EPIC FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Just click FIND A PROJECT and follow the simple instructions. You can search on the map, or by city name, project name, or the name of the sponsoring Rotary Club. Once you find a project you like, just click the Sign Up button on its Project Description page.
Yes, that would be fabulous! On many projects you can select morning and afternoon shifts when you sign up. To sign up for more than one project, after signing up for the first project, find another project and sign up for it.
Yes please! After signing up yourself, just start over to sign up a friend or family member. Just fill in the information as if you were them. (What about the waiver? Check with Shawn.)
Ask your Club’s EPIC Champion or President if they’ve finished entering the Project information and have made the Project active. If they have, try searching by Club Name or Project Name. If you still can’t find it, ask your Club Champion for help. If they need help, they can contact EPIC Support by clicking Contact Us.
Probably because the details on your Club’s Foundation haven’t been entered on the Club registration yet. The EPIC Foundation can’t accept donations for a Club until a 501(c)(3) is entered that we can send the donations to. If your Club doesn’t have a 501(c)(3) foundation, your Club’s EPIC Champion may be looking for a foundation willing to serve as a pass-through for your Club. Talk with your Champion.
Probably because the details on your Club’s Foundation haven’t been entered on the Club registration yet. The EPIC Foundation can’t accept donations for a Club until a 501(c)(3) is entered that we can send the donations to. If your Club doesn’t have a 501(c)(3) foundation, your Club’s EPIC Champion may be looking for a foundation willing to serve as a pass-through for your Club. Talk with your Champion.
Everyone with a heart for service. There are projects for every age and physical ability, and they’re organized for community participation. You’ll find Rotarians to be very welcoming… you may even make some new friends among fellow volunteers who share your desire to work together in service.
Just click FIND A PROJECT and follow the simple instructions. You can search on the map, or by city name, project name, or the name of the sponsoring Rotary Club. Once you find a project you like, just click the Sign Up button on its Project Description page.
Just click FIND A PROJECT and follow the simple instructions. You can search on the map, or by city name, project name, or the name of the sponsoring Rotary Club. Once you find a project you like, just click the Sign Up button on its Project Description page.
No way. We’re just glad you share an interest in making the community a better place for all. You’ll find Rotarians to be very welcoming.
Just ask any of us why we love Rotary. It’s all about giving back and friendships. Rotary is open to anyone with a heart for service. We’re happy to answer your questions and invite you to a Club meeting to check it out no pressure.
It could be the Club’s EPIC Champion, the Service Committee Chair, or a Member who is passionate about a project the Club is interested in doing. The Champion will be busy overseeing the entire effort – service, membership, fundraising, promotion – so it may be best if someone else leads the project. The primary qualifications are to be a self-starter, well-organized, good at anticipating what needs to be done, and sensitive to what will appeal to Club and Community Members.
Short answer… YES!
No matter what date we choose, there will always be Rotary Districts and Clubs with a conflict. So why don’t we make it an EPIC Week or Month? The reason is that it wouldn’t be nearly as newsworthy. No one has ever organized service projects all over the world ALL ON A SINGLE DAY. The news coverage this generates helps get the word out to our communities so they can sign up. Together we can make an even bigger impact.
Rotary Districts… let’s say your District Conference overlaps the EPIC Day. Consider asking all your Clubs to schedule their EPIC projects for the Saturday after, or any other date in May. They can still use the EPIC website, benefit from all that the EPIC Day offers, and be counted as participating.
Rotary Clubs… just schedule your EPIC project as close to the EPIC Day as you can. You can still use the EPIC website, benefit from all that the EPIC Day offers, and be counted as participating.
Rotary Members… suppose you’re out of town for your Club’s project. Two options. Some Clubs with date conflicts of their own will schedule projects on another date. Click FIND A PROJECT to sign up for one that works for you. Or… if you can’t serve on a project, you can still support your Club by fundraising or donating to it. Just click SIGN UP.
Yes. It can be as quick and easy as doing a project you were going to do anyway and just scheduling it for the EPIC Day. Or, if you have time, you may want to come up with a project designed to help increase membership. See Service Project Thoughts.
Yes, see Service Project Thoughts.
Yes, we encourage this. It’s a great way to build connections, and fun to build new friendships. The resulting project can be bigger, more impactful, and perhaps more appealing to community volunteers.
Yes. There are pros and cons. The upside can be that offering Club Members and the Community options may result in more participation. The downside can be that multiple projects may not be as fun for your Members as having the whole Club working together.
Yes, that would be fabulous! You’ll make an even bigger difference and have even more fun!
That’s up to each Club and depends on the nature of the project. Age limits are set by shift, so you can set an age limit for one shift and not another.
Clubs can take advantage of any, all, or none.
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Friends and Family. Every Club Member who signs up for to volunteer on a project automatically gets a personal fundraising page, like GoFundMe. It’s all set up and ready to use. They also get an email ready to send to their friends. Members don’t have to fundraise, but they at least get to see how easy it is.
