Since July, we have been busy in the effort Rotary Reclaims 2020 across D6840. Clubs have been asked to document 20 Acts of Service and to encourage members as individual Rotarians interested in the success and growth of their clubs to put on their Rotary shirts and do some service. Those efforts are having a direct impact on what we are achieving and where we are seeing positive growth.
Clubs have a variety of approaches to Foundation giving but there is a clear and direct correlation between those clubs with a named Foundation Chair and a club culture that incorporates constant and clear information about how The Rotary Foundation works.
The short version is that The Rotary Foundation includes Mississippi and Louisiana in its motto Do Good in the World. District 6840 receives funds annually from The Rotary Foundation and every District Governor in recent memory has in turn put 100% of those funds in the hands of D6840 clubs in the form of District Grants. All of the funds the district awards each year in District grants -- 100% of the funds -- come directly from donations to The Rotary Foundation by D6840 Rotarians. Every club that has received a District Grant is putting donations to The Rotary Foundation to work right here in our communities. Dictionary projects, playground equipment, collaborations with local food banks and health clinics and literacy programs -- every one of these that is funded in part with a District Grant is carried out with direct support from your clubs and your members and with the support of Rotarians from all of the other clubs in the district who you may not ever meet and to whom you never have to make your project pitch. They have donated and continue to donate without a specific purpose or pitch but secure in the knowledge that the funds would be stewarded and used to help someone in need. Collectively, through our participation in Rotary, we leverage all of our assets to Do Good in the World. Just as every Rotary project is a local project, our communities here in Louisiana and Mississippi are in the world.
DG Elizabeth's goal is for every Rotarian in D6840 to donate $125 to The Rotary Foundation. The "G-Force" is committed to matching each of those donations if they are made by the end of 2020. An average of $125 per member within a club will also count as hitting that target.
Where we stand:
At the end of August: LaPlace had top honors with $126 average donation per member; Slidell was in 2nd with $113; and Algiers in 3rd with $100.
At the end of October: Northlake Mandeville and Mc Comb came out of nowhere to take 2nd and 3rd place with Northlake Mandeville at $141 average per member, McComb at $138...and LaPlace maintained its 1st place spot by surging to $143 average per member.
This is not meant to be a competitive year -- our goal is to work together to increase our impact. But if your club and your members are competitive, you should know that 6 clubs have already met or exceeded the $125 goal. Hundreds of individual D6840 Rotarians have also met or exceeded the goal. It's then end of this crazy year and a "thank you" from The Rotary Foundation with the tax ID included is a welcome additional piece of paper!
**As a point of reference, in the past 5 years, the 1st place goes to RC New Orleans Riverbend for an average of $560 per member in 2017-2018; 2nd to RC Edgewater at $452 just last year and 3rd to RC Covington at $419 in 2016-2017** Each one of these clubs would be glad to help your club develop a culture of supporting the Rotary Foundation and each member would be happy to explain to your members Rotarian-to-Rotarian _why_ they give. In this context, the $125 per member doesn't feel like such a high goal!
There is a DONATE button on the landing page of rotary.org -- you can make a one-time donation or set up a recurring donation at the level and interval that works best for you. To meet the $125 target by the end of June 2021 (also the end of Elizabeth's year as DG), you'll need to donate $15.63 a month for 8 months. But to get the matching points, you might as well do the full $125 all at once -- you can always go back and do it again before June!