District 9685 Rotary Foundation Success
Thanks to every Rotarian who supports The Rotary Foundation. You are making it possible for District 9685 to do so much good in the world!
Between 2020 and today, District 9685 has served as the International Sponsor for 58 global grant projects worth over $US 4,000,000. We are the most active District amongst the 21 districts in Australia/New Zealand. Even though we account for only about 5% of Rotarians, we generate 20% of all grant activity!
Why is this?
I think there are at least five reasons for our success:
- Our members have a better idea about how The Rotary Foundation works than many other Rotarians, thanks to our proximity to Rotary’s regional office in Norwest and the enthusiasm of PDG Bruce Allen, Mark Anderson and Rob Byrne over the years. I’m sure they help everyone who calls them, but it’s great to have them as Rotarians in District 9685!
- Our District Leaders have been passionate about “doing good in the world” through The Rotary Foundation. PDG Tony Castley and PDG David Rands developed the key internal policies and training materials to guide our clubs in making donations and in preparing grant applications.
- We have built partnerships with Rotarians overseas to assist in funding projects. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our Grants Chair, Haran Ramachandran, we have partnered with Districts in India and Sri Lanka that have raised most of the money themselves for projects in their countries and have provided funds to us for projects here in the Sydney area.
- We have made it easy for non-Rotarians to support our Global Grants by setting up special Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) projects. RAWCS make it easy for the community to make tax-deductible donations for specific projects, assisting in raising the matching funds needed to qualify for a global grant.
- Generous Rotarians have provided substantial gifts to The Rotary Foundation to support global grant applications from our District. The Annual Fund of The Rotary Foundation is the “Seed Bank” which enables our District to match money raised by clubs for a global grant. However, donations are stored for three years before becoming available. Additional ways to support global grants are to make pledges to specific grants, or make a Directed Gift which allows the donor to specify the District and Area of Focus to be supported. District 9685 clubs have used several of these Directed Gifts to magnify the money raised by clubs. More gifts are available!
If you have an idea for “doing good in the world,” please consider applying for either a Rotary Foundation District Grant or a Global Grant. The District training program for 2023/2024 is about to begin, and new funds will be available in the new Rotary year. All projects require you to raise a major portion of the funds needed – either from your club or from the community. To start the ball rolling (and to find out if anyone reads this note) I’m happy to offer a $100 personal donation to the first five Rotary Clubs in District 9685 whose current Foundation Chair sends me an email containing a project idea for 2023/2024. My email address is listed below.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
PP David Dean
District 9685 Rotary Foundation Chair
0412 798 526
PP Haran Ramachandran
Grants Subcommittee Chair
0419 980 529