100 Ways to Celebrate Rotary
1. Create a giant birthday cake in the shape of a Rotary wheel, indicating how many years Rotary has been an organization and invite the community/media to share it.
2. Work with your local Chamber of Commerce to declare a Rotary Day in your town. Publicize a proclamation in schools, newspapers, TV, businesses and Web sites.
3. Utilize Rotary’s newspaper supplement on Humanity in Motion III, IV, and V highlighting local and international Rotary stories. Localize the piece by profiling exchange students, local projects and those who have benefited from Rotary service. Create a list of club members and their occupations in the community.
4. Conduct a billboard campaign highlighting Rotary’s continued service locally and globally to show the good Rotary has accomplished.
5. Create a Rotary Day podcast with a panel of Rotarians discussing service projects. Send it to your local media.
6. Organize a Rotary Day party and invite at-risk youth as the key guests.
7. Initiate a local poster or essay contest promoting volunteerism in conjunction with Rotary Day.
8. Collect pennies or equivalent currency in your country over the course of the year with the proceeds going to a local project on Rotary Day.
9. Encourage Rotary Ambassadorial or Peace Scholars to research and speak on Rotary history at the university he/she is attending.
10. Create a Rotary history speakers bureau where Rotary members in the community speak at the library, Chamber of Commerce, and schools on the value of volunteerism and use project examples from Rotary’s century of service.
11. Coordinate a run/walk in correlation with your town’s Rotary Day. Registration proceeds can go to one of your club’s service project.
12. Invite a Paul Harris impersonator to visit local schools to tell children the story of Rotary and its 100+ years of service. Also share the story of the founding and project contributions of local Rotary clubs.
13. Interview and record long-time Rotary members about their understanding of Rotary and Rotary’s contribution to volunteerism at home and around the world. Share the interviews at Rotary meetings, local library, schools and, if available, local cable stations.
14. Host a benefit concert in honor of Rotary Day. Bring together professional or student musicians or exchange students with musical talents.
15. Conduct a silent auction highlighting Rotary Day. Funds can benefit a local Rotary project.
16. Coordinate an international festival night with current and past Rotary ambassadorial scholars, GSE participants, youth exchange students and others who have traveled abroad through Rotary. Ask them to share their stories, journal entries, music, photos and how their Rotary experience has impacted their lives.
17. Create Rotary gift cards, greeting cards and or playing cards with key Rotary events, projects and people on them and give them as gifts.
18. Host a service project marathon. Have Rotarians, Rotaractors, Interactors and their families volunteer throughout a designated hour period—focusing on service in places and at times that need volunteers when most people are sleeping.
19. Coordinate with sister clubs around the world a Rotary Day of international service.Together, the clubs can work toward assisting projects in each other’s community or work together on a new initiative.
20. Hold a special observance or service project on Rotary Day in conjunction with a district assembly or conference and open the event to the public. A portion of the meeting can focus on Rotary history, service projects, and testimonials from long-time members. Invite Rotaractors and Interactors to participate.
21. Create a volunteerism display at your local library, historical society or museum featuring local and international Rotary projects as examples of community service.
22. Conduct or help sponsor a hot air balloon race, antique car show, airplane air show, etc. and incorporate Rotary Day as the race/show’s theme.
23. On Rotary Day, host a local peace symposium to promote Rotary’s Peace Center program.
24. Write an article or utilize print ads from Humanity in Motion and place them in community or university school newspapers highlighting what Rotary has accomplished locally and globally in the past and why Rotary remains relevant today.
25. In honor of Rotary Day, conduct a poetry or fiction-writing contest with volunteerism or civic service as the theme. Offer scholarships as prizes.
26. Hold a candlelight ceremony on Rotary Day where each candle represents a need in the community or abroad and invite the media to attend.
27. In honor of Rotary Day, highlight a family that has generations of Rotarians, Rotaractors, Interactors, or Youth Exchange students. Share the family story with the media.
28. Host a Rotary film/video festival featuring documentaries shot by Rotarians conducting community service at home and abroad. Ask the local library or historical society to host the event.
29. Coordinate a plastic duck race with each duck representing a Rotary year. Proceeds from any bets can help a local community project.
30. Write an article on the history of Rotary in your community. Focus on vocational, community, and international service. Submit it to your local newspaper for possible publication.
31. Conduct a telethon. Utilize local radio, public access television or other means to communicate with the public. Funds raised can go to a club project.
32. Ask prominent figures in your community to help promote Rotary Day. Invite them to speak at a club meeting, banquet or to promote the program through local media and make them an honorary Rotarian.
