February 8, 2023 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Mike opened the meeting as Braden was delayed.
Tony presented NH Trivia, extreme weather edition
50/50 was won by Denise, who added it to Tom’s tip.
Ken Evans won the chance to draw the ace of spades but was unsuccessful. The game goes on.
Mike announced that styrofoam bags have arrived. We can begin to plan for the actual event. Earth Day is Saturday, April 22, and he suggested that this would be a good day for this first collection. Ken Evans, Alex, Nancy, Russ, Lora, Tony, and Marybeth volunteered to be on the committee.
Peggy passed out posters for the rabies clinic for members to distribute around town.
Mike spoke about the Rotary Foundation. The Rotary Foundation is a 501(c)3 charity. Anyone can donate to the Foundation at Rotary.org, although the majority of donors are Rotarians. Decisions on how to spend the money are made by Rotarians, not hired outsiders. Past President of RI Shekar Mehta has said that the Foundation is an expression of our love for all humanity. The mission of the Foundation is to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, support of education, and reduction of poverty.
The Foundation has seven areas of focus: promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water and sanitation, saving mothers and children, supporting education, growing local economies, and supporting the environment.
The Foundation provides project funding via Global Grants, which must be at least $30,000, and smaller district grants. Our club has used district grants to fund the Skate park, Friends of the Pemi, the Livermore Falls project, and build the downtown amphitheater. District grants have also been used to support the Circle program and adaptive sports, and to install solar panels at Camp Mayhew. The Foundation also provides scholarships and vocational training teams. Finally, the Foundation’s polio eradication project is a huge international program, as are the Rotary Peace Centers.
District Grants can be for any project we want to do that is connected to one or more of our 7 areas of focus. Projects must have Rotarian participants, and adhere to stewardship guidelines. Clubs apply through the district. In contrast, Global Grants require a partner club in another country. Projects must also align with one of the areas of focus, include community participation, and have long-term sustainable and measurable results.
Scholarships can be funded by Global or District grants. Our district has set aside $5K for teacher enrichment programs. Vocational training teams travel and learn about their vocation or teach other professionals about their vocation. The Peace Centers work with 7 universities around the world and educate 130 peace scholars per year; participants can get a masters degree or a certificate of training. Graduates work throughout the world.
Ending polio has been a longstanding Rotary goal; we are close but we need to keep going, as there have been a few recent setbacks. Donors to the Rotary Foundation can choose one of three separate funds to support: Polio Plus, the annual fund, or the endowment, which provides security for our future. Rotary Direct allows donors to have a monthly donation charged to their credit card or debited from their bank account.
Money donated to the annual fund supports grants through the Share system. Donations to the annual fund are received and held for 3 years. Income earned during those 3 years underwrites all of the administrative costs of the foundation. At the end of the 3 year period, half of that money goes to district designated funds and is returned to district that the money came from. The other half of the money goes to the world fund. Each year our district raises about $60,000, so $30,000 is available for district grants, and 14-20 clubs in our district apply for these funds each year.
Global grants do need to reach a level of $30,000 before they can be funded. This is not that hard to do. For example, we come up with an idea for a grant and agree to raise $10,000. The world fund matches that with $5000. The district then comes up with another $10,000 in matching funds and that is in turn matched by the Foundation for a total of $35,000.
Rotary does provide for donor recognition. Each Rotarian is expected to donate $25/year; sustaining members are those who donate $100 per year. Paul Harris Fellows give $1000 over time, while the Paul Harris Society recognizes those who donate $1000/year. Major donors are those who have given at least $10,000. Arch Klumph was the Rotarian who decided to start the Foundation; the Arch Klumph Society recognizes those who donate at least $250,000 over time. Bequests are another source of funding.
80% of clubs have members who make donations, but only about 38% of Rotarians make a donation in a given year. A few years ago, during Bill’s tenure as president, we had a push to get all members of our club to be Paul Harris Fellows and we did achieve that goal! Reasons to give to the Foundation are: first, it’s our Foundation, under our control; second, the Foundation respects our donations with aggressive stewardship; third, we are working on Polio eradication, which is good for the whole world; and fourth, because we can and the foundation does great work!
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary