Highlights from the 2005-06 Rotary Foundation Trustees meetings

June 2006

The Trustees of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International met on 15-16 June 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The following are highlights of actions taken by the Trustees.

Administration

The Trustees added a fifth priority to the development of the Foundation’s Future Vision Plan: to simplify all programs and operations.

Fund Development and Recognition

The Trustees approved a 2006-07 worldwide Annual Programs Fund goal of US$120,000,000.

Programs

The Trustees established within the World Fund a reserve for PolioPlus contingencies and allocated US$19.1 million to that reserve.

The Trustees approved PolioPlus Grants for India, Somalia, and the WHO polio laboratory network.

Foundation Facts

Paul Harris Fellows:  1,011,551
Foundation Benefactors:  71,318
Major Donors:  7,456
30 June 2006

April 2006

The Trustees of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International met from 24-28 April 2006 in Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.  The following are highlights of actions taken.

Administration

The TRF Future Vision Committee presented the initial segments of the proposed Future Vision plan to the Trustees, who approved the following:

• Mission Statement:  The Mission of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International 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.
• Motto:  Doing good in the world
• Broad Priorities: Align program outcomes/descriptions with the Future Vision plan
  Increase participation and sense of ownership at district and club levels
  Provide sufficient resources to achieve the program goals
  Develop a business model that supports the Future Vision plan

Fund Development and Recognition

The Trustees agreed to provide a TRF acknowledgement certificate and folder on request to major donors who make outright gifts of US$10,000 or more, but whose cumulative giving does not qualify them for a higher level of major donor recognition.

The general secretary will provide a supplemental report on individual donor contributions on request to club, district and zone leaders, provided that the general secretary has determined that they are from countries that do not have comprehensive privacy laws that restrict the disclosure of such information.

Reaffirming the importance of raising a cumulative amount of US$95 million in named and endowed support for the Rotary World Peace Fellowship program expenses by 30 June 2015, the Trustees continue to encourage the RI Board and other Rotarians to identify, cultivate, and solicit major gifts of US$500,000 or more in coordination with the general secretary.  The Trustees also encourage districts to donate District Designated Funds to support Rotary World Peace Fellows and to become Rotary Centers Peacebuilder Districts.

Programs

Volunteer Service Grants is the new name for Individual Grants, which will be lifted from moratorium on 1 July 2006 for travel to begin on 1 October 2006.  Information concerning these grants is available on the RI website. [ FPO - link to volunteer service grants]

The Trustees extended the deadline to 30 June 2006 for the receipt of District Designated Fund contributions for disaster recovery accounts for Hurricanes Stan and Wilma in Mexico and Guatemala, Hurricane Wilma in Florida and the Caribbean and earthquake recovery in India and Pakistan.

The Trustees changed the award calculation for Ambassadorial Scholarships from individually determined amounts to flat grant amounts effective with the 2008-09 program year.  The SHARE option amounts were set as follows:

• Academic-Year Ambassadorial Scholarship and Multi-Year Ambassadorial Scholarships at US$23,000.
• Six-Month Ambassadorial Scholarship at US$15,000.
• Three-Month Cultural Ambassadorial Scholarship at US$10,000.

With this change, TRF will no longer have Lower Cost Scholarship District Designated Fund Credits to process, also effective with the 2008-09 program year.

The Trustees amended the selection process for Rotary Peace and Conflict Studies program participants as follows:

• TRF will review applications on a rolling basis, effective immediately.
• Applications must be received in time to be considered by the Rotary Peace and Conflict Studies Selection Committee or its executive committee.
• TRF will make admission decisions for program session I (July-September course) and session II (January-April course) based on the recommendations of the selection committee, effective with the 2006-07 program year.

Participants who successfully complete the Rotary Peace and Conflict Studies Program will be considered Rotary Foundation alumni.

The Trustees approved funding to offset the application and pre-departure costs incurred by Rotary World Peace Fellows who are from low-income countries.

