What every club rotary foundation chair should do now …

14 Tuesday Jun 2016

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Submission of club & member donations to TRF:

Bill Billings

Bill Billings

Bill Billings, our vigilant acronym buster from the Franklin Club and incoming Endowment Fund lead for the District Rotary Foundation Committee, may be reading this, so up front, TRF stands for The Rotary Foundation.

So, if you are the current club Rotary Foundation chair double check with your treasurer that all contributions to TRF, which rely on submission by the club treasurer have been submitted.  There is absolutely no reason to wait until June 30 to forward such sums.  If you will be the club Rotary Foundation chair next year, encourage your members to submit their own TRF donations via Rotary Direct at www.rotary.org.  This is the 21st Century and it will take a load off of the treasurer and you, for that matter.

2016-17 club rotary foundation chair in assigned position in My Rotary:

The club rotary foundation chair for 2016-17 must be listed in that assigned position in My Rotary at www.rotary.org in able to access giving reports for the club.  This applies even if the current club Rotary Foundation chair is continuing in the same position in the next rotary year. Check with your president-elect, club secretary, club executive secretary, or whoever in your club inputs that data to be sure that you have been ‘assigned’ in My Rotary as the club’s Rotary Foundation chair for the 2016-17 rotary year.

Refresh yourself on the New Year Resolutions (aka club goals):

Coordinate with your president-elect so you can get a jump start on meeting the foundation giving goals for the coming rotary year.  Boom!

Change and Baseball

08 Wednesday Jun 2016

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Changes in Foundation Recognition Banners

Our primary topic today potentially affects every club in our district.  The club banners for giving have been restructured, with possibly the biggest change being the merging of the EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) and the Sustaining Member recognition banner. The District Foundation Committee Chair, Jim Probsdorfer, has communicated this information already to Club Foundation Chairs and to Foundation advocates, but it is of import to every member of every club.  Many clubs and donors set benchmarks for their giving based on this banner recognition structure.

Dennis Wool Area 11Foundation Advocate Dennis Wool of The Historic Triangle Club was kind enough to provide some comment to the Advocate Chair that it might have been helpful to have it take effect in the next Rotary year, rather than be a fiat accompli for the current year, but that change is change whenever it occurs.

Please check out the details in  CLUB_BANNER_RECOGNITION_OPPORTUNITIES.

And don’t forget the baseball …

Tides_Probs_Steve_Bebo (2)

End Polio Now Games In July

July 7 (Squirrels)  and July 27 (Tides) are the dates for our End Polio Now Baseball games. Each club has a point of contact through which club members can order tickets for themselves, families, and friends.  The first game on July 7 at the Richmond Diamond Stadium is set to be a high achiever.  The goal is to sell 1000 tickets.  More questions … give Stan Wall  an email at stan.debbie.rotary@comcast.net.  Tickets for the Tides game $10 bucks each with $2 of each ticket donated by the Squirrels to End Polio Now. 2016 Rotary Night Flyer Richmond Flying Squirrels_2. Stan asks that Rotarians and guests were a red tee shirt or an End Polio Now shirt if they have one.

More info on Tides game superintended by Dave Mansfield 2016 Polio Plus Tides Baseball (2)

 

 

Meanwhile … back at the ranch

31 Tuesday May 2016

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June is a month of deadlines for all things Rotary Foundation

Many of our Rotary colleagues are enjoying the dazzling Rotary International Convention in Seoul, North Korea, but they have left the work of The Rotary Foundation in good hands.

100_0497This week I received an important email from Liz Lazar, our district’s shepherdess (aka Annual Giving Officer Zones 33 & 34) at The Rotary Foundation.  It was replete with useful information.  There have been changes in banner recognitions which she explains carefully, but word is going out on that separately and there will be more info to come.

Today we will focus on the deadlines for getting contributions into The Rotary Foundation so the contributions can be timely processed.  The remainder of this article is Liz’s recap of giving deadlines, addresses, and resources for information on some of the less common methods of giving.  Ken Hodge and I are available if you have any questions.

Thank You For All You Do, District 7600 Rotarians.

