Future Vision pilot is launched
By Arnold R. Grahl
Rotary International News – 2 July 2010
The first district grant under the Future Vision pilot will fund a variety of projects including a new computer lab for school children in Samut Prakan Province, Thailand. The pilot began 1 July.
Photo courtesy of District 3330
The Future Vision pilot, a three-year test of The Rotary Foundation's new, streamlined grant structure, is underway.
The pilot officially began 1 July, with 100 pilot districts that were selected from among hundreds of applicants in June 2009. The pilot districts will spend the next three years testing and helping to refine the Foundation's new grant model before all districts begin to participate in July 2013.
"I believe that through Future Vision, we will be able to serve our communities, and the world, in better and more effective ways," said Glenn E. Estess Sr., 2009-10 Foundation trustee chair, at the 2010 RI Convention in Montréal, Québec, Canada. "We will do the very most with everything we have. We will be able to address the challenges, large and small, that present obstacles to peace -- and dismantle those obstacles, one by one."
"Concentrating our efforts on bigger projects will have a greater impact and be more sustainable," said Jeremy Voizey, past governor of District 1120 (England), during a Future Vision networking session at the convention. "Traditionally, we have done very well with the Foundation. This model should make life easier."
Pilot districts were chosen after a careful and rigorous review process, designed to select a group of districts that would closely mirror the Rotary world. The 100 districts were required to make a firm, three-year commitment to the pilot and, before the launch, to appoint a district Rotary Foundation committee chair to serve for all three years. Pilot district governors-elect and Foundation committee chairs received special training during the 2010 International Assembly.
Two types of grants are provided for under the Future Vision Plan. Once a year, districts may apply for a block grant of up to 50 percent of their District Designated Fund. These district grants offer the flexibility to respond quickly to immediate needs or to plan projects with clubs locally or in other countries. Pilot districts may sponsor district grant projects with clubs in nonpilot districts.
Global grants support large, sustainable activities that relate to one or more of the areas of focus. Clubs and districts can either create their own global grant-funded projects or sponsor packaged global grants that will be developed by the Foundation in cooperation with its strategic partners.
The Trustees have approved a Rotary Foundation Global Grants World Fund budget of US$8 million for Future Vision pilot districts starting with the 2010-11 year. (Funds for the pilot districts were budgeted separately. The 2010-11 Matching Grants World Fund budget is $21.5 million.)
The Foundation has already approved two district grant applications under the Future Vision pilot and is reviewing a number of others. District 3330 (Thailand) will use a $39,500 grant to fund a variety of local projects, including buying books, computers, and sports equipment for schools; providing clean water for students; and adding patient beds at a hospital. Read more. District 1970 (Portugal) has also been approved for a district grant.
The first global grant was approved in June for a project to combat the spread of dengue fever in Indonesia. Read more. The Foundation has received more than 100 proposals for global grants.
The Foundation is also close to finalizing agreements with two strategic partners, and is reviewing a number of others.
For more information :