10 tips for conducting a successful service project

By Sheena Lilly, Rotary Membership staf

During 2013-14, with the help of more than 35 Rotarian presenters, we hosted a Lifecycle of
a Service Project webinar series to help you make lasting improvements in communities
around the world. Thank you to the more than 2,400 folks who joined us for these webinars
to learn from fellow members and share their own best practices for success.

Part 1 of the series gave an introduction to the project lifecycle concept. Watch a recording of
the webinar and read these practical tips for conducting a successful project:
1. Remember the four key stages to creating a service project:
PLAN Work with your community to identify a need
ACQUIRE RESOURCES Gather volunteers, subject matter experts, in-kind
contributions and funding
IMPLEMENT Now that you have a plan and resources; get to it! Promote your
project in local media and on social media.
EVALUATE Once the project is complete, take time to reflect on its impact,
its successes, its challenges, and lessons learned.

2. Appoint experienced leaders. Webinar panelist Marion Spence says one of the primary
lessons she has learned is to ensure your Rotary leadership skills are [being used
constructively]. Leadership is only as good as the Captain. Choose a good Captain.
3. Do your research. Participants in the introductory webinar agreed that the Areas of Focus
Guide is the most useful publication to consult when planning a service project. Find it, and
other great resources, on the Lifecycle of a Project web page.
4. Plan for the long term. Sustainability is crucial for long-term success, and must be part of
your plans from day one. Sustainability means providing lasting solutions that the benefiting
community is motivated toand capable ofmaintaining after Rotarys direct involvement
ends. You can help ensure sustainability by empowering community members to take on
responsibility for the project through training and capacity building.
5. Set goals and report achievements. Remember to update your service project goals
inRotary Club Central then see how close your estimate matches the actual resources and
funding you used. Use this information to plan even better projects in the future. Share best
practices with your groups!
6. Work with partners. Collaborate with Rotarys partners or develop your own partnerships
with organizations and government entities in your community.
7. Crowdsource for support. Are you looking for funding? A district or global grant from
Rotary may be available. Or use Rotary Ideas, Rotarys crowdsourcing tool, to find resources
for your project.
8. Prepare contracts when purchasing goods or services. Rotarian John D. reminds us
to make sure to get [all agreements] in writing on both sides of the project.
9. Connect with your project partners. Rotarian William M., suggests if at all possible,
have someone from your club visit the host club, meet the members involved in the project,
and visit the project at various stages.
10. Tell your project story to gain support. Rotarian Sherri M. suggests fundraising for a
purpose helps ensure success of fundraiser telling the story of how the funds raise will
change the lives of the beneficiaries helps volunteers focus energy on the fundraiser and
helps donors become willing partners in donating funds.
Understanding the Community
 By Mary Jo Jean-Francois, Area of Focus
Manager

Before implementing a project, you will want to get to know the community you will be
working with. Community assessment empowers people by giving them a voice in the
process. This will ultimately lead to higher impact, longer lasting change in the community
and will provide an equally satisfying experience for your club or district.

Part 2 of Lifecycle of a Service Project webinar series gave an overview of community needs
assessments with real life experiences from fellow Rotarians. Watch a recording of the
webinar and read these practical tips for conducting a community assessment:
1. Identify club goals. Knowing what your club finds important will help you identify projects
your members will be excited to undertake. The best projects come about when club goals
align with opportunities in a community. To accomplish this, panelist Tonya Gamble says her
club went through a five year visioning process to determine two thingsthat [we] wanted to
work with youth and wanted to do something that the community really needed. This led
them to build the first playground in their community that was 100% inclusive.
2. Remember, you are most likely an outsider. Although your club may be working on a
local project, you may still be viewed as an outsider to the beneficiary community for various
reasons. Keep an open mind as you approach a community and remember that you are
there to learn. If you are planning to be the international partner on a global grant, work with
the host Rotary club to assess the local community.
3. Get to know the community before beginning your assessment. Find out how the
community likes to communicate: in small groups, through big, town hall discussions, or
somewhere in between. Prepare open ended questions that allow community members to
freely answer your questions. Assessments can be done formally and/or informally: decide
what format your club members and members of the community are most comfortable with
before you begin.
4. Ask and listen. Ask the community you are working in about their goals, strengths, needs
and assets. Make sure to listen to their answers and avoid making any promises. Encourage
the community when they answer your questions by telling them how informative and
insightful their responses are. Identify some community members who can help to lead the
project. Ready to talk to the community but dont know where to start? Check out
Rotarys Community Assessment Tools publication for ideas.
5. Give all members of the community an equal voice. When going into a community,
consider all of the stakeholders you will come in contact with and how you can work with
them. Some members of the community may be illiterate. In some communities, women do
not feel comfortable sharing their opinions in front of fellow male members. Children are
often the most open, honest and reliable sources for information! Take time to speak with all
community members and continually reiterate to them that their voice is important.
6. Focus on building capacity. Be careful not to fall into a trap of asking only, What do you
need? Often times this will result in a list of materials. See if your club can assist in building
the capacity of a community through skill building, professional training, or by creating new
programming.
7. Dont forget about existing community strengths. While every community has needs,
communities also have assets and strengths. Identify a communitys assets, resources that
can be used to improve the quality of community life, and strengths to emphasize what the
community does have. Then determine whether these assets and strengths can be used to
meet the communitys needs. Remember, assets can be people, locations, goods,
organizations, networks, and more! Communities are often able to meet their own needs; all
it takes is facilitating a discussion or bringing together different stakeholders.
8. Identify potential partners. When talking with the community, ask to see if any other
trusted organizations are already working in the area. If the community feels these groups
are doing good work, consider connecting with them to see if there are areas where you can
partner to avoid duplicating efforts.
9. Think about sustainability (its not too early!) Although you are just in the planning
stages of your project, its important to start thinking about how your project will impact the
community in the long-term. Panelist Andre Brandmueller stresses obtaining the communitys
buy-in as the first step to ensure sustainability. For example, Andre spoke with teachers in
local schools to hear their needs and goals for their students to create a lot more excitement
around the project before it even began!
10. Make plans for measurement and evaluation now! When setting your objectives for a
project, make sure there are some concrete things that you can measure. Dont make your
objectives so broad that you wont be able to identify success. If this is your first time
measuring a project, keep your measurements simple by limiting them to things that can be
counted. Begin thinking about how you will use the information collected from your project to
assist you in making even better projects for the future. What worked? What didnt work?
How can this help us in the future?

