about us, not just how we see ourselves.    When we talk about the Rotary brand, we’re talking about the basic qualities and goals that unite all Rotary clubs and districts — it’s what we offer people who partner with us, join a club, or participate in our programs and projects. Our brand reflects our identity, our vision, and our essence, as well as our values. It represents our unique culture and our approach to creating lasting, positive change.
People’s perception of Rotary comes from their experiences with our clubs and programs, along with the stories we tell and the images we share. Compelling, consistent brand communications — together with a great experience — can strengthen our brand and help us engage and attract more members, donors, and partners.

Why promote Rotary?
The more Rotarians we have, the more good we can do in the world. We cannot attract more new Rotarians without telling the world what we are doing and why they would want to get in on the action! Even Rotary Founder Paul Harris thought promotion was important. He said, “In the promotion of understanding, it is important to reach large numbers – non-Rotarians as well as Rotarians – and you can not reach large numbers privately.”
Take the Time
Sometimes we spend so much time on the service we do that we don’t set aside the resources needed to tell anyone what we just did. We also need to make sure we’ve assigned this responsibility to someone with the time and skills to do the job well. Consider a member who has experience in marketing, advertising, promotion, or public relations to start. Make sure that the Rotarian who accepts the position completes the series of courses about Public Image found in Rotary’s Learning Center, found at learn.rotary.org.
Have a Plan
For each event or Rotary story to be promoted, consider outlining a public image plan. Who will you tell about it? How will you tell them? Do you need to schedule social media posts? When should signage be created? Who will take the photos? What kind of follow up should be considered? How will you document the impact of your funds raised or the service project you just did? That is very compelling information for press releases and social posts.
Setting a schedule for each of these kinds of activities will keep you on track to get the word out in a timely fashion, spread the information to maximize coverage of the event/story and hopefully generate more awareness for you!
Make Connections
Much of your external communications will rely on local media outlets to cover your news. Make sure you have contacts and can develop relationships with the key decision-makers in print, digital, and broadcast media to give you the best shot at getting your story featured. Know the difference between media relations and media notification and you will go far!
Don’t forget the unique, local opportunities like community newsletters or online-only news sources.
Tell Your Story

A good press release makes for a good story. In today’s world, people want to know how something relates to them or why they should care before they will dedicate time or interest in something new. Avoid sending out fact-based press releases that simply provide details on your upcoming event (the who, what, where), but rather feature how your event will impact the community, inspiring people to attend (the why!)   Click here for a quick guide on formatting a press release.

In today’s world, you don’t always have to submit a formal document like I outlined on the guide. You can copy and paste the content into an email submission. Be sure to include a great picture and caption about what’s in the picture!

Don’t Forget Rotarians
Whether new members or veterans, keeping your membership informed is an important part of your work as the PR or PI chair. An informed membership can make your job easier, as you will have an army of Rotarians equipped to speak on what we do! As much as possible, you will want to make sure members know about upcoming activities, details on how fundraisers and programs went and even the basics like who is speaking at your next meeting. This can be accomplished through social media, your club web site, email communications and newsletters.

Rotary Voice and Visual Identity guidelines download here  547Aen

There are many great resources available on Rotary.org   at the brand center  here’s screenshot of all that is there   (you must sign into your my rotary account.