PARTNERING WITH UNICEF

T his Hallowe'en Rotarians have an exceptional opportunity to combine the resources and long-term credibility of both Rotary and the UNICEF Trick of Treat for the children of the world campaign to generate more contributions to end polio.

Rotary clubs can add their organizational, managerial skills and reputation for local fiscal responsibility to make the UNICEF appeal more successful than ever.

By having each Rotary club contact every local school to participate as Rotary publicizes our ongoing commitment and involvement --- and emphasizes the urgent need for contributions NOW in this final push to knock out polio once and for all.

The added credibility that local Rotarians have will give needed thrust to generate greater contributions, encourage friends and neighbors to all contribute at one time, and provide Rotary clubs with an unexcelled opportunity to publicize their efforts in their local media.

Here's all you do:

1)   Get your club Board of Directors to approve the project for this coming Hallowe'en, Thursday evening, October 31st, 2002.  Focus on two issues:    (1)  the tremendous value of the project itself, as until we eliminate polio entirely, all children still will be at risk;  and  (2)   the time- value of doing this project:   this single project's results should show a greater return in contributions in one single night than we ever ask Rotarians to give from our own pockets in a year..... and could easily exceed $500 for each hour of Rotarian effort.

2)   Ask for -- or appoint -- a volunteer to coordinate this short-term UNICEF Polio project.   This should be an energetic, can-do member who can devote the time necessary this month to ram-rodding a quick and decisive effort to raise a great deal of money for this noble purpose.

3)   Announce to your club the decision to support this Polio fundraising project and ask for members to provide personal contacts and friends in schools in their own neighborhoods.

4)   Set some goals so that you have some idea of the magnitude of the potential for success in this project.   If you have TEN schools in your club area, and each school has TEN classrooms, and each classroom has TWENTY  students, and each student collects an average of only $25.00 each, then each class will collect $500, each school $5,000 and your club $50,000.
Not bad for a single night's work, eh?   ..... and just consider how much you can raise if you have more...... schools, classrooms, kids' collections!

5)   Offer incentive awards to the children, to the classrooms and to the schools who collect the most money.    Your club decides.   Individual awards might include savings bonds or Rotary pens;  class awards might include a dessert party at a local ice cream parlor or sponsoring some other special event; school awards could be equipment, supplies or an item the school could use.   Any or all of these could be tied to a recognition event planned later to provide even more publicity and exposure of your Rotary club in your community.

6)   Develop a budget for the cost of flyers being printed and for your contribution awards.
You might want some banners or posters for publicizing support for the UNICEF-Rotary Polio Partnership in the community, or possibly strategically placed billboards.  Your club will be responsible for all local flyers distributed by the children as well. That flyer will contain information that is specific to your club and community.

7)   Contact your local school superintendent to inform them that Rotary is actively supporting the UNICEF appeal and will be monitoring all collections this year. Ask for their active support in all of their schools.   Obtain a list of all schools and their administrators; and request that they inform the schools that Rotarians will be contacting them within the week.

8)   Design a public relations announcement for the media and have it ready to present to the school officials and to each of  your Rotary club members to explain how your Rotary club will be involved.   Or maybe you might want some public service announcements in local news media.   If you want district Rotary Foundation leaders to appear on behalf of your community, or to be interviewed by the print media, just ask us.  That goes for local news and talk shows on radio and TV as well.  All of these will increase anticipation by adults and generate greater acceptance of the children's efforts.  You are welcome to use the enclosed suggested PR release or contact us for further assistance at the district level.

9)   Ask your Rotary club members to each adopt a particular school in their own neighborhood, and assign them school administrators to contact the following week.  Every possible school should be included in the appeal.   It will be especially helpful if the Rotarians choose schools where they know teachers or administrators.

10)    If your clubs have sponsored Interact or Rotaract clubs, involve them and have them assign members to assist your Rotarians in their school contacts.   These young people may play a critical role in relating to students, gaining support and generating enthusiasm for this project.

11)   As well, see if the Interact club or some other local high school service club can sponsor their own Hallowe'en theme fundraiser using UNICEF material.  They could get substantial contributions from faculty, staff, family, and friends and neighbors as well as helping the Rotary club work with the younger children.

