By: Sarah MacGillivray
District 7780 Foundation Public Image Coordinator
RC of Bath Sunrise
At the May meeting of the District Foundation Committee, some exciting news was reported about donations made to OUR Rotary Foundation that I wanted to share with everyone. Our District Clubs have donated very well so far this year, helping us exceed our goal! So far this year, the total donation to Annual Fund Giving is $248,066.00, that is 149.4% of our goal. Excellent work everyone!
Of this amount, over $66,000 was donated to the Disaster Response Fund to benefit Ukraine, a strong sign of our local Rotarians’ compassion and caring.
Our District’s total contributions are now at $710,413, with $100,815.00 to the Endowment Fund and $301,252.00 to Other Funds. When it comes to PolioPlus, our District had donations totaling $62,289 (there were 7 Clubs that have not yet donated this year to PolioPlus) We finished last year with PolioPlus contributions from Clubs and individuals totalling $74,646, so let’s see if we can’t beat that!
Our DIstrict shows that we have 1,386 Existing Active Rotarians (Rotarians who joined prior to 07-01-2021) and of those 513 (37%) are participating in TRF Giving, with 450 (33%) counted as Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY). Hats off to the two Clubs who are Foundation Banner Eligible Clubs (100% of the club’s members giving to TRF and EREY-SHARE), Bath Sunrise and Wells, and a shout out to Dover at 98%.
One of the easiest things I’ve done as a Rotarian is to set up my annual donation to TRF and enroll in Rotary Direct. I personally have mine set up to be done in 4 payments throughout the year so I don’t have one lump sum donation. Visit the RI website or click on this link (https://my.rotary.org/en/donate) to set up your own donation. In our District there are 110 Rotary Direct members who are enrolled with me. Let’s aim to increase that number and see the good that our donations are put to work for!
Speaking of that good work, the 15 District Grants that we had last year are wrapped up and this month the committee will be reviewing a new round of applications: those grants should be announced in July. Our District this year has approved 5 Global Grants and others are draft-pending. Did you know that with other District Designated Funds, we offer international outreach projects too? We had set aside $5,000 for an Indigenous community project which had to be tabled due to Covid and Tribal lands being closed. All of these sorts of projects are made possible by you and your Club’s generous donations to OUR Rotary Foundation. Use this time to work as a club to set your own goals for these donations for our upcoming Rotary year, and let’s continue to see the good work that is made possible by OUR donations to OUR Rotary Foundation.
One more item to consider!
More and more Rotarians are discovering a simple and efficient way to give. Join fellow Rotarians who support The Rotary Foundation with a tax-wise gift from their IRA each year.
- Donors over 70 ½ can make a transfer directly from their IRA to The Rotary Foundation
- Find our simple-to-use forms or use your IRA Administrator’s to initiate the transfer
- You may be able to reduce income taxes by taking advantage of this gift type, even if you don’t itemize
- Fulfill an existing pledge or establish a new one
- Make a gift for Paul Harris Society, to become a Major Donor, reach the next level or to join Arch Klumph Society
- Establish a fund in Rotary’s Endowment that provides support in your name year after year
- Visit the RI website’s Planned Giving Page (https://www.rotary.org/en/donate/planned-giving) for more information.
- Feel good about making the world a better place with Rotary!