Jayne Hulbert and her husband, Gene, get ready for the District 5150 Road Rally to End Polio in 2020.

 

Ed Note: World Polio day is October 24, Capital City Celebrates with banners on the streetlight poles in downtown Concord, NH

 

Last year, when I learned that Rotary had created the fundraiser site, Raise for Rotary, I immediately knew I wanted to use it. I am always looking for ways to make it as easy as possible for people to donate to The Rotary Foundation. As part of District 5150’s PolioPlus fundraising campaign we set up our first Raise for Rotary website. It was a huge success.

The set-up of the Raise for Rotary site was especially easy – something I am always looking for.  Shortly after I established the site, one of the Raise for Rotary staff got in touch with me to be sure things were going well. I was really impressed!

One of the neat things about the Raise for Rotary site is that I am notified immediately when a donation is made. Then I drop a special note of thanks to the individual. Remember, The Foundation sends the official thank you donation notification. It’s great being notified of “surprise” donations.

Another great feature is that other donations can be added to the Raise for Rotary site.  These donations are typically major gifts that I know about.  I check with the donor to be sure we can use their name and donation amount on the Raise for Rotary website. This is a fantastic way to inspire others to donate.

We have now set up this year’s Raise for Rotary polio fundraiser. Kirsten at the Raise for Rotary staff was terrific assisting me in re-naming this year’s fundraising campaign. It’s actually easier for a donor to go to our Raise for Rotary page instead of logging in through My Rotary. We have added flyers for two of our upcoming events: Truffle Shuffle to End Polio on 3 October and the Rotary Race to End Polio to coincide with World Polio Day, 24 October.

The site can easily be updated with thank you notes, flyers, photos and videos, or just about any information you’d like to include. It’s so easy to keep the site updated with new information. Adding those major gifts is a breeze.

We use the Raise for Rotary web link on a variety of announcements, emails, etc. This is a great way to market events as well as to fundraise for PolioPlus. We have a Rotary Foundation event in November – Up and Away with EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) – and we are seriously considering doing another Raise for Rotary site to support the fundraising efforts at the event.

The Raise for Rotary website is one of the best fundraising innovations Rotary has developed.