The Trustees:

• Approved 17 Matching Grants involving Rotary clubs and districts in Australia, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, England, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Italy, Jamaica, Niger, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United States, and Zambia.
• Approved 11 3-H Grants involving Rotary clubs and districts in Canada, China, Ghana, Haiti, India, Kenya, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Uganda, and the United States.
• Looked with favor upon holding a Rotary World Peace Symposium that draws on the resources of the Rotary Centers program, to be held just before the 2007 RI Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, and requested the RI Board to include this symposium in the pre-convention program.
• Noted that an essential component of stewardship of grant funds is the preparation and submission of timely and accurate grant reports and established the goal that all districts and their member Rotary clubs are consistently 100 percent current and compliant with reporting requirements.

Finance

The Trustees approved a budget for total program award expenditures of US$103,187,500 in 2006-07.  They also adopted a budget of US$42,157,182 for program operations, fund development, general administration, and PolioPlus program operations of The Rotary Foundation during 2006-07.

Effective with the 2007-08 program year, the Trustees approved increasing the World Fund allocation to the Scholarships Fund Pool for Low-Income Countries to US$300,000 annually.

Foundation Facts

Paul Harris Fellows:  996,536
Foundation Benefactors:  69,899
Major Donors:  7,286
30 April 2006

February 2006

The Trustees of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International met on 15-16 February 2006 in San Diego, California, U.S.A. The following are highlights of actions taken.

Fund Development and Recognition

Forty-seven Rotarians were chosen to receive the Distinguished Service Award for their outstanding service to The Rotary Foundation. The Trustees also chose a winner of The Rotary Foundation Global Alumni Service to Humanity Award, for presentation at the 2006 (Malmö-Copenhagen) Convention.

With the recognition of the One Millionth Paul Harris Fellow rapidly approaching, the Trustees agreed to recognize one Paul Harris Fellow in each of the 34 zones as the One Millionth Paul Harris Fellow, and requested an update on achieving this milestone at their April 2006 meeting.

The Trustees expanded the role of the District Rotary Foundation Committee Chairman to assist the governor in selecting qualified recipients for Foundation awards.

Programs

The Trustees concurred with the November 2005 Board decision to establish a Disaster Relief program that will allow Rotarians to send contributions for specific disasters through a master account. This will augment the current processes of providing, through RI's web site, information resources on disaster relief efforts undertaken by local Rotary clubs and districts. Three sub-accounts under the master account were established for disaster recovery for the earthquake in India, Afghanistan and Pakistan; Hurricanes Stan and Wilma in Florida, USA, and for Hurricane Wilma in Mexico and Guatemala.

The Trustees recognized the critical funding needs of the PolioPlus Partners program, and appealed to district governors for District Designated Funds in support of this program.

The Trustees approved changes to the Rotary Centers for International Studies program as follows:

• Rotary Center host area districts are encouraged to consider appointing both a primary Rotarian host counselor and an assistant Rotarian host counselor, effective with the 2006-08 program year.
• Organizers of President-elect Training Seminars (both single- and multi-district) are encouraged, where appropriate, to invite Rotary World Peace Fellows and alumni to participate at PETS.
• Each Rotary Center director shall work together with their local Rotary Center host area coordinator in planning the Rotary Center annual seminar.
• Rotary districts comprised of more than one country are allowed to submit one endorsed Rotary World Peace Fellowship application from each country in the district, effective with the 2007-09 program year.
• Looked with favor upon the proposal for a Rotary World Peace Symposium to be held in conjunction with the 2007 Rotary International Convention as part of The Rotary Foundation's 90 th anniversary celebration and the 10 th anniversary of the Rotary Centers program.

The Trustees approved changes to the Scholarships Fund Pool for Low-Incoming Countries as follows:

• Multi-Year Ambassadorial Scholarships through the fund pool are no longer available due to the financial challenges faced by low-income country recipients studying abroad with these awards.
• Rotary districts comprised of more than one low-income country are allowed to submit one endorsed Ambassadorial Scholarship application from each low-income country in the district, effective with the 2007-08 program year.

