Young professionals and university students may have unique insights that can assist your service project.

By Ellina Kushnir, Rotary staff

Your Rotary club has decided to do a service project. You’ve met with the local community and determined the needs they identify as the most pressing. You’ve put together a project plan, and are ready to roll up your sleeves and get started. Now what?

Here are 10 practical tips from the webinar, Lifecycle of a Service Project, Part 3, which focus on acquiring the resources you need to carry out an effective and sustainable project:

1. Start locally. The skills and knowledge your project needs may already be in the local community, in the form of NGOs, community-based organizations, or otherwise. Webinar panelist Ron Denham, a past district governor and member of the Rotary Club of Toronto Eglinton, Ontario, Canada, notes that when the local community invests resources, it is more likely to remain involved for the long haul.
2. Build partnerships. Partnerships provide expertise, local knowledge, and insights into local culture and values. They can also identify local sources of training for those who will maintain the project after your club’s involvement ends.
3. Seek a grant. By working with The Rotary Foundation through district and global grants, you harness the power of Rotary worldwide to have an even greater impact. Learn more on Rotary.org, or contact your District Grants Subcommittee Chair or your district’s Rotary Foundation Committee Chair.
4. Use Rotary Ideas. Our crowdsourcing platform makes it easy for you to post your project and share it through your social media channels, blogs, and club website.
5. Organize a Rotary Community Corps, a group of local people in the community who are not members of Rotary but work closely with a sponsoring Rotary club to assist with projects. They can help mobilize a community, ensure local culture and customs are incorporated, and ensure that local needs are met.
6. Consult a Rotarian Action Group to help you or your district conduct needs assessments, incorporate monitoring and evaluation components, and secure funding.
7. Check with your district. Every year, district governors appoint leaders to head service committees and assist clubs with service projects.
8. Network at Rotary events. Many partnerships begin with a face-to-face meeting at the Rotary International Convention, International Assembly, a regional project fair, or a zone or district event.
9. Connect with a Rotaract club. These young professionals and university students may have unique insights into a community’s needs, offer technical skills and expertise as volunteers or fundraisers, and be adept at promoting your project through social media.
10. Communicate often and openly. Frequent communication is a key to building relationships and acquiring needed resources.

Adapted from Rotary Service Connections. Get more resources to help ensure the success of your project throughout its lifecycle