33. Develop a Rotary Day exhibit at the local post office. Use samples of Rotary stamps and highlight local and global Rotary projects.
34. Coordinate with a local television station (a morning talk show or evening news weather segment) to have local Rotarians “on air” in honor of Rotary Day. They can highlight Rotary history and local and international service efforts.
35. Organize a clip-a-thon on Rotary Day and have club members’ hair cut or shaved to benefit cancer survivors. Alert the media to the event.
36. Help Interactors develop volunteerism exhibits at their schools. Highlight Rotary’s history of community service and how students can participate with their local club’s efforts.
37. Conduct a volunteer fair at a local school. Share past and current volunteer projects. Invite students to get involved in the event.
38. Collect items for distribution to those in need, such as pairs of shoes, school supplies, coats, gloves, eyeglasses, etc. and distribute them during a Rotary Day event.
39. Create a list of top Rotary projects and share it with your local newspaper or magazine. Mention both local and international examples.
40. In honor of Rotary Day, organize and execute a service project that helps a local school. Conduct a “mock” Rotary meeting at the school to enlist students to help in the project planning. Invite education reporters to cover the event.
41. Invite members of other service organizations or community groups to a Rotary Day meeting, lunch, dinner or other event that honors partnerships in the community. Network with the other organizations and cooperate on a new community project together.
42. Organize a parade that highlights Rotary’s internationality and service projects from around the globe.
43. Youth Exchange students to help with decorating and/or riding on the float.
44.Create a Rotary wheel piñata and have children break it open at a Rotary Day event.
45. Invite past and current Rotary program participants and alumni to a Rotary Day celebration. Have a map available and ask guests to mark where they’ve lived, served and experienced Rotary friendship abroad.
46. Create a “Guinness Book of Records” of local Rotary clubs in the area. In it, include facts about clubs including the oldest, largest, first to admit women, most Paul Harris Fellows, largest service project, greatest amount contributed to the Rotary Foundation, greatest numbers of Rotary scholars sent and received, etc.
47. Highlight recognition of Rotary Day by having Rotarian shop/business owners display a Rotary poster or Rotary logo in their place of business.
48. Coordinate a Rotary Day “scavenger hunt” with Rotaractors and Interactors where participants must go to Rotarians’ places of business for clues to a riddle or pick up certain items related to Rotary or local Rotary project.
49. Promote Rotary’s vocational service and the “recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations” by compiling the ways Rotarians have served their local and global community through their profession. List different occupations and ways of service and send the list to the local newspaper.
50. Distribute Rotary logo bumper stickers to honor Rotary Day.
51. Coordinate with local authorities to have a street named after Rotary—particularly at the site of a key Rotary project or where the club meets. Ensure that a street sign with the name Rotary is correctly placed.
52. In honor of Rotary Day, create a Rotary airport display. Feature local and international service projects. Emphasize the “internationality” of Rotary.
53. Invite former peace scholars as speakers at a Rotary Day celebration.
54. At a local festival or similar, hold a Taste of Rotary featuring food representing various Rotary countries related to your club or district’s service. Decorate the booth with flags from the countries and provide information about Rotary at the booth.
55. Host a Rotary Day progressive meeting (or dinner) where, in keeping with the founders or Rotary, the meeting (or dinner) changes location. Feature highlights of Rotary history at each new location.
56. Sponsor a Rotary Day sporting event such as a volleyball competition, disabled baseball league, or other activity that gathers the community together. Share the Rotary story in a brochure or event program and distribute it to participants and spectators.
57. Conduct a Rotary Day conference or seminar focused on volunteerism. Invite representatives from community groups and offer tips and ideas about project development, management and networking. Invite an inspiring speaker to encourage those who serve others.
58. To commemorate Rotary Day, host a Rotary information booth/table at a street festival, farmer’s market or carnival. Offer baked goods for sale to raise money for a project and share the Rotary story with anyone who stops by.
59. In a newspaper ad or supplement, honor all those who contributed—with donations of time or money—to the eradication of polio. Include an article about Rotary’s PolioPlus program.
60. Hold a Rotary “immunization” day where—even in countries where polio is now a memory—Rotarians encourage children to receive other necessary, routine immunizations. Share information about Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio.
61. Help the environment on Rotary Day. Plant trees, initiate a recycling program or take part in a city-wide clean-up. Partner with Interactors and Rotaractors.
62. Conduct a public access or cable television program for Rotary Day. Use the History of Rotary video from the Rotary catalog, and supplement the program with information about local Rotary history and projects as well as Rotary television PSAs.