The Trustees also:

• Approved a Matching Grant sponsored by the Rotary Club of Santiago Monumental (District 4060, Dominican Republic) and the Rotary Club of Verrazano Brooklyn (District 7250, USA) to help provide treatment for 120 children with heart problems in the Dominican Republic.
• Approved PolioPlus Grants for Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. 

Foundation Facts

Paul Harris Fellows: 985,424
Foundation Benefactors: 69,629
Major Donors: 7,152
28 February 2006

October 2005

The Trustees of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International met from 23-28 October 2005 in Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A. The following are highlights of actions taken.

Administration

The Trustees elected Trustee Bhichai Rattakul as chairman-elect and Trustee Mark Daniel Maloney as vice-chairman during 2006-07. They also designated the October meeting as their annual meeting to be held 23-28 October 2006 in Evanston. The chairman, in consultation with the vice-chairman and the chairman-elect, will decide the dates of all other meetings in 2006-07.

The Trustees declared a moratorium on new associate foundations until the Future Vision Committee presents its report to the Trustees.

Fund Development and Recognition

The Trustees endorsed a 2005-06 Annual Programs Fund goal of US$105,000,000.

To provide secure funding for the future, the Trustees adopted a fund development plan for the Rotary Centers for International Studies program to raise a cumulative amount of US$95 million in named and endowed support by 30 June 2015.

Recognizing the concern expressed by Major Donors that diamond circle pins do not distinguish between those who have made outright gifts to the Foundation and those who have made a commitment to the Foundation in their will or other estate plans, the Trustees authorized the development and implementation of wearable recognition that will provide greater distinction between the two groups of donors.

The Trustees adopted the Paul Harris Society as an official recognition program of The Rotary Foundation, effective 1 July 2006, to be administered at the district level.

Programs

Following a positive evaluation of the Rotary Centers partner universities, the Trustees agreed that the Rotary Centers for International Studies program shall be a permanent program of The Rotary Foundation.

Noting the decreased activity in the utilization of the Blane Community Immunization Grants program and with the agreement of Past District Governor Jack Blane, the Trustees agreed to terminate this program as of 30 June 2007, and to transfer the remaining balance to a polio-related account.

The Trustees increased the 2005-06 PolioPlus program budget by US$5 million, to US$24 million in order to meet urgent funding needs for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

The Trustees:

• Approved 15 Matching Grants involving Rotary clubs and districts in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ghana, Hong Kong, Honduras, India, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United States, and Zambia.
• Approved PolioPlus Grants for Afghanistan, Central Africa, Egypt, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, West Africa, and Yemen.
• Changed the name of the Foundation Alumni Resource Group to Rotary Foundation Alumni Coordinators (RFAC), effective immediately, and encouraged the sponsor clubs of educational awardees to invite the awardees to participate in club meetings prior to and for at least three months following the period of their award. The Trustees established a Global Alliance of TRF Alumni for all Foundation alumni.
• Agreed in principle, by a two-thirds majority vote, to lift the moratorium on Individual Grants effective 1 July 2006. Modifications for grant travel will be adopted at their April 2006 meeting.

Stewardship

The Trustees reviewed and updated their policies regarding grant oversight.

In an effort to help districts and clubs to prepare and submit grant reports, the Trustees requested the general secretary to ask experienced current and past Rotary senior leaders and Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinators to assist in obtaining these reports.

Finance

The Trustees received the Foundation’s 2004-05 audited financial results as submitted by Deloitte & Touche. The results will be published in the Foundation’s annual report.

The Trustees also:

• Appointed Deloitte & Touche to audit the books of The Rotary Foundation for the fiscal year 2005-06.
• Noted with pleasure that 100 percent of program operations expenses for 2004-05 (excluding PolioPlus) were paid from the operating reserve in accordance with the operating reserve policy.
• Approved a Conflict of Interest Policy for investment advisors to the Finance Committee of The Rotary Foundation.

Foundation Facts

Paul Harris Fellows: 971,367
Foundation Benefactors: 68,773
Major Donors: 6,812
31 October 2005