Lifecycle of a service project webinar

lessons: Part 3
2 Replies
10 tips for securing resources for a successful service project

By Ellina Kushnir, Rotary Programs staf

Imagine this scenario: your club has conducted a community assessment and identified
which needs should be targeted through a service project, you have put together a project
plan, and now youre ready to roll up your sleeves and get started. Where and how do you
begin to fundraise? How do you find a global grants partner? How do you best recruit
volunteers? Where do you find knowledgeable subject matter experts that can lend a hand
and guide you along the way?

Part 3 of the Lifecycle of a Service Project webinar series focused on helping the Rotary
family acquire project resources to carry out impactful and sustainable initiatives. Watch a
recording of the webinar and read these practical tips to help find project support:
1. Start locally. Webinar panelist PDG Ron Denham urges clubs and districts to first
look for resources within the local community. Whether searching for funding, skilled
volunteers, in-kind donations, or partnerships, there is a chance that the local
community has the resources that are needed to help implement the project. And
when the local community invests resources in a project, it is also more likely to
remain involved for many years after the project has been implemented to ensure
long-term success.
2. Explore Rotary Grant options. Rotary Grants may be available to help fund Rotary
clubs and districts service projects.
3. Crowdsource for support. Rotarys crowdsourcing platform, Rotary Ideas, makes it
easy for Rotary clubs to request small contributions from a wide network. Clubs post
their project in need of assistance and then share the listing with their digital
networks through social media, blogs, emails, and websites. Contributors can
support projects directly through the tool and need not be part of the Rotary family.
4. Organize a Rotary Community Corps, a group of local people in the community
who are not members of Rotary but work closely with their sponsoring Rotary club to
assist with projects. These groups help mobilize a community, ensure local culture
and customs are captured in activities, and help ensure that local needs are met.
5. Consult a Rotarian Action Groups. These groups consist of members of the Rotary
family and provide technical expertise on service projects within a particular area of
focus. Currently 18 Rotarian Action Groups exist to help clubs and districts conduct
needs assessments, incorporate monitoring and evaluation components, and even
secure funding.
6. Build partnerships. Partnerships provide expertise, local knowledge, insights into
the local culture and values, and they provide a means of accessing local resources
to provide training and know-how PDG Denham says. Take the time to build
meaningful partnerships, particularly at the local level, for assistance with resources,
sustainability, technical expertise, and project longevity.
7. Consult a district leader. Every year, district governors appoint district leaders to
lead service committees and assist club and district level humanitarian initiatives.
8. Network at Rotary events. Many partnerships begin with a face-to-face meeting at a
Rotary event: the annual Rotary International Convention, International Assembly,
regional project fair, zone or district event, or while traveling and meeting with Rotary
clubs. Dont let these opportunities pass you by!
9. Engage young professionals. Rotarian Thuso G. also reminds us that involving
[youth and young professionals] brings energy and chances of continuity. Young
professionals also have innovative ideas to securing project needs and implementing
projects.
10. Remain transparent. Open, consistent communication is key to building
relationships and acquiring needed resources. Rotarian Jannine B. urges project
coordinators to keep everyone involved in the loop so avoid duplication of effort and
things dont slip through the crack.
Lifecycle of a service project webinar
lessons: Part 4
1 Reply
Implementing service projects

