Every club should aspire to undertake a Global Grant project in its lifetime. We all contribute to the Rotary Foundation so we should therefore take the opportunity, as a club, to gain the benefits, both personal and financial, such a project provides.

Article by PDG Euan Miller, Rotary Norwood and Cadre of Technical Advisers

Global Grant projects are not as difficult as you may think because there are extensive resources available in our region to help.

1. One of the most underutilised resources is the Cadre of Technical Advisers. Members are experienced Rotarians who are available to assist you. They have successfully completed, reviewed, and assessed multiple Global Grants. They offer their technical expertise and services, through the Rotary Foundation, to help clubs navigate both the application and delivery process. A list of them, together with their skill sets, is located in My Rotary under the Reports tab. It is the very last report under the Grants tab. There are nineteen in Australia and three in New Zealand. Just search by country to find them.
2. The minimum size of a Global Grant project is USD30,000. Every district has District Designated Funds (DDF) that clubs can access, which will be matched 80c to the $ by the Foundation. So, if your club provides USD5,000 and your district provides DDF of USD15,000 then, together with the USD12,000 automatically matched from the Rotary Foundation World Fund, you will have accumulated USD32,000 for your project. If USD5,000 is too much for a small club to raise, you can share the project with any number of clubs or get an outside partner to help meet your financial target.
3. The next step is to choose a project. The easiest way to do this is to work through a member of your club or another club in your district who has contacts in your Area of Focus or countries of interest. These contacts and cultural understandings make it so much easier to develop and manage the project.
4. You, as the international partner club, need to find a host Rotary club in your chosen country to partner the project. It is best, but not essential, for the host club to be based close to the project’s location. Sometimes this is difficult because developing countries may have few clubs, but it is not unusual for host clubs to manage more than one Global Grant project at a time. This can also be reversed. You can be the host club for a project in your country with an international partner from another developed country. The relationships developed between the two clubs become enduring and is one of the rewarding side benefits.
5. The application is made online and, apart from the detailed budget for the project, there are two critical elements that need to be completed.

• Community Needs assessment. You need to demonstrate by survey or consultation that the community really needs what you are offering. In fact, it is much better to survey the community needs first and then develop a solution that could be offered as a Global Grant. This is why a local contact through a Rotarian is so helpful.
• Sustainability. You need to demonstrate the completed project not only will meet its immediate goals, but its impact will extend over many years. This may mean that there needs to be a training component to upskill the benefiting local community.

We encourage your club to get out, find a suitable community project and to undertake a Global Grant project. It will be one of the most rewarding activities your club can get involved in.