Clean water is a basic need for human beings. When people, especially children, have access to clean water, they live healthier and more productive lives.
In response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, The Rotary Foundation has created a channel for donors to contribute funds to support relief efforts.
A new report from the Institute for Economics and Peace highlights grave ecological threats around the world — and suggests ways advocates can nurture a more benign environmental future.
Posted by John Hewko: General secretary and CEO of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation on Mar 11, 2022
One pillar of Rotary’s strength is its deep roots in the community. The key is to find that sweet spot — to keep our focus largely local, because that is where members have the greatest satisfaction and sense of accomplishment, yet make sure that these local activities are strategically channelled so that we can have a greater global impact.
We have overcome so many challenges these past two years and changed many lives. It brings me great joy that we have worked so hard this year to grow Rotary through the Each One, Bring One initiative. The result has been excellent membership growth. Let us keep up the momentum.
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 constituted a pandemic. Two years later it is important that we continue to draw on our expertise in disease prevention and treatment to help people worldwide cope with the continuing challenges. The pandemic continues to defy all expectations, but we cannot be frozen in fear. Our work is too important. It is also important that we make time for each other, and I urge you to register for the 2022 Rotary International Convention in Houston.
We can continue to build hope and spread peace by using our resources to help the most vulnerable. The pandemic has had an especially devastating impact on girls; on its first anniversary, Henrietta Fore, the executive director of UNICEF, said that "immediate action is needed to mitigate the toll on girls and their families." This need remains just as strong a year later. The pandemic has affected girls in unique ways — stunting their educational attainment, weakening their job prospects, and contributing to other terrible results such as child marriages and increased human trafficking.
Data from UNICEF reveals why our action is so essential. In the 2010s, important progress was made toward eliminating the practice of child marriage, and UNICEF estimates that 25 million such marriages were averted worldwide. Unfortunately, the pandemic reversed those positive trends, and as a result an additional 10 million girls are vulnerable to becoming child brides by the end of this decade.
This is why our focus on Empowering Girls is such vital work, and I am delighted that President-elect Jennifer Jones has committed to continuing this initiative. In my travels, I have witnessed many wonderful examples of club projects that back our Empowering Girls goals. But all Rotary members know that real change requires big efforts sustained over many years. This is the power of our global grants and actions taken within our areas of focus.
I encourage clubs to think of innovative ways to empower girls when designing their grant projects. Every step we take to improve education, health care, and economic opportunities for girls makes an important difference in helping them achieve their full potential. With opportunity we create hope, and with hope we address the root causes of conflict around the world, setting the stage for sustainable peace.
None of us know how long the COVID-19 virus will linger — and as an organization that has worked tirelessly for decades to eradicate polio, we understand better than most the difficult work that lies ahead. That is why we need to remain focused on what is possible — not feeling nostalgic for the way our lives were, but looking hopefully to a future that uses this opportunity to Serve to Change Lives. I look forward to continuing this good work with you.
Rotary has held a pretty special place in my life for the last 18 years. From knowing nothing about what Rotary is and does to knowing the potential power just makes me feel like I haven't experienced all that Rotary could deliver. Being part of a dynamic group of business leaders and doers in the early years only makes me wish I was back in that era again. Perhaps I wouldn't waste so much time getting involved.
Rotary is a serious and highly developed organisation of changemakers with tools and resources to do powerful and life-changing projects.
As I start pulling closed the strings of being President, I am reflecting on what my club has achieved over the last year. I look at each member and analyse their involvement, Rotary knowledge and commitment. While I am not entirely happy with the outcome I am encouraged by a number of members who are starting to see a bigger picture. This is in no small part due to our "behind the scenes" Mentors who are picking it up by their own volition. I have always believed that people who pick a job up because they believe in their own ability are better at delivering a high level outcome than a person who has just been allocated a job. These types of people also go out of their way to learn from others because they know they don't know everything which further adds value to a learning creative environment.
