foundation

Foundation Committee

Convenor :: John Lawson

Annual Giving
The Annual Programmes Fund is the primary source of support for the programmes of The Rotary Foundation and money from it is spent every year on the various activities undertaken by TRF. All our members are encouraged to make financial contributions to The Rotary Foundation and to review these annually. Those who sign up to become Rotary Foundation Sustaining Members increase our Club’s contribution to Rotary’s own charity and the tax can be claimed back.

Permanent Fund
This is a separate fund that is fuelled by individual Rotarian donations either through outright cash gifts or bequests pledged in wills. This fund remains in perpetuity where only income from investing this money and added interest is spent. Thus, a Rotarian’s donation remains to ‘do good in the world’ for ever!

Polio Plus
The proceeds from the Golf AM/AM in August will go to Polio Plus . The Foundation Committee will again run a Scotch Hop - details to be advised.

The Rotary Foundation is Rotary's own charity. It is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world. The mission of The Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. It has become one of the foremost non-governmental foundations with the educational support programme being the largest private scholarship endowment in the world.

It is said that every minute of every day Rotary will touch the lives of millions somewhere in the world.

The Rotary Foundation has the following programmes, including:-

• Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships
• Group Study Exchange
• Matching Grants for International Humanitarian Projects
• Disaster Relief Grants
• Peace Scholarships
• Polio Plus

PolioPlus, the most ambitious program in Rotary’s history, is the volunteer arm of the global partnership dedicated to eradicating polio. For more than 20 years, Rotary has led the private sector in the global effort to rid the world of this crippling disease. Today, PolioPlus and its role in the initiative is recognized worldwide as a model of public-private cooperation in pursuit of a humanitarian goal. Since 1985, Rotary has contributed $633 million to the effort.

In 2007, Rotary International announced a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to inject a much needed US$200 million into the global effort to eradicate polio. The Rotary Foundation received a $100 million Gates Foundation challenge grant, which Rotary will raise funds to match, dollar for dollar, over three years.

Rotary will spend the initial $100 million within one year in direct support of immunization activities carried out by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and UNICEF.

The polio eradication grant is one of the largest challenge grants ever given by the Gates Foundation and the largest grant received by Rotary in its 102 year history. In 2009 the Gates Foundation announced an additional grant of $255 million, to be matched by Rotary Foundation through to 2011/12.