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ROTARY CLUB OF GUELPH COMMITTEES FOR 2021-2022
 
 
CLUB COMMUNICATIONS (Avenue)
 
Marketing Committee
Provides marketing and promotional support to the Rotary Club of Guelph and associated Committees with the goal of ensuring that a comprehensive, organized, and meaningful integrated communications plan is developed and implemented for the Club overall and each specific project or initiative the Club undertakes. In addition, this team supports ongoing Rotary communications. 
 
This committee needs volunteers to:
  • Coordinate marketing campaigns for specific events, on the admin team
  • Support specific marketing campaigns with tactical support for social and other media, creative design, etc.
  • Support ongoing club communications such as the weekly Bulletin, club website, etc.
  • Share the workload for these tasks by having several volunteers each play a part.
ClubRunner / Canada Helps / Website / Weekly Bulletin
Will be a sub-committee of the Marketing Committee. 
 
CLUB OPERATIONS (Avenue)
 
Archives
Receives, sorts and stores our Club’s archival material, both physical and digital, in order to preserve the history of the Rotary Club of Guelph.
 
Club Meetings
For in-person meetings, this committee ensures that the physical set-up for each meeting is in place including handling of lunch tickets and monies, and setting up and storing the badge cabinet, flags, banners, bell and podium.
 
Operations
  • For in-person meetings and events, this committee ensures that audio/visual equipment and displays are in place. 
  • For online participation, this team coordinates the technical requirements for virtual attendance.
  • Assistance is provided to speakers with AV requirements, as needed. 
Firesides
  • The annual Fireside meetings are of great importance in the life of our club, serving to inform the board of the thoughts and concerns as well as suggestions from the members at large.
  • The Firesides offer a time of fellowship in an informal atmosphere. 
    • Prior to Covid-19, these meetings were held in a host’s home. 
    • Since Covid-19 restrictions, these meetings moved to online participation. 
  • The Firesides committee identifies members who are willing to “host” a meeting with up to 10 other club members attending, and then coordinates which members join each Fireside discussion, when and where. 
  • A list of discussion topics is provided by the board, but group discussion is intentionally open to hear from members. 
Photography
  • Recruits, trains and schedules a team interested in developing and using their photography skills to tell the story of Rotary Guelph through its meetings, service projects and fundraising events.
  • Coordinates with external and internal communications teams to provide images for print, digital, social media and other communication channels.
Property
  • Conducts an inventory of the equipment and property of the Club.
  • Organizes and arranges for suitable storage.
  • Supervises the Club’s two rental units on Regal Road, for which keys are monitored.
  • Does upkeep and repairs on the small brick building in Riverside Park, used for Sparkles in the Park storage.
  • Manages the storage locker for the Club’s archives.
Members’ Handbook
Coordinates the annual preparation and printing of the Club’s printed Roster which contains member information, contacts, and other relevant material of use to members only. 
 
CLUB SERVICE (Avenue)
 
Electoral
  • Maintains awareness of member service and willingness to serve in elected positions.
  • Encourages eligible members to stand for election, operates the poll, reports the results, and recommends changes in the electoral process if needed.
  • The election of the Board of Directors is organized and scrutinized in accordance with the Club’s bylaws. 
Fellowship
  • Plans and organizes events and outings to promote fellowship amongst Club members and their families including Rotary After Hours get-togethers, Summer Picnic, Theatre, Guess who’s Coming to Dinner, Christmas Lunch, etc.
  • A sub-committee for ‘Care and Concern’ is responsible for sending expressions of condolence and support to members on behalf of the Club when they need to be remembered, have missed many meetings without reason, etc.  
Membership Development
  • Attracts new members.
  • Plans and delivers new member orientation and mentoring.
  • This committee also solicits member feedback and other observations to help monitor member engagement.
  • Recommends action to achieve higher retention rates.  
Programs
  • Organizes quality programs / speakers of general interest for weekly meetings and arranges an introducer, a thanker and other guests as appropriate, confirming all arrangements with the Club President in advance. 
  • For in-person meetings at the ICC, this includes arranging head table guests.
  • In the event that the ICC or a Rotary zoom link is not available for a particular meeting, this Committee makes alternative arrangements.
  • For speakers of extraordinary calibre, the Program Committee will engage the assistance of the Marketing Committee to publicize the event well in advance with the goal of encouraging maximum attendance by Club members and their guests, as well as members of the Press and Public.  
 
COMMUNITY SERVICE (Avenue)
 
Children & Youth
  • Supports children and youth in the community (up to age 25) in the areas of health, education, protection, social development, life enrichment and leadership development.
  • Focuses on providing both Funding and Service. 
Community Outreach
  • Designs programs to improve the quality of life for Seniors. A current program includes assisting financially needy seniors to acquire equipment/devices to continually live independently in a safe manner.
  • Receives, assesses and recommends to the Board on funding requests received by the Club for:
    • Causes not covered by the mandate of an existing committee
    • Unfunded needs that arise during the year from existing committees
Rotary Community Volunteers
This is a NEW committee that will reach out into the community to promote the value and need for volunteers required for various Rotary Club of Guelph projects. 
 
Environment
  • Develops and delivers projects to enhance the quality of the local environment and quality of life in Guelph.
  • Current project is the 13-year commitment to replant 100 acres near Guelph Lake, known as The Rotary Forest, which was intended for completion in 2021 (our Club’s 100 year anniversary) but delayed until spring 2022 due to Covid-19.
Indigenous Awareness
This committee aims to make a difference by:
  • LEARNING more about Canada's First Peoples, their history, culture and developments.
  • SHARING personal learning with others, to help Indigenous Awareness grow within our Club and community.
  • SUPPORTING positive change within Indigenous communities where possible and when invited.
  • Providing an annual Youth Award to a deserving Indigenous students. 
  • Learning about water quality within Indigenous communities and providing assistance when a need is identified.
 
