What is your Rotary or Rotaract Club doing in November 2024 to celebrate and focus on The Rotary Foundation? As the charitable arm of Rotary, we tap into a global network of Rotarians who invest their time, money, and expertise into our priorities, such as eradicating polio and promoting peace. Foundation grants empower Rotarians to approach challenges such as poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition with sustainable solutions that leave a lasting impact. To get ideas how the Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into projects that change lives both close to home and around the world, please Read more.......
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In 2024-25, our Rotary Foundation turns 108. That’s a century-plus of Rotary members changing lives and improving communities all over the world. And that’s definitely something worth celebrating.
Through our Foundation, Rotary members have supported thousands of projects to provide clean water, fight disease, promote peace, provide basic education, and grow local economies. We’ve also been a leader in the fight to eradicate polio worldwide.
Share this impressive record with the world. Join us in making sure that every Rotary member and people in every community know about the vital work of Rotary and its Foundation.
When you make a donation to The Rotary Foundation, you are helping Rotary members make a difference in the lives of millions of people around the world, by promoting peace, preventing disease, bolstering economic development, and providing clean water and sanitation. Please ask your friends to donate too.
Ways to celebrate
Here are just a few ways you can join in and commemorate this historic milestone:
Plan a special Rotary Day and invite everyone in your community to participate. It can be anything from a concert to a race to a birthday party with a giant cake in the shape of the Rotary wheel.
Hold a fundraiser in your community to support a Foundation grant project, the Rotary Peace Centers, or PolioPlus.
Organize or participate in a global grant or district grant project.
Promote your club or district projects that are funded by the Foundation.
Dedicate some club meetings to Rotary Foundation topics.
Challenge members to increase your club’s contributions to the Foundation.
Always remember - when we donate to The Rotary Foundation, it's our money and find out ways we can spend it.
Publicize your events
Promote your events and projects by contacting local media and by using social media. List the events on Rotary Showcase for more exposure.
5 reasons to give to The Rotary Foundation
When you make a donation to The Rotary Foundation, you are helping Rotary members make a difference in the lives of millions of people around the world, by promoting peace, preventing disease, bolstering economic development, and providing clean water and sanitation.
Here are just a few ways your generosity is changing lives.
Eradicating polio
Thanks to you, we are closer than ever to ending polio. It’s no time to let up on our efforts. Keeping children protected from this virus and building on these achievements will require continued commitment and funding. And every dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication is matched 2 to 1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, tripling your impact. Watch the recording of our World Polio Day 2024 LIVE from the Rotary Global Classroom at Durham College in Oshawa Ontario and give to end polio.
Promoting peace and conflict resolution
Rotary’s most significant effort to promote peace is the Rotary Peace Centers program, established in 2002. Each year, the program trains some of the world’s most dedicated and brightest professionals, preparing them to promote national and international cooperation and to resolve conflict. They include graduates of a two-year master’s degree program and a three-month professional certificate program at Rotary’s partner universities. Watch a video highlighting Rotary Peace Fellows at work.
Supporting education
Through a Foundation grant and in partnerships with the Organization of American States, Rotary members in Maryland, USA, provided a training program for teachers in Quito, Ecuador, which included the use of new technology. At the conclusion of the program, each school selected one story written by a second, third, or fourth-grade student to include in a book illustrated with student art. Read more about the project, and browse other education projects on Rotary Showcase.
Fighting disease
In Tamil Nadu, India, two doctors, both members of the Rotary Club of Srirangam, discovered an alarming trend in the remote city outskirts of Trichy, women dying of breast cancer. They partnered with Rotary members in Maryland, USA, to purchase a large van, with the help of a Foundation global grant, and equip it with X-ray equipment. The “mammobus” has administered more than 2,500 free breast cancer screenings, and detected and treated early stage cancer in six women. Read more of the story and browse health-related projects on Rotary Showcase.
Ending hunger
In Seattle, Rotary members are diverting millions of pounds of fruit and vegetable from food waste into the hands of those who need it through Rotary First Harvest, a program of Rotary District 5030 (Washington, USA). Watch a video about the program, and browse other hunger projects on Rotary Showcase.
The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world.
Since it was founded more than 100 years ago, the Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects.
With your help, we can make lives better in your community and around the world.
Our mission
The Rotary Foundation helps Rotary members to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.
What impact can one donation have?
For as little as 60 cents, a child can be protected from polio.
$50 can provide clean water to help fight waterborne illness.
$500 can launch an antibullying campaign and create a safe environment for children.
Financial structure
The Rotary Foundation is organized as a public charity operated exclusively for charitable purposes and governed by a Board of Trustees. The operations of Rotary International, a member organization, are overseen by its Board of Directors.
The headquarters of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation are in Evanston, Illinois, USA. We have associate foundations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, and the United Kingdom.
Read highlights from the past year in our annual report
Learn about Rotary's investments
Your generous contributions to The Rotary Foundation are essential to securing and growing Rotary programs throughout the world.
Learn more about donor recognition
Learn more about Rotary grants