To build our culture of giving, we need to start by helping Rotary members better understand The Rotary Foundation

Article by PDG Peter Garnett, Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator

What triggers you to do your contributing to our Charity? What action does your club take to encourage members to contribute to our Charity, The Rotary Foundation?

November is the month when the Rotary International focus is The Rotary Foundation. For me personally, this triggers a reminder for me to make my personal contributions as a Centurion and as a member of the Paul Harris Society.

I was taken by this article in a recent Rotary Leaders newsletter and felt it was worth sharing. Particularly during these challenging times we are experiencing as a result of COVID.

“At the Rotary institute in Brazil in 2019-20, RRFC (Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator) Hiroshi Shimuta’s talk about The Rotary Foundation explored the idea of encouraging members to make small donations to The Rotary Foundation on significant dates, such as during institutes, conferences, conventions, Rotary Foundation Month, club charter anniversaries, and staff members’ birthdays. The goal is to foster a culture of giving among Rotary members by continually showing them how their contributions are invested and how they benefit the global community.

We rely on the support of Club and District leaders, as well as regional Rotary Foundation Coordinators and their assistants. To give you an idea of the success we have achieved, in 2020-21, approximately 10% of the funds collected in Brazil came from small-donation campaigns. Last November, we had a campaign called Let’s Do Good in the World by Celebrating Rotary Foundation Month. In District 4740, out of 1,401 Rotarians, 480 participated.

To build our culture of giving, we need to start by helping Rotary members better understand The Rotary Foundation so that they’ll love it even more for all of the good that it does in the world.”

So I suggest this is something for all Districts and Clubs to consider:

• Establish a programme to inform your members about the Foundation and the good it does in the world.
• Adopt a “Rotary” significant date when you will encourage members to make small donations to the Foundation