Our Club Mentors are not doing the job because someone gave it to them. They are doing the job because they could see a need and deliver an outcome. Just like building a greenhouse, there is always a need for people who can think outside the square, people who can pool resources and people who can work as a team to deliver an outcome. It is a simple but elegant model of achievement through cooperation.
Let's face it, people need to want to learn and develop to become the leader they want to be. No one can allocate that. That leader wants to be surrounded by other leaders who will challenge and grow them as people. These are the future people for our Club and self-appointed mentors are a good starting point because they have motivation towards strengthening the club.
I'm retired, I just want to wind down and fade away.
There is nothing wrong with being retired in Rotary. There is something wrong if you don't make an effort to pass on your experiences in your working life and in your glory years in Rotary. I get it that you love the Men's Shed and all the other distractions that suit your stage in life but Rotary is about keeping up with the times and renewing the tree to serve the community in the future. Retired people are an extremely important part of Rotary life because they have experience. Don't fade away, share your experience.
While some see Rotary as a social club, I see Rotary as a personal development Club with social benefits. There is an underlying current to serving the community in the best capacity that your Club can and that always feeds back into your personal development goals. Building a better community takes teamwork to make the dream work!
The 2022 ‘Clean Up Australia Day’ was held on Sunday 6th March.
“Thirty years ago, an “average Australian bloke”, Ian Kernan, disgusted by the pollution and rubbish entering our oceans, decided to organise a community event to collect rubbish within his own locality. This simple idea ignited an enthusiasm and desire in communities throughout Australia, to get involved and make a positive difference to our environment. As a result, ‘Clean Up Australia Day’ was born in 1990.”
A group of 15 Rotarians and friends from the Rotary Club of Berwick met to clean up Buchanan Park, as their contribution to the community and the ‘Clean Up Australia’ event.
The community project was organised with the City of Casey by Jen Marshall. Participants were supplied with rubbish bags, high Vis vests and gloves in various sizes, by the ‘Clean Up Australia Day’ organisation.
After morning tea followed by a safety talk, and despite the dull showery weather, work began at 10:20 am and the group worked efficiently to pick up a wide variety of rubbish throughout the park.
111kg of rubbish was collected, made up of 36kg of general rubbish and 75kg of hard rubbish, including paper, broken glass, fire extinguishers, several road signs, a metal post, a shopping trolley, a rotten table-top and assorted wood pieces.
In summary, a thoroughly enjoyable and productive time was had by all, and Buchanan Park was left spotlessly clean.
LAST CALL to join us and 100 of our friends at The Cameo Threatre in Belgrave on 19th March.
A pre-release screening of one of the most anticipated movies of 2022 – "The Duke", starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren
When: Saturday 19 March, 2022
Where: Cameo Cinema Belgrave
Time: 4.00 for 4.30pm start
Cost: $20.00 per person
This is Rotary End Polio Now fundraiser. Let’s get together to enjoy this feel good movie whilst supporting this amazing program to help stamp out polio once and for all!
The Duke is the true story of Kempton Bunton, a 60-year old taxi driver, who stole Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was, and remains, the only theft in the Gallery's history
Zone 8 Assistant Public Image Coordinator Roslyn Teirney will be running an online public image webinar on behalf of the Zone Public Image team, which will show you how our People of Action campaign can help 'IMAGINE' what's possible in our communities and highlight what we can achieve when community leaders join Rotary.
Rotary’s yearly fundraising effort is unique among charities
In hindsight, maybe Rotary should have called its Annual Fund something more exciting — the "Change the World Fund," perhaps? That would be a fitting name because the work supported by the Annual Fund has changed millions of lives around the world for the better and taught thousands to foster peace and understanding.
The primary driver of The Rotary Foundation’s annual fundraising effort instead goes by the name Annual Fund-SHARE. The "share" is what differentiates Rotary’s annual fund from those of other nonprofits. The funds raised are invested for three years. Then, after 5 percent is deducted for operating expenses, 47.5 percent of the funds become District Designated Funds (DDF) that can be directed by district leaders to Foundation grants. The other 47.5 percent is directed to the World Fund to be spent in communities where the need is greatest.