12)   Schedule a planning and operations session in the club by the third week of October to make certain each Rotarian (and Interactor or Rotaractor) know what they are to do. 

13)    Have each participating Rotarian(s) schedule a visit to their assigned school during the school day and meet with the Principal and/or Assistant Principal to explain Rotary's involvement and to answer any questions.   The Rotarian and Interactor/Rotaractor then should visit each classroom and explain the same information to the children.  They should give the materials to the teachers for distribution to the children on the 31st.   Ask the children to take a permission form home for their parent's signature, which must be returned to the teacher.   Be sure to ask the teacher to encourage all the children to get their forms signed and to have the forms returned to them in a timely manner so all the children can participate.

14)   Determine your total need for supplies needed by the total number of children and contact the District 7620 Project Coordinator as soon as you know your needs.  Remember, most UNICEF materials will have to be sent to us from Atlanta, so give us at least some lead time for ordering, delivery and distribution to your club.  (The Assistant Governors will be responsible for getting materials each club has ordered to you by Tuesday, 29th October)

15)   On Wednesday October 30th, have all materials delivered to the schools for distribution early in the day.  Ask the schools to get back to your coordinator if they will need more materials so they can be delivered no later than the morning of October 31st.

16)   Copy the suggested contribution forms, as well as the general flyer that should be sent home with each student to their families explaining the project.    This flyer can be used by children to solicit funds while trick-or-treating on Hallowe'en.   The club should have plenty of copies of this flyer to distribute throughout the school system to every participating child.

The procedure for the children should be as follows:

Children should be instructed to say:
"Trick or Treat..... and this year we are asking for donations to UNICEF through our local Rotary club to help end polio in the world.  We're competing with all the other schools in town to see who can collect the most money to fight polio.  You can make a cash donation or a check to the Rotary."

They then should hand a flyer to the person at the door. The flyer briefly explains Rotary's role and how close we are to success.  The flyer also should explain that all funds locally are being collected by the Rotary club for transmission to UNICEF in a single check, so please make their checks out to the local Rotary club charitable fund. (Your flyer should have the name of your local club foundation listed prominently for tax deductible purposes)

The flyer also will explain that total contributions in the community will be published in the local news media and that there are competitions between the local schools as to who will collect the most.

All donors should sign the contribution form with the amount contributed, whether in cash or by check.

All children should bring all their contributions to school on Friday with the contribution form.  Obviously all the funds collected should match the form for proper financial control.

17)   A club member should collect the funds and all contribution forms that same day.  The club can schedule their collation effort over the weekend or early the following week (in time to make a public announcement to the community of the results for publication). 

18)   All funds should be deposited into the club's charitable fund, and a single check for the net amount collected should be tendered to the District 7620 Charitable Fund.   The district then will credit your club with its proper contribution and submit the form to the Rotary Foundation for credit to your club's account.  If your Rotaract or Interact clubs have participated as well, then you should notify the District as to how you want the credit to be allocated.

District 7620 Treasurer George Kapusta then will submit a single check from our district to UNICEF.

Governor Bob Grill only was informed of this project at the Zone Institute this past weekend.   He immediately scheduled a representative of UNICEF to fly here for the Assistant Governor's meeting on October 7th.   The AGs will have all materials they need for initial distribution that day.  We will contact all AGs by Monday, September 30th to advise them of this upcoming event as ask them to contact each club personally that same day to get the first eight steps accomplished this week. 

Yes, this is short notice.  But look at the tremendous opportunity we have to perform quickly and effectively --- and in this short time provide a major part of our needed Polio Eradication-Fulfilling the Promise funding in one single project with the full support and participation of the universally-known Children's Fund of the United Nations (UNICEF).

Let's Roll!

If you have any questions, please call the UNICEF Polio Partners Project Coordinator PDG Rob Ketron at 410.464.2788 or email to interact@bigplanet.com .

GO TO the UNICEF Web Site for more information on the history of the UNICEF Trick or Treat programme and the goals of this year's collections.

IMG SRC