Every year more Rotarians are making The Rotary Foundation their charity of Choice and directing their dollars to power-up their passion.

Article by PDG Dennis Shore - Endowment / Major Gifts Adviser

The Rotary Foundation is the charity of choice for Rotarians because they know that more good can be done in the world through their giving – and they are giving.

Over recent years individuals have been the major source of contributions to The Rotary Foundation. In 2020-21, excluding the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, individuals (of which 95% were Rotarians or former Rotarians) contributed over US $187 million or just over 75% of total outright contributions to all Rotary Foundation funds. Rotary clubs and districts contributed just under 20%. The remaining 5% came from businesses, charities or government.

Almost 38% of Rotarians made a personal contribution to one or more of The Foundation funds. Just over 86% of clubs made a contribution. For the Annual Fund the corresponding contributions were 33.6% and 81.5%. For PolioPlus the contribution levels were 11.7% and 56.4%.

Rotarians may contribute any amount directly to Global Grants. Many Rotarians are contributing significant amounts with 1876 gifts of US $10,000 or more providing US $65.8 million to power Foundation projects.

An increasing number of Rotarians are choosing to provide directed gifts to support Global Grants for projects that they want to see realised. A Directed Gift of US $30,000 or more may support one or more global grants sponsored by a district chosen by the donor.

And what Areas of Focus do Rotarians prioritise? Disease prevention and treatment is far and away the target for Global Grants with 1020 grants for a value of nearly US $75 million. The table below shows the breakdown for the 6 Areas of Focus that were available in 2020-21. It will be interesting to see what the demand will be for projects supporting the environment in the years ahead.

GRANTS BY PRIMARY AREA OF FOCUS

If a Directed Gift is something that might be of interest to a reader, Mark Anderson (Mark.Anderson@rotary.org) or Dennis Shore (djshore@bigpond.net.au) can assist you to understand what is achievable but more importantly how to translate your passion into action.

Thank you to Debbie Vance for the graphics.