Webinar tips for First-timers

By Pam Russell (RRFC, zone 26) and Joan Firkins (RRFC, zone 25)

After holding their first webinar in November 2013, RRFCs Joan Firkins and Pam Russell wanted to share lessons learned. Both have been attendees or panelists on many webinars but as they found out, when you are an organizer the entire experience is different.

Joan and Pam spent time before the webinar reviewing training videos for GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar. These resources include great tips for first time tool users such as launching the application, setting up your first webinar or meeting in Citrix, and organizer training. GoToWebinar resources have tips for the specialty features available only to GoToWebinar license holders such as editing recordings, reporting basics, and panelists. Both sections have tips and best practices for engaging your audience and promoting your webinar.

To help you identify key points and learning goals for your webinar, they recommend creating polls and surveys before sending out the webinar invitation. Joan and Pam strongly recommend holding at least one practice session with both organizers and presenters. Participants can use this session to work out logistical details such as who is doing what during the webinar, how the questions will be handled, and practice using polls.

For the live webinar, Pam and Joan found it was very effective to have two organizers: one organizer can manage and run the presentation and the second organizer can moderate the session, keep an eye on timing, and read the questions coming in. Since the audience can’t see your face, they found it helpful to put photos of presenters and moderators in the presentation. If you print out the presentation with notes prior to the live webinar, you’ll be prepared to easily follow your script. Make sure the formatting is consistent across all the slides, providing a professional and cohesive image for the attendees.

When it comes to audio, Joan and Pam found it useful to advise panelists and attendees alike to shut down unnecessary programs on their computer such as Skype or email and to move their speakers and cell phones away from their microphones. This drastically cut back on the amount of interference.

Lastly, don’t be discouraged if only half your registrants show up on the webinar – many people register, knowing they can’t attend but would like to have the webinar recording sent to them later!

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Working together and leading by example: RRFCs and E/MGAs

Following a day of action-planning and team building with Rotary coordinators and Rotary public image coordinators, regional Rotary Foundation coordinators and Endowment/Major Gifts Advisers joined together from 7-8 March for two days of training focused on fundraising and their role for the upcoming Rotary year. On 7 March, Trustee Chair-elect John Kenny set the stage for a series of discussions when he laid out the Rotary Foundation Goals for 2014-15.

In breakout sessions, RRFCs and E/MGAs discussed the importance of mentoring and leading by example, two items which truly prepare one for his or her first year as a coordinator or adviser.

Coordinators and advisers talk about their year ahead on Friday, 7 March.

E/MGA Don Mebus closed out day one with an engaging summary of how coordinators and advisers serve as connectors, promoters, and fundraisers within their respective regions.

Saturday, 8 March, day two of the event, Penelope Cagney (Co-author of Global Fundraising: How the World is Changing the Rules of Philanthropy and CEO of the Cagney Company) shared insights on global fundraising trends drawn from the knowledge and expertise of over twenty international fundraisers and NPO experts. Penelope talked about seven worldwide giving trends (below), and shared her ideas about a universal optimism for philanthropy that spans the globe.

 Worldwide giving trends:

• There is a great growth in wealth worldwide, especially outside of the traditional giving regions.
• Nonprofit innovation is coming from everywhere, with new methods and the re-invigoration of old methods.
• Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are growing everywhere and some giant International NGOs are emerging around the world.
• There is a great debate focused about the roles of philanthropy and the state.
• Fundraising is becoming more professional with standards and qualifications being developed.
• Technology is important but nobody is sure how to it will be leveraged in the future
• Philanthropy thrives best in structured, regulated environments.

She finished her address by thanking Rotary and its volunteers for all that we have done around the world for philanthropy and our ability to work together to address problems worldwide.  Rotary is part of the history and part of the movement forward.

After Ms. Cagney’s address, Trustee Chair Dong-Kurn Lee thanked all of those who have given to the Rotary Foundation over the years and invited all members of the Arch C. Klumph Society to join him on stage.

RRFCs and E/MGAs then participated in discussion sessions about best practices for fundraising and working with donors.  The day ended with a keynote address from musician and Rotary peace follow alum, David LaMotte.

