Rotary Foundation

Background 

Since it started in 1917 with a $26.50 donation, The Rotary Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects. 

Our motto is simply ‘Doing Good in the World’. The Rotary Foundation is supported solely by contributions from the public, Rotary members and friends of the Rotary Foundation.

Those contributions, gifts and donations are transformed into service projects that change the lives of thousands of people across the world.

With 91% of funds spent on the programmes and projects it delivers, The Rotary Foundation, based at Rotary HQ in Illinois, USA, is globally recognised for its financial efficiency, accountability and transparency.

Rotary Foundation Grants

Each year, The Rotary Foundation gives away millions of dollars in grants to Rotary clubs throughout the world for humanitarian projects, vocational training and scholarships. 

Ranging from small-scale, short-term activities to large, international projects, Rotary grants strengthen global partnerships and help tackle some of humanities greatest challenges in Rotary’s Areas of Focus:

The Rotary Foundation of the United Kingdom

The Rotary Foundation of the United Kingdom (RFUK) is an Associate Foundation of The Rotary Foundation. RFUK supports the aims of The Rotary Foundation by providing funding for its programmes and offering a direct service for giving in Great Britain and Ireland.

RFUK has recovered over £1 million in Gift Aid since 2001, allowing even more communities to benefit from The Rotary Foundation.

In the UK the grants available to clubs are:

District grants fund smaller, short-term activities.   Each Rotary district chooses its own projects.

Global grants support large international activities that have sustainable, measurable outcomes in one or more of our areas of focus.

Packaged grants are designed by Rotary with strategic partners.   They fund activities that are similar to those for global grants, but the work of designing the activity's general framework has already been done. 

Examples of the work carried out by Rotary Foundation

Polio

Rotary launched the global fight against polio in 1985. Since beginning the project, Rotarians have contributed over US$850 million and hundreds of thousands of volunteer-hours, leading to the inoculation of more than 2.5 billion of the world's children. Inspired by Rotary's commitment, the World Health Organisation (WHO) passed a resolution in 1988 to eradicate polio by 2000. Now a partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) with WHO and UNICEF, Rotary is recognised by the United Nations as the key private partner in the eradication effort.

Vaccination is a massive undertaking  - for example 110 million children were given the polio vaccine in 3 days in India in 2021.

Rotary, along with our partners, has reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent worldwide since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.

For more information see link to Polio sub page on right.

Peace and conflict resolution

Rotary Peace Centres give future world and community leaders the opportunity to pursue a master's degree or professional development certificate in international studies, peace studies, conflict resolution, or a related field.   They advance research, teaching, field work, dialogue, and knowledge on issues of peace, conflict prevention and resolution, and world understanding. See sub page for detailed information.