–Jim Probsdorfer, District Rotary Foundation Committee Chair

2015-16 Rotary End of Year Deadlines

Credit Cards:   Online via www.rotary.org– must be authorized on or prior to Thursday 30 June 2016, midnight (Central Standard Time).

Note:Sending credit card information by mail is less secure and slower than contributing on-line.  For security purposes, please do not send credit card contributions electronically, rather fax them to 847-328-5260.

Fax: (+1-847-328-5260)—must be received by Thursday 30 June 2016.

Phone: (+1-866-976-8279) – must be received prior to the close of business onThursday 30 June 2016.

Checks*: must be postmarked Thursday 30 June 2016 or prior and received at the Foundation by Wednesday 6 July 2016.

United States:  The Rotary Foundation, 14280 Collections Center Dr., Chicago IL 60693 USA

Canada:  The Rotary Foundation (Canada), c/o 911600, PO BOX 4090 STN A, Toronto, On M5W 0E9, Canada

*Please do NOT send in checks for the 2016-17 Rotary year until Friday 1 July 2016.

Wire transfers: must be initiated prior to Thursday 30 June 2016 and received byTuesday 5 July 2016.

Securities: must be received prior to Thursday 30 June 2016 .

Learn how you can donate stocks, mutual funds, or other securities.

Special gifts: to obtain instructions for Charitable Gift Annuities and Charitable Remainder Unitrusts email plannedgiving@rotary.org or call +1-847-866-3100.

Liz Lazar

Liz Lazar, Annual Giving Officer,                                                                                                           Zones 33 -34 The Rotary Foundation

Memorial Day … lest we forget

24 Tuesday May 2016

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Ron Rowley and Recruit

Ron Rowley

As we boat, cookout, visit the mall, catch a soccer game  … let’s remember that our way of life has been and is being secured by men and women in all branches of the military and in the government agencies which support them.  Many of these personnel will be far away from the usual celebrations of the Memorial Day weekend such as the second detachment of the 111th Quartermaster Company  which left for a six month deployment on May 20th.

One of Rotary’s six areas of service, Promoting Peace, is devoted to learning about and understanding challenges faced by people around the world.  No country is perfect but by sharing our good will and seeking to understand others, maybe someday we can help eradicate conflict just as we are eradicating polio.

As Memorial Day approaches let’s give some thought to those in uniform and their support agencies. Let’s find some ways to express our gratitude for their service and remember those no longer with us.

Have a safe, peaceful Memorial Day weekend.

The “why”- Rotary’s Six Areas of Focus

17 Tuesday May 2016

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Finishing Strong and ‘Beeing’ a Gift to the World:

JANBEE

Jan, our little Bee

As we approach the end of the Rotary year each club is assessing its giving status.  Will it meet the giving goals set by the now club president when he or she was still the president-elect?  Is the club at 100% of its goal? Nearly there?  Over goal?

At this time of the Rotary year it is good to get reacquainted with ‘why’ we as Rotarians ‘give’ as an important component of our Rotary engagement. Each person’s reason is very personal, but at some level that reason relates to the work that Rotary International does, through it clubs, around the world.

That work is defined by Rotary’s Six Areas of Focus, and of course, each of us can name the all very easily, right?  Well if not …

  • Promoting Peace
  • Fighting Disease
  • Providing Clean Water
  • Saving Mothers & Children
  • Supporting Education
  • Growing Local Economies

Individually, as we give, each of may have one or more priorities within the Six Areas of Focus. There are some opportunities to direct our donations to certain areas depending on the level of giving and the program through which we give, but in the end we know that our donations will be well managed, well spent (some of it coming back to each District for local projects), and that the world will be the better because we give.

Learn more about the Six Areas of Focus

Thank you, Rotarians.

Shoutout to:

Cynthia Gregg  Foundation Advocate, Cynthia Gregg, for reaching out to her clubs and keeping the Advocate Chair informed.

Grant it be so …

10 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by in Rotary 7600 Foundation News, Rotary Grants

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District Grant application deadline … through the tunnel

May 16, Correction  the deadline