David LaMotte speaking at the 2014 Coordinator and Adviser Institute (photo courtesy of EMGA Chris Offer)

Director of Fundraising Eric Schmelling provided a farewell address to E/MGAs with a Rotary Foundation fundraising update.  He shared details about Rotary’s involvement in four different fundraising campaigns: Annual Fund, polio eradication, Major Gifts Initiative, and Endowment Fund.  He said that Rotary’s giving trends mirror some of the trends that Penelope Cagney shared earlier in the day.  More donors are giving online, donating to the Annual Fund and enrolling in Rotary Direct.  Overall, donations to the Rotary Foundation are up 16.2 percent worldwide.

On the final day of the training, Rotary International President-nominee K. R. Ravindran set the stage for discussions on the importance of stewardship in grants. His message: encourage district officials to be fully transparent in their work.

Want more information or images from the Institute? E/MGA Chris Offer shared some of his photos, RPIC Günes Ertas shared photos and videos of sessions, and all presentations are now available on your Rotary Workgroup!

Membership and Strengthening Rotary are focus of day two and three of 2014 Institute

For the past two days, the 2014 Coordinators and Advisers Institute focused on membership growth and Strengthening Rotary.

Rotary staff and Institute facilitators updated coordinators on the worldwide state of Rotary club membership and reviewed statistics on member retention, age and gender, and untapped markets.

This graph illustrates one of the challenges Rotary faces in regards to membership. How can we achieve greater membership growth?

Following the discussion on membership, the Institute focus centered on the Strengthening Rotary initiative. Coordinators had an opportunity to discuss Rotary’s essence, voice attributes, and how to apply these attributes to working with Rotarians in their region. More than half of the approximately ninety attendees indicated they are already incorporating the new voice and visual identity in their promotional materials!

In the next related session, coordinators applied these ideas to refreshing Rotary’s membership image.

Rotary Coordinators discuss innovative ways to engage members.

Day three began with remarks from Paul M. Rand, President and CEO of Zócalo Group. He spoke about global marketing and communications, with a specific focus on how the field has changed with the advent of social media and social business. In regard to brand success, he said, “It’s not how much you spend on advertisements anymore; it’s how much people are positively talking about and recommending you.”

Paul Rand speaks to attendees about how social business and social media is changing the face of branding.

After his exhilarating remarks, coordinators participated in training activities and group discussions on member engagement and retention, online marketing, and media outreach.

The day ended with action-planning and closing remarks from RI President-elect Gary C. K. Huang and RI President-nominee K. R. Ravindran.

Check out this great video created by RPIC Joe Otin with highlights from the training. 

First day of 2014 Coordinators and Advisers Institute off to a great start!

Rotary public image coordinators and Rotary coordinators joined together on Monday, 3 March for the first day of their annual training institute. The day began with opening remarks from Rotary International President Ron D. Burton and RI President-elect Gary Huang.

Attendees later broke into small discussion groups, where RPICs and RCs engaged in action-oriented discussion about their role and the year ahead. Coordinators shared best practices, success stories, and challenges from their region.

Coordinator discussions included the importance of utilizing social media expertise, training district and club leaders on how to effectively tell the Rotary story via social and traditional media, the efficiency afforded by online training sessions across vast geographical areas, as well as strategies for bringing all four regional leadership groups together to support the strategic plan.

In the afternoon session focused “Rotary Resources,” coordinators and staff specialists reviewed and practiced Rotary’s online resources with a focus on how these tools can be used for greater impact in the field. These tools include the Brand Center (one-stop shop for Rotary’s new brand materials, voice and visual identity), Idea Platform (a crowd-funding site for Rotarian projects), discussion groups within My Rotary, and other programs such as SlideShare and Facebook.

Rotary coordinator Gayle Knepper shared that she uses Rotary Club Central to start a conversation with a club or district. According to her, it helps those in the coordinator role to be more effective in their region.

At the end of the day, coordinators shared the lessons learned in each session before coming together for an evening of networking and fellowship.