By Kathryn Nichols, Rotary Learning &

Development staf
Part 4 of the Lifecycle of a Service Projectwebinar series provides helpful project
management and implementation suggestions to help keep your project on track. Watch a
recording of the webinar and read these practical tips:
1. Delegate tasks to a skilled project team and select an organized project manager to
keep the team on track and guide project implementation.
2. Webinar panelists Rotarian Heather Frankle and Rotarian David Bobanick encourage
project leaders to promote collaborations. Frankle recommends reaching
consensus on decisions from the onset to create a cohesive project team.
3. Design and stick to a communication plan when working with partners to keep
everyone talking and informed. Schedule frequent check-ins with project partners. If
working with international partners, host regular conference calls to ensure everyone
is well informed.
4. Budget expenses slightly higher and income slightly lower than expected to
help cushion any unexpected financial challenges says Rotarian Bobanick.
5. Involve project partners with different skills and specific responsibilities to build
stronger teams and foster more idea sharing.
6. Keep detailed records of project expenses and achievements. This is important for
any project, but especially those that have received global grants spanning multiple
years. Rotarian Bobanick encourages establishing a tracking system to oversee
volunteer involvement, finances, and project progress.
 7. Make volunteer experiences fun, meaningful, and inclusive. Invite new or
prospective members to participate in a service project and experience Rotary
outside of a meeting environment.
8. Measure baseline data, define benchmarks for success, and measure
outcomes, to track the progress and success of a project.
9. Share project reports and budget information with project partners and recipients
on a quarterly or semi-annual basis.
10. Not everything in a project will go smoothly. Maintain a sense of humor and engage
in creative thinking when challenges present themselves.

Lifecycle of a service project webinar lessons: Part 5

3 Replies
10 tips for monitoring, evaluating, and promoting service project

By Hilary Leav, Rotary Strategy, Research &

Evaluation staf

In general, there are a few key principles to understanding monitoring and evaluation and
establishing a good plan.

Part 5 of the Lifecycle of a Service Project webinar series focused on helping the Rotary
family compare project goals, evaluate service successes and challenges and maximize
sustainability, and promote successful initiatives. Watch a recording of the webinar and read
these practical tips to help find project support:
1. Rotarian Tristam J. stresses that evaluation is never meant to judge people or
their actions. It is simply a tool that can help everyone stay on track, shift if
necessary to alternative strategies, modify outcomes and redesign resource
commitments.
2. Rotarian Terry Z. says good communication with the group being impacted by the
project is key to successful monitoring and evaluation.
3. Dont wait to develop your monitoring and evaluation plan until the end of the
project. Start thinking about measurement when conducting the needs assessment.
What will success look like and how you will know if you have achieved the results
intended as part of the project? You can then be sure that as you design the project,
the proper components are in place to track the results over time and determine if
you are making progress or whether adjustments to the project are necessary.
4. When designing your plan, remember that less is more, particularly if you are just
starting out in monitoring and evaluation. Monitoring is simply active involvement in
the projects implementation, making sure that the objectives are being met on the
established schedule; evaluation is checking your success against those objectives.
Stick to basic, easy to count measures, such as total number of direct beneficiaries,
number of teachers trained, or number of wells dug to track your projects. These
tangible items are the easiest to track achievement on. Just make sure you do not
double count!
5. Make sure the measures track your progress against your main project
objectives. A good monitoring and evaluation plan does not seek to track everything,
but rather to highlight success in a few key areas perhaps more importantly, the
most successful projects and monitoring and evaluation plans keep a modest scope!
6. Your proposed measures should tie directly with your projects anticipated
impact. For example, if you hosted training workshops with primary school teachers
and provided new teaching materials for them to implement new teaching methods, it
may be interesting to show that attendance increased as a result of your project, but
if your goal was to train teachers and provide materials, it may not be necessary to
track attendance for this specific project.
7. Try to identify and track quality measures. Counting activities and participants is a
good place to start, but does not necessarily show the quality of the project being
implemented. Measures that track increased knowledge, increased capacity for work
or income generation, or documented decreased incidence of water-borne diseases
are examples of quality measures. A good monitoring and evaluation plan,
particularly for a Rotary Foundation funded project, will include financial
resources specifically dedicated to monitoring and evaluation. Budget to contract
industry professionals that will help you monitor the project as youre working on it
and evaluate it once to assess whether your goals have been met. Rotary does not
expect Rotarians to become experts in monitoring and evaluation, just as Rotary
does not expect Rotarians to become experts in drilling wells for a water project.
8. Its perfectly acceptable even encouraged to find local experts to assist you in
collecting this information. In many cases, this may be a cooperating organization
that you are partnering with. As long as you have ready access to the information and
are actively part of the planning and implementation process, use the experts as
needed!
9. Share your story. Promote your success on Rotary Showcase, through local media
channels, and online via blogs, websites, and social media.
 10. Use your story as a marketing tool for your service project. If people see and
hear your story and are inspired by the impact youve made, theyll be more likely to
support your future service projects. Remember: your images and words are your
clubs personal brand.

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