Board adopts Future Vision Plan

By Janis Young Rotary International News - 11 June 2008

At its June meeting, the RI Board adopted the Future Vision Plan for The Rotary Foundation, a far-reaching effort to simplify access to the Foundation, direct more resources to projects with high-impact and sustainable outcomes, and gain greater public recognition for the Foundation’s work. The Board agreed to initiate the three-year pilot in July 2010 to focus resources and attention on Rotary’s number one priority, polio eradication, and Rotary’s US$100 Million Challenge. The Foundation will be sharing more information about the plan and its implementation throughout 2008-09 and will incorporate training for pilot districts into Rotary’s standard training cycle.

Under the Future Vision Plan, the Foundation will offer two kinds of grants: Rotary Foundation District Grants, which provide districts with access to up to 50 percent of their District Designated Fund, and Rotary Foundation Global Grants, which support larger projects with sustainable, high-impact outcomes in one of six areas of focus: peace and conflict prevention/resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, and economic and community development. Clubs and districts can either create their own global grant projects in the areas of focus or sponsor packaged global grants, which The Rotary Foundation will develop in conjunction with a strategic partner organization that has expertise in the selected area of focus.

All districts will be encouraged to apply to participate in the pilot. In selecting pilot participants, the Trustees will attempt to compose a representative group of districts in terms of location, size, effectiveness, and level of involvement with the Foundation. Pilot districts will follow the new grant structure and not participate in current Foundation programs, with the exception of PolioPlus and the Rotary Centers for International Studies.

Interested districts will need to secure the agreement of two-thirds of their clubs and complete the pilot application form online between February and June 2009. The list of selected pilot districts will be posted on the RI Web site on 1 July 2009. The 2010-11 governors and Foundation chairs of the selected pilot districts will attend mandatory training sessions at RI’s expense in early 2010.

More information will be available at www.rotary.org in the coming weeks.