Important Training Sessions- Future Vision Grant Management

Beginning July 1, 2013 our Rotary Foundation will implement a new grant model to support club and district humanitarian and educational projects. This model has already been tried by about 100 pilot districts in the Rotary world and was called Future Vision. You may have read about it in our Rotarian magazine or heard about it from your club’s participation in the District 6740 Foundation Seminar last fall.

Briefly, the key elements of the new grant model are:

· Two types of grants will be offered – Global grants and District grants

· District grants will allow clubs and districts to address humanitarian needs in their communities and abroad through a block grant coming from the district’s District Designated Fund (50% of District 6740’s giving to the Rotary Foundation in 2010-2011, given back to the district)

· Global grants developed by club(s) or the district for a humanitarian effort with a host partner in another country, can receive matching funds from the Rotary Foundation for a project budget of from $30,000 to $200,000.

· Projects will support one or more of 6 areas of focus:

Ø  Peace and conflict prevention/resolution,

Ø  Disease prevention and treatment,

Ø  Water and sanitation,

Ø  Maternal and child health,

Ø  Basic education and literacy,

Ø  Economic and community development.

· All projects must reflect sustainability

· Responsibility for planning and execution of a project and complete reporting to ensure  stewardship of the funds involved is required.

Reflecting the new grant program, clubs and districts which will participate in Rotary Foundation grants will be required to be qualified. To ensure that clubs will be able to be qualified, several Grant Management seminars have been scheduled throughout D6740 to accommodate clubs and their representatives who will attend. The President, the President-Elect and the Rotary Foundation Chair from the clubs are invited to attend one of these grant Management Seminars and begin the process of qualifying the club.

Grant Management Seminars have been chosen at locations, hopefully convenient for the clubs. The seminars will be held as follows:

February 15, Lexington – Bingham Davis House, 218 East Maxwell Street - (5:00 – 8:00 PM)

February 16, Erlanger – The Colonial Cottage, 3140 Dixie Highway - (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

March 1, London – Laurel County Adult Education, 90 Bennett Circle - (5:00 – 8:00 PM)

March 9, Flemingsburg – Fleming County Hospital, 55 Foundation Drive - (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

March 16, Paintsville – Ramada Inn, 624 James S. Trimble Blvd. – (9:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

 

Rotarian Action Groups

Please see below for information regarding Rotarian Action Groups. The contact information, contained via links in this message, can provide project pairing and technical assistance to those wishing to pursuing Matching or Global Grants.

Rotarian Action Groups (RAGs) had a very successful year, lending their skills to help improve Rotary club and district service projects around the world. These autonomous, international groups are organized by committed Rotarians, Rotarians’ family members, and Rotaractors who have expertise in and a passion for a particular type of service. The 15 RAGs currently recognized by Rotary International work with clubs and districts to plan and implement significant humanitarian service projects. There are RAGs that specialize in promoting maternal health, developing microcredit programs to help poor entrepreneurs, and bringing safe water and sanitation to help communities in need, just to name a few. You can view a complete list of RAGs here.

RAGs have valuable expertise in their areas of specialty and their assistance can help make TRF-funded projects more effective and sustainable. General Secretary John Hewko has asked current and incoming district governors to encourage their clubs to partner with RAGs on projects. A copy of his recent letter to the governors is attached for your reference.

Please encourage the organizers of TRF-funded projects in your region to reach out to RAGs for assistance. RAGs can help with projects at all levels—from small startup initiatives to well-established, large scale programs—regardless of the type of grant or amount of funding that they qualify for through the Foundation.

For additional information on RAGs, please visit www.rotary.org/actiongroups, where you can find the following resources:

·         Rotarian Action Groups flyer

·         Rotarian Action Groups officer directory

·         Rotarian Action Groups Annual Report (Available in English only)

·         A recording of the webinar “Work with Rotarian Action Groups to Maximize Your Service Projects” (Available in English and Spanish only)

 If you have any questions about RAGs, please feel free to contact me.

 Best regards,

 Jesse Allerton

Supervisor, Rotary Service Department

actiongroups@rotary.org

www.rotary.org/actiongroups

Attachment: Letter from General Secretary John Hewko to 2011-12 district governors

March 2012

To: 2011-12 District Governors

2012-13 District Governors

Dear Friends:

Many of you are familiar with Rotarian Action Groups (RAGs). RAGs are

groups of Rotarians, Rotarians’ family members, and Rotaractors that lend

their time and expertise to help enhance the quality and scope of club and

district service projects.

Currently there are 15 RAGs with a combined membership of nearly 30,000

in more than 100 countries worldwide. Each RAG specializes in a particular

area of service, with most RAGs having significant expertise in one or more

of Rotary’s six areas of focus. Many RAGs also have valuable connections

to external partnering organizations and funding sources that Rotary service

projects can benefit from. I think of RAGs as volunteer consultants that can

help clubs design and implement new service projects, or enhance existing

projects to make them more effective and sustainable.

For more information on RAGs, please refer to the following resources:

·

View a complete list of RAGs

·

Download the 2010-11 RAGs Annual Report (English only)

·

Watch a recording of the webinar “Work with Rotarian Action

Groups to Maximize Your Service Projects”

(English and Spanish only)

...  If you have questions about RAGs, please contact the Rotary Service

Department staff at

actiongroups@rotary.org.

While the RI Board of Directors sets policies for RAGs and decides whether

to recognize prospective RAGs, the RAGs operate independently of RI and

must obtain your permission before contacting your clubs to offer their

assistance. I encourage you to look with favor on the services that these

groups have to offer and facilitate connections between your clubs and the

RAGs whenever possible. By working together rather than separately, the

leveraged strength of your clubs and districts, RAGs, Rotary’s professional

staff, and our many partners around the world can dramatically enhance

Rotary’s global humanitarian service impact.

Sincerely,

John Hewko

General Secretary