DG David’s presentation: David focused on the Rotary Foundation. Sine May 2018 he has visited 150+ clubs. He loves being the Dg because he is living the dream. He primarily wants to serve the clubs and help where he and his team can. He provided the perspective that there are:
2.5 billion people who don’t have access to clean water.
That a $200 loan in Mexico will create a new sustainable business.
That the Navajo water project is a wonderful project serving people who are our neighbors…who don’t have access to water.
And he went on to cite a few more dramatic problems that only Rotary can fix….because of our size, and impact on the world, low admin costs for TRF, and that we are trusted throughout the world. The Rotary Foundation is ranked 8thamong all of the world’s charities, and recognized by CNBC as the 3rdbest charity in the world for maintaining high standards of financial health, accountability, and transparency of reporting. Rotary is known TO SOLVE THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS ON THE PLANET. It’s a powerful organization that gets it done…inexpensively. But that only happens when members donate to the Rotary Foundation, not necessarily the club foundation. TRF is an effective organization that manages your contributions very well. Then 3 years they invest your money, 50% comes back to the District which shares that with the clubs thru District grants. Sooooo….your contribution is invested BOTH in International and community projects that our club chooses!!
Grants must be directed by TRF’s 6 Focus Areas: Literacy, maternal health care, clean water and sanitation, community and economic development, disease prevention and treatment. These 5 focus areas lead to the 6th area of focus Peace…which cannot happen when one of these areas is limited. Through Rotary and its organizational structure, Clubs, Districts and Zones, projects can be managed, giving and receiving clubs are accountable, and projects are sustained effectively.
On a District level David is focusing on 2 areas: “Rotary Direct” and the “Connect Thru Giving” Campaign. Rotary Direct is giving automatically thru your bank on a regular basis: monthly, quarterly or annually. This takes the pain out of writing a monthly check or bringing cash to a meeting. This process saves staff admin costs at TRF and marketing expense on an annual basis. There will be awards for the clubs with highest % participation, small club and large clubs, with many ways to win one of the 6 awards. The awards are in the form of District funds that come back from TRF, to be used in your community.
The “Connect Thru Giving Campaign” asks that a donor to provide $10,000 of new donation money to TRF. That can be done in several ways, a bequest, IRA, 401K, estate trust….many, many options. The District goal is to raise $2 Million dollars. We are well on our way at $1.2 million pledged to date. The celebration for those that participate will be held June 25thin Phoenix at the Sanctuary Resort. It will be a very special dinner to recognize the contributors and what TRF will do with the money.