INTERNATIONAL SERVICE (Avenue)
 
RI Foundation Committee
  • The Rotary International Foundation is the charitable arm of Rotary International.
  • Often abbreviated as TRF (The Rotary Foundation), it is an endowment fund that manages donations and funding for global projects like polio eradication, promoting peace, providing clean water and sanitation, improving the environment, etc. When Rotary Clubs identify a project that they want to support to make the world a better place, they can apply to the RI Foundation for a global grant to match the funds already raised by the club(s) for that project.
  • The Rotary Club of Guelph’s RI Foundation Committee supports the raising of contributions toward the RI Foundation to help fund life-changing projects.
 
Peace Building Community
This is a NEW committee that will pioneer our club’s efforts in furthering understanding and promoting peace.  
 
  • A key goal will be bringing Peace Fellowship to a local level.  
  • This committee will request all active Rotarians and Committees to analyze how each activity or project that we engage in promotes peace within the local, national and world communities.
  • Starting 2021-2022, our District 7080 has set a five-year goal of having all District Rotary Clubs become a Peace Builder Club. The Rotary Club of Guelph supports this goal. 
 
World Community Service
  • This committee supports international projects deemed feasible by the Club and may include a number of locations as shown through the sub-committees shown below.
  • The committee receives and assesses requests for additional international projects that would benefit from a hand-up.
  • The committee also champions the ShelterBox program which provides emergency shelter and disaster relief worldwide.
  • Funds are raised through local Rotary programs as well as Global (matching) Grants through the Rotary International Foundation endowment fund. Where possible, members also raise independent funds from sources outside of Rotary. 
  • Sub-committees work in teams, often committing to work on specific projects for 1-3 years.
 
  • India (sub-committee of World Community Service)
 
  • Lesotho (sub-committee of World Community Service)
 
  • Uganda (sub-committee of World Community Service)
 
  • Latin America (sub-committee of World Community Service)
 
  • Cameroon (sub-committee of World Community Service)
 
  • ShelterBox (sub-committee of World Community Service)
 
REVENUE (Avenue)
 
Canada Day 2022
Since 1992, the Rotary Club of Guelph has arranged a very popular community event to celebrate Canada Day. It typically attracts over forty thousand people.
  • It is a major service project of our Club, supporting community spirit and national pride.
  • Traditionally held at Riverside Park, it includes a midway, food vendors, beer tent, musical acts, family activities, a Citizenship Ceremony, and culminates with the best fireworks display in the area. 
  • Gate donations and sponsorships offset direct expenses, with any excess revenues flowing straight to deliver of service projects, with zero administration costs. 
Christmas in the Bag 2021
  • This was a highly successful new fundraiser introduced by a new Club member for Christmas 2020, in the middle of Covid-19 restrictions.
  • Gift bags were assembled with coupons and items purchased from local businesses and each bag-purchase included a tax receiptable donation to support community charities. 
  • Safe, contactless pickup was arranged prior to Christmas, so that gift bags could be presented by purchasers to family, friends, employees, volunteers, etc.
  • Based on the resounding success of the pilot program in 2020, this event is planned again for Christmas 2021.
Corporate Coordinating
  • Maintains an active and archived contact database of all supporters for all fundraising events for both Cash and In-Kind donations.
  • Facilitates a coordinated approach in:
    • Seeking corporate sponsors and donors for all Club fundraising events.
    • Developing and maintaining a standard set of recognition and benefit protocols for the different levels of sponsorship and donation contribution.
  • In collaboration with fundraising committees, ensures that:
    • All sponsorship and donation pledges are received.
    • The promised recognition for the sponsor and/or donor contributions is received at the corporate and event level.
    • An appropriate club thank you letter goes out to all sponsors each year.
  • Facilitates development of a coordinated strategy and implementation plan to maximize sponsorships and donations from corporate partners – specially including the identification and approaches to new prospective sponsors and corporate partners.
  • Coordinates the sponsorship requests to, and contributions of, the City of Guelph and other corporate partners that support multiple Rotary Club of Guelph events and programs.
  • Completes an annual review of sponsorship and donor activities for presentation to the incoming Board of Directors and incoming fundraising chairs and fundraising champions regarding issues and challenges and any proposed changes to the Corporate Coordinating Committee (CCC) approach.
Fundraising Ideas
This is a NEW committee that will run Club think-tanks and brainstorms to identify and assess new fundraising ideas for our Club. 
 
Hockey Sports Challenge
  • Since 2005, our Club has arranged for associations and businesses in our community to participate in a friendly competition to raise funds for youth programs and other Rotary projects in the community.
  • Groups are encouraged to form teams to see who could raise the most money and who has the better hockey team.
  • This event is for all skill levels and anyone 16 years and above.
  • The goal is to enhance community spirit and fellowship.
Lobsterfest
Since 1980, our Club has hosted the annual Lobsterfest event in Guelph, making this our longest-running fundraiser. This fall event is now an iconic event in the Guelph social calendar.
  • Guests enjoy a wonderful dinner with fresh lobster cooked on-site, dancing to a live band, and the friendly rivalry of both a silent and live auction. 
  • The “down east casual” format includes both Lobster and Ribs enjoyed by several hundred participants.
Sparkles in the Park
Since 1998, during the darkest days of the year, Rotary transforms Guelph’s Riverside Park into a winter wonderland of lights and displays for the community to enjoy.
  • The event runs for two weeks and culminates on New Year’s Eve with a well-attended fireworks display.
  • Sponsorships by local businesses and donations by park visitors ensure that this event is sustainable year to year.
  • Excess revenue goes directly into community service projects without any administration cost.