Foundation 101

 
 
 
Charitable giving to the Rotary Foundation began in the 1930's.  Paul Harris made one of the earliest gifts of $500 with the stipulation that it go to the Crippled Children's Society.  Decades later, the Rotary Foundation would create Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) as a method for people to direct how their contributions were to be made.  In 1944, Harris would go on to create a charitable trust that stipulated the income would accrue to him during his lifetime, then to his wife Jean and ultimately, the balance of the trust would go to The Rotary Foundation.  Some Rotarians have chosen to make significant gifts of unrestricted funds, believing that the Trustees should have the freedom to determine how the money is used, while others like Paul Harris, created a charitable trust.  After his death in 1947, the Rotary Foundation saw a surge in donations for a few years.  But in time, the Trustees realized they needed a new incentive to encourage giving.  In January 1955, the Foundation announced that anyone donating $500 to the Foundation in a single year would be recognized as an "Honorary Fellow of The Rotary Foundation."  Donations from $100 to $500 were to be recognized as "Memorial Contributors."  Then two years later, they added another designation for donors who contributed more than $1000 to be named as a "Paul Harris Fellow."  This recognition became a powerful incentive for Rotarians to contribute to the Foundation, but it took time to become popular.  In the first year - there were only five Paul Harris Fellows.  Thirty years later, the Foundation had recognized 223,501 Paul Harris Fellows, and in 2006, the one millionth Paul Harris Fellows were recognized - one from each Rotary zone.  In addition to these levels of giving, a Bequest Society was formed in 1999, for anyone giving $10,000 or more to the Rotary Foundation.  Then there is the highest level of giving: the Arch Klumph Society membership for those giving $250,000 or more.  In 2004, the Trustees embarked on a new funding campaign called Every Rotarian, Every Year.   The campaign asked Rotarians to give at least $100 to the Foundation each year.  Within five years, the Annual Fund had over $90 million per year in contributions, and jumped to $116 million in 2014.  But the real work of the Rotary Foundation is not about the money.  It is about the 100 million polio vaccinations in India, the village that has clean drinking water for its families, or the blind woman who through Rotary funds, can see her child for the first time.  It's about what Rotarians do with the money:  make the world a better, healthier more peaceful place.