A Club’s results depend on the expectations set by Club leaders. Options range from telling Members to ignore this option to encouraging every member to send at least a few emails. Because the emails can be sent to friends nationwide, this option may open a nice new source of revenue.
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Members. When Club Members sign up to volunteer on a project, they’re automatically given the opportunity to donate to the Club. It’s not required, and if a Club already has an annual giving campaign, Club leaders may choose to say donating is not expected. On the other hand, with some encouragement, this can also be a major source of revenue.
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Sponsors. Club Members with businesses may be willing to Sponsor the Club’s EPIC Day of Service. So might other businesses, given the benefits to the community of bringing people (including their employees) together in service. Clubs can set whatever price they can get for Sponsorships, and can recognize Sponsors in their communications, on their website, and with a sign at the project.
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Project Revenue. Some projects can generate their own revenue or donations. For example, one Club organized a free electronics recycling event. As cars lined up, Rotarians described all the great work their Club does and asked if they would like to donate. They raised $13,000! Could your Club do something similar?
That depends mostly on Club Leaders. If they choose to strongly encourage Members to fundraise and donate, an average of $200 to $400 per member is a realistic goal. It also depends on how many of the fundraising options the Club pursues. Last year’s top Club, with about 100 Members, raised roughly:
| $40,000 | Friends & Family (one member raised over $4,000) |
| $30,000 | Member donations |
| $30,000 | Sponsors (not all were Members’ businesses) |
| 0 | Project Revenue |
| $100,000 | Club Total |
90% or more! The credit card processor / platform fee is roughly 5.2%, but donors can cover those fees. The EPIC Foundation’s hard costs are shared by all the Clubs at 4.8%. The Foundation has no paid staff, only Rotary volunteers. If your Club raises $10,000, you’ll get a check for at least $9,000. Not many fundraisers offer that high a net!
Yes! You can fundraise via the EPIC website as long as your Club can specify another 501(c)(3) foundation that the EPIC Foundation can send your proceeds to. Examples of other 501( c)(3) foundations your Club can investigate include your District’s foundation, another Club’s foundation, or a foundation in the community.
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) makes it relatively easy for a 501(c)(3) (like the EPIC Foundation) to transfer funds to another 501(c)(3). However, the IRS requires more steps for a 501(c)(3) to pass along funds to a non-501(c)(3). Multiplied by hundreds of Clubs, those steps would require the EPIC Foundation to hire staff and reduce Clubs’ net on donations far below our target of 90%.
As soon as you find a foundation to serve as a pass-through for your Club, enter their details in your Club registration section of the EPIC website. The EPIC website will not be able to accept donations to your Club until those details are entered. It will be up to your Club and that other foundation to agree to an arrangement for that foundation to accept Epic Day payment on behalf of your club.
This only applies to fundraising through the EPIC website… i.e., donations from friends & family and donations by Club and Community Members as they sign up to volunteer.
If you can’t find a pass-through foundation, your Club can still:
- Set up a ClubRunner or DACdb page to accept donations
- Accept checks or cash
- Sell Sponsorships
- Do a Project that can generate revenue, like a recycling drive.
Please see the EPIC Fundraising resource.
Yes, but not through the EPIC website this year. The US Internal Revenue Service doesn’t make that easy. Rotary International has dozens of paid staff just to administer international donations and sending money to Clubs around the world. We’ll tackle this next year, and in the meantime…
This only applies to fundraising using the EPIC website… i.e., friends & family donations and donations by Club and Community Members as they sign up to volunteer for your project. You can still:
- Use ClubRunner (or whatever platform you use) to accept donations
- Accept checks or cash
- Sell Sponsorships
- Do a Project that generates revenue, like a recycling drive.
Please see the How To Fundraise resource.
When Rotary and Community Members sign up to volunteer on your Club’s project, they’ll have the opportunity to donate to your Club. Or they can just click the DONATE button at the top of any epicdayofservice.org web page.
Probably because the details on your Club’s Foundation haven’t been entered on the Club registration yet. The EPIC Foundation can’t accept donations for a Club until a 501(c)(3) is entered that we can send the donations to. If your Club doesn’t have a 501(c)(3) foundation, your Club’s EPIC Champion may be looking for a foundation willing to serve as a pass-through for your Club. Talk with your Champion.
Probably because the details on your Club’s Foundation haven’t been entered on the Club registration yet. The EPIC Foundation can’t accept donations for a Club until a 501(c)(3) is entered that we can send the donations to. If your Club doesn’t have a 501(c)(3) foundation, your Club’s EPIC Champion may be looking for a foundation willing to serve as a pass-through for your Club. Talk with your Champion.
All donations via the EPIC website go to a central collection point. The EPIC Day of Service Foundation will serve in this role and has applied for tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status. While we await IRS approval, the Denver Southeast Rotary Club Foundation has agreed to serve as the interim collection point. Shortly after the EPIC Day, the EPIC Foundation will send a check to every Club for all the donations they raised via the EPIC website. The credit card processor’s and platform’s fees of about 5.2% are deducted, and all the Clubs share EPIC Foundation out-of-pocket expenses of 4.8%.