63. Coordinate with local authorities to have a giant Rotary wheel placed on a water tower or the tallest building in your town.
64. Conduct a Rotary Day “sweepstakes” horse race, puppy race or turtle race. Proceeds on any “bets” could go to local Rotary projects.
65. Organize a bowling outing with fellow Rotarians and invite your community. Proceeds from the league could help fund a community service project.
66. Organize a Rotary Day carnival for your community with proceeds going to a local community project.
67. Promote Rotary Day, by placing a Rotary PSA as a slide at a movie theater in your community.
68. Conduct a Rotary Day “dessert competition” with bakeries and restaurants in your area. Entry fees could benefit the local food pantry. Encourage the media to cover the competition.
69. Use the Rotary logo on promotional items and distribute them in your community.
70. Identify and honor the top volunteers in your community. Consult with other service organizations, schools, hospitals, and houses of worship for nominations. Contact the media to cover the honored volunteers and their volunteerism stories in honor of Rotary Day.
71. Create a “human” Rotary wheel by having Rotarians, Rotaractors, Interactors and others lie down in a field, sports stadium or park to create the design of a Rotary wheel. Invite the media to this photo opportunity.
72. Use the Rotary logo and have “temporary tattoos” created as a handout for children at a local outreach event.
73. As a gift to your community, build a Peace Pole – a monument with “peace written in various languages, and present it on Rotary Day.
74. Have a vocational service day at a local school which Rotarians visit and share about their occupation and Rotary service.
75. Coordinate a Rotary Day, wine and cheese tasting event. Offer vintages from throughout the Rotary years and share project highlights when introducing the new bottle for tasting.
76. Commission a limited edition sculpture, painting, sketch, etc. by a famous artist depicting the ideals of community service or volunteerism. Auction the piece for funds to support a local project.
77. Have a Rotary “dunk tank” at a local carnival where Rotarians and other community leaders can volunteer to be “targets.” Proceeds can benefit a local project.
78. Create a special page on the club/district Web site celebrating Rotary Day, and the history of Rotary in the area. Link to the Rotary History section on the Rotary International web site.
79. In honor of Rotary Day, profile a key volunteer on your club or district Web site.
80. Work with a local auto dealership to have a car decorated with Rotary wheels. Use the car as a pace car at a local racetrack.
81. Create a Rotary Day card and use it for correspondence within the district and to announce your Rotary Day event.
82. Launch a Rotary Day blog highlighting Rotary service projects.
83. Host a Rotary Day, music contest. Have participants sing Rotary songs or create a Rotary Day song of their own.
84. Invite the district’s first female Rotary member to share her perspective on the history of Rotary and to help raise awareness of women in Rotary. Invite the media to cover the presentation.
85. Develop Rotary Day window displays depicting the various efforts of Rotarians.
86. As part of a local community project, plant a Rotary Day flower or vegetable garden. When the plants have grown, contact the media for a photo opportunity.
87. Create a photography exhibit of “Rotary in Action.” Use either existing photos or have a professional photographer take quality images of Rotarians working on a local community or international project. Develop, mount and frame the photos for display at the local library, civic center or similar location.
88. Write a letter to the editor or opinion piece in honor of Rotary Day on reasons to volunteer. Send it to your local paper.
89. In honor of Rotary Day, use Web advertisements to link to your club or district’s Web site.
90. Publicize one of your club’s service projects on the anniversary of its inception on Rotary Day. Create a news release about your club’s role in the project, a timeline, and a summary of results, and send it to local media.
91. Purchase a full-page advertisement in your local newspaper, encouraging your community to celebrate Rotary Day.
92. Initiate a contest within your district to see which club can raise the most funds for a local service project. At the end of the contest, celebrate with a Rotary Day party.
93. Create a Rotary Day video highlighting your club or district’s service projects and post on YouTube.
94. Sponsor a multicultural forum on Rotary Day featuring program alumni, diplomats and academics.
95. Work with a local radio station and have a Rotary member who has done extensive local and international service be a guest disc jockey on Rotary Day.
96. Create an e-mail chain (not fundraiser) sharing Rotary opportunities in your community (i.e. ambassadorial scholarships, peace fellowships, etc.)
97. Organize a dog wash to benefit a local animal shelter on Rotary Day.
98. Support a teen “Job Fair” on Rotary Day hosted by Rotarians on Rotary Day.
99. Organize a club or district outing to a sporting event. Ask the stadium to air Rotary PSAs during the event.
100. Purchase street banners and display them on a prominent street in your town to commemorate Rotary Day.
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