November is Rotary Foundation Month. When you give to The Rotary Foundation, you fund Rotary’s service projects. Foundation contributions are transformed into grants that fund local and international humanitarian efforts, scholarships, and more areas of service.

There’s so much to learn about Rotary, and the Foundation is an important part of membership and our mission. The Rotary Foundation’s mission is to help Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.

The story of the creation of The Rotary Foundation reminds me that sometimes the most important step is the first one.

The Foundation began at the 1917 Rotary convention with Arch Klumph’s idea for an endowment fund dedicated to “doing good in the world”. Thanks to his vision, and Rotarians worldwide, that fund has become one of the world’s leading humanitarian foundations. The Rotary Foundation is organized as a public charity operated exclusively for charitable purposes and governed by a Board of Trustees.

With an initial contribution just $26.50 at its founding, the Foundation has grown thanks to the generous contributions of our members and has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects.

How can you become part of this effort to drive service both close to home and around the world? Each Rotarian is encouraged to contribute to Rotary. Take the first step and get started with a one-time, reoccurring or a matching gift to the Foundation. If you have a passion and want to direct your funds to toward projects under the various Rotary areas of service, your contributions to the Foundation can go towards projects providing clean water, supporting education, fighting disease, programs for survival of mothers and children, promoting peace, growing local economies, or responding to disasters.

When I set up reoccurring automatic contributions, I was pleased to find another way to contribute the Rotary mission. I know that my contributions help fund clubs like ours as well as efforts of Rotarians around the world. Every time I receive the regular email thanking me for my donations, I’m reminded I’m a small but important part of the collective action of caring people around the world who want to do good things and make a meaningful and lasting difference.

Even a small contribution makes a difference. For instance, Rotary reports that for as little as 60 cents, a child can be protected from polio. A donation of just $50 can provide clean water to help fight waterborne illness.

From time to time our club honors Rotarians for their contributions to the Foundation. Here is a quick reminder of some of these designations with the Foundation:


 *   Sustaining member - When you give $100 or more in a year
 *   Paul Harris Fellow - When you give $1,000 or more in your lifetime
 *   Paul Harris Society member - When you elect to give $1,000 or more annually
 *   Every Rotarian, Every Year Club - When club giving reaches $100 per capita or more and all dues-paying members give $25 in a year

Ready to get started, or to reevaluate your contributions to The Rotary Foundation? Visit My.rotary.org/donate for info or to set up your one-time or reoccurring contributions. Be sure to ask your employer about Matching Donations to help your contributions go even further.

Within our club, we also have many Rotarians willing to help and education new members on the ins and outs of the Foundation.

Please join me and other Rotarians let’s walk the Rotary walk together. Sometimes the most important step is the first one.