As the holiday season approaches, many Rotary clubs undertake special service projects related to the needs of other area nonprofits. Or perhaps you have a longstanding social event for which you need an accurate headcount. What’s the best way to get the word out about these activities? How do you sign up volunteers or participants, especially those who may miss a weekly meeting but are available to help with the project? After creating a calendar Event (covered in previous newsletters) which includes registration questions, you have a couple of options for conveying the invitation to your membership to participate.
The first is to go to PMail and Compose a message. Click the “To” button and select the recipients—all members, a specific committee, or particular individuals. Then begin entering your invitation in the Body of the message. Position your cursor where you want to insert a link that is personalized to the member to register for the event. Locate the Registration Link icon in the tool bar and click on it.
If in the setup of the Event you allowed Regrets, the hyperlink to regret will be included automatically when you click on the Registration Link icon.
Note: The Registration Link Includes a statement to the effect to not share the email with others as the links are personalized to each individual recipient. If a member forwards the PMail to another member who uses the link in the message, the registration will be entered for the first member, not the second.
Send your message.
The second method is to go to the Reports area and choose Event Reports. Open Event Report 25.20 – Not Registered for Event:
In the Report Setup, find your event with the dropdown. Pick your club from the available list. Then click on View on the upper right:
Initially, this report lists everyone in your club. Click on the PMail All button on the upper right. All your members will be pulled into the distribution of a PMail message. Then proceed the same as above to create your invitation and insert the personalized hyperlink to register.
After registration has been open for a while, you may want to send a reminder to those who have not registered. Return to Event Report 25.20. Only this time the PMail button will allow you to write to only those not yet registered or regretted.
Once you use this method to invite members to volunteer or participate in social activities, they will grasp the system and appreciate the ability to respond electronically as well as exclude themselves from repeated reminders when they know they have a schedule conflict. So, give it a try to get the word out about your next club project or party!