What is an annual fund? "It is the heart and soul of everything we do in fundraising," says fundraising consultant Ann Paton. She teaches nonprofit clients that while the term "annual fund" lacks a certain pizzazz, those funds can be a powerful vehicle to raise money for the soul-satisfying work that nonprofits do. "Donors [to an annual fund] will support you because they love your mission and will stay with you year to year if you reinforce how important the work is."
Rotarians have responded enthusiastically to both Rotary’s mission and the SHARE model. In 2020-21, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, almost 400,000 Rotary members worldwide donated to the Annual Fund. That’s an impressively high rate: More than 80 percent of Rotary clubs donated in the past Rotary year.
"Before I donated the first time, I did my research," notes Michael Bell, past district Rotary Foundation chair for District 7070 in southern Ontario. "The Foundation’s Annual Fund has become my favorite charity because 95 percent of donations go to programs." And nonprofit watchdog Charity Navigator has awarded the Foundation a perfect score of 100 in its ratings, with 14 consecutive years of 4-star ratings (its highest level).
When a club throws itself into an Annual Fund campaign, the results can be astonishing, even when the efforts start small. Two members of the Rotary Club of Prior Lake, Minnesota, for instance, decided a few years ago to start a concert by the lake. Their idea has grown into an event that attracts more than 30,000 people over two days, and it recently directed $60,000 to the Annual Fund. "We just needed to tell people what we were passionate about, and they responded," says Kyle Haugen, club member and Rotary public image coordinator for Zones 25B and 29.
Of course, because the world’s needs never grow smaller, Rotary could do more good worldwide if our Annual Fund were larger. Here are some tips that can help you increase the amount your members contribute — and the amount those contributions will generate in DDF for your district.
Be a champion, like Bill.
"When Bill Patchett was District 7070 Foundation chair, we used to call him ‘Pickpocket,’" Bell laughs. "You had to hold on to your wallet when Bill came in the room because he was so passionate about The Rotary Foundation and the work we do." In his first year as chair, Patchett, a member of the Rotary Club of Cobourg, Ontario, raised an incredible US$830,000, almost tripling previous results. After Patchett’s death in 2019, Bell led a campaign to raise "A Mill for Bill" so Patchett could keep championing Rotary and picking pockets. And he met his goal.
Let the work do the talking.
You’ll have more success raising funds if you focus on telling the stories of just a few of Rotary’s world-changing or local projects in the areas of focus that most interest your members. As David C. Forward writes in his book celebrating the 100th anniversary of The Rotary Foundation, Doing Good in the World, "The philosophy has always been that if people knew how Rotary Foundation grants and programs are making the world a better place — they will want to contribute."
Celebrate success — and ask again.
It’s vitally important to report to your donors how their contributions were used — the more specific the story, the better. Those successes can help motivate donors to give again next year.
So, just ask. Both members and nonmembers can donate today at rotary.org/donate. (What, you didn’t expect us to ask?)
— NANCY SHEPHERDSON
Nancy Shepherdson is a freelance writer and member of the Rotary Club of Lake Zurich, Illinois, where she participates in the Annual Fund giving program.
Note: The money passed onto District 9820 from the Annual fund has provided major support for the Rotary Club of Berwick projects. Our Grassmere Wetlands project is our current local project waiting for completion. The Rotary Foundation has provided funds to the Hospital project in Halmahera, Robotics for kids, Blazeaid Trailers, Water project for the Philipines, Hospital equipment to New Jersey USA and hopefully equipment to go to Zimbabwe as a Cluster project.
Our Club has a good number of supporters of the Rotary Foundation who donate each year through the Centurion Club. We also have members donating at a higher level and the Club itself supports the Rotary Foundation in its end of year distributions. Without the Rotary Foundation, we cannot reach further into whatever project we want to do. It provides funds, resources and accountability to ensure the best outcome and long term sustainability for the project.
Members donating to the Rotary Foundation also contribute towards their personal PHFs. There are two ways to earn a PHF. The first is to be recognized and awarded a PHF. The second is to earn a PHF through personal giving. Either way, Rotary is winning because it enables Clubs access to extra funds to do worthwhile projects in the community and globally.
Posted by extracted from The Rotarian
on Mar 11, 2022
Rotary’s Action Plan charts a bold future
More than a century ago, Rotary pioneered a new model of service leadership grounded in person-to-person connections. Today, those connections are a network that spans the globe — bridging cultural, linguistic, generational, and geographic barriers — and shares the vision of a better world.
"Every so often, certainly every century or so, an organization needs to reach an inflection point," says John Hewko, the general secretary and CEO of Rotary International. "I believe that, for Rotary, this is that point. We need to take a look in the mirror, asking hard questions and making self-assessments."
Like other humanitarian organizations, Rotary is facing its own challenges. Over the past decade, membership has dropped by as much as 18 percent in some parts of the world; during the 2020-21 Rotary year, more than 12,000 members left the organization.
"The world today is not the same as it was when Rotary began in 1905," Hewko explains. "Demographics have shifted, the pace of change has accelerated, and technology has created new opportunities for connection and service. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that it is possible to change and that Rotary has to adapt."
Hewko says that Rotary’s Action Plan, a strategic road map that will guide the organization over the next few years, honors Rotary’s past and embraces its future, helping Rotary evolve as an organization that’s not only relevant but thriving.
Survey results
One of the multiple global surveys recently commissioned by Rotary involved more than 7,500 people in 15 countries. The survey asked participants if they had heard of Rotary and what would motivate them to join a service organization. The results show that 3 out of every 4 survey participants were aware of Rotary — and among those respondents, only two other service or charitable organizations had comparable levels of awareness. Yet though people knew about Rotary, most had only a vague idea of how club members do good in the world.
Also, only about 40 percent of survey respondents said they knew someone in Rotary — and just 35 percent said they saw Rotary as an organization for people like them.
The feedback from the survey and additional input from Rotary members and the public formed the foundation for the Action Plan.
Progress report
As it began to implement the Action Plan, RI developed several new strategic initiatives to advance the plan’s four priorities. Here are some highlights:
Increase our impact
◼ Working to develop consistent practices and tools for measuring and sharing Rotary’s positive, long-term change. Rotary clubs are encouraged to implement projects based on well-defined community needs and determine how best to measure both the incremental and enduring outcomes of the project and how they would lead to long-term positive change within the community.
◼ Ensuring that clubs and Rotary members are using resources for programs that align with the Action Plan and Rotary’s organizational strategy. Clubs can begin focusing their efforts by reviewing their activities and determining which ones can be streamlined or eliminated.
◼ Implementing Programs of Scale, a grant model that provides measurable and sustainable solutions to issues that affect more people in a large geographic area. The recipient of the second annual Programs of Scale award will be announced in June at the Rotary International Convention.
Expand our reach
◼ Enhancing Rotary’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement, which now reflects the organization’s renewed commitment to valuing, respecting, and welcoming everyone who works and interacts with us.
◼ Piloting and evaluating new products and participant models so that people can join Rotary and take action, no matter where they live.
Enhance participant engagement
◼ Working around the walls between "us" and "them" and thinking about "participants" as a word that encompasses all Rotary members and others — such as family members, partners, and alumni — who get involved in Rotary activities.
◼ Exploring new ways to measure member engagement and satisfaction. That information will assist clubs, districts, and RI as they determine how to deliver greater value and give people more reasons to stay involved in Rotary.
Increase our ability to adapt
◼ Using change management strategies throughout Rotary to become more agile and responsive when tackling operational issues.
What can clubs do to advance the Action Plan?
Clubs should develop their own strategic plan that aligns with and reflects the priorities and objectives of Rotary’s Action Plan. Research shows that clubs with strategic plans are more successful in engaging their members. To facilitate that process, use the Strategic Planning Guide and the What Clubs Can Do resource at my.rotary.org/learning-reference/about-rotary/action-plan.