No. We can’t imagine they’d want to ask their friends & family to donate to Rotary when they’re not a member themselves. However… when Community Members sign up to volunteer on the EPIC website, they do have an option to donate to the Project’s Sponsoring Club.
No, it’s optional. But we’ve seldom heard a Club say, “We have too much money”. With 4 easy options for fundraising, we’re always a bit surprised when a Club doesn’t take advantage of at least one or two. As for Members, who among us hasn’t happily supported friends & family across the country with donations? Have we asked them to support our worthy cause? We make it so easy, maybe it’s time.
Of course! You can also still fundraise. Just visit www.epicdayofservice.org. To Fundraise, click the SIGN UP button at the top of the page and follow the instructions. You’ll have the opportunity to donate during the process. To Donate only, click the DONATE button at the top.
All donations via the EPIC website go to a central collection point. The EPIC Day of Service Foundation will serve in this role and has applied for tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status. While we await IRS approval, the Denver Southeast Rotary Club Foundation has agreed to serve as the interim collection point. Each donor automatically receives a Thank You and tax receipt from the foundation.
Yes. It’s ready to use as-is, but top fundraisers will often personalize it with their photo, edited text, and a higher fundraising goal. Shawn – instructions?
Yes. It’s ready to send as-is, but top fundraisers will often add something about the project they’re volunteering on, especially if it pulls on donor’s heartstrings.
Yes, but not through the EPIC website this year. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service doesn’t make that easy. Rotary International has dozens of paid staff just to administer international donations and sending funds to Clubs around the world. We’re working hard to tackle this
It’s all about engaging potential members, current members, and past members.
Potential Members. Start with a Project that has broad appeal for both Club and Community Members. It should be fun and sociable. Then promote the heck out of it… the EPIC website makes it easy for everyone to sign up to volunteer. Ask Members to invite friends and family to sign up. Your Club can send out the Club Press Release and post Project Flyers around town. Your District can promote on a regional level using the News Station Pitch , taking advantage of how newsworthy the EPIC Day of Service is. Consider how to promote to groups most likely to enjoy your Club… maybe not young parents busy with raising kids and establishing their careers, unless that’s who your Club is designed for.
Past Members. Every Club has underactive Members. Use the EPIC Day to re-engage and retain them. Club Leaders can make this an “All Hands On Deck” Project. Help all your Members remember how fun and rewarding it is to serve alongside their friends. It’s why they joined in the first place!
Current Members. Reach out to your alumni and offer them a chance to enjoy all the friends they haven’t seen in a while. It would be great to see them again!
Make the EPIC Day fun. Welcome everyone warmly, especially potential and past Members. Have nametags. Show an interest in everyone. Play music. Maybe host a barbecue afterwards.
No selling. At least not on the EPIC Day. Members might casually steer a conversation by saying something like “I’m always curious what people know about Rotary.” Members can talk about what they enjoy about the Club, but not why others should join. Don’t have membership applications there, but do sign people in, and take notes on who might be interested in joining and who they talked with.
Follow Up. Designate someone or a committee to follow up with every potential and past member. Ask if they’d be interested in being a guest at a Club meeting to see what it’s like. Qualify them. What is it that might interest them? Would your meeting time and place work for them? Would dues be an issue? Let them know the Club is open to anyone with a heart for service, but don’t spend their time or yours if it’s not a good fit.
Engage. Create a super-effective process for bringing new members on board. Assign a “navigator” who is a good fit and has time to meet for coffee on a regular basis. Suggest that new members sit at different tables at the meetings to discover who they hit it off with. Ask new members to get active in a committee. If some Club members socialize outside the meetings, ask those members to invite a new member to join them. Build those friendships. You get the idea.
Learn. Capture for next year what worked well, what didn’t, and what you might want to do differently.
For more ideas, see the Membership Magnet resource.
The EPIC Day of Service is a public image opportunity like Districts and Clubs seldom get. It’s…
- making a difference on a global scale, all on one day
- serving community needs on a local level
- not just about Rotary, it’s bringing the entire community together
- making it simple for the community to volunteer and give back
Why do we want the public to volunteer? Many reasons:
- Increases the impact for our communities on the EPIC Day
- Serving side-by-side fosters connection and understanding
- Builds goodwill and support for Rotary and our other projects
- Service-minded volunteers may discover an affinity for Rotary
- More people, more fun
To learn more, please see the Public Image Playbook (coming soon).
EPIC collateral and a lot more can be found on the ROTARY MEMBERS > RESOURCES page.
Yes, assuming your District has identified a District Champion, they’re the one to ask. If you don’t know who it is, ask your District Governor.
Or… identify a Club Champion and ask them to get up to speed. See the Club Playbook and all the other useful information on the ROTARY MEMBERS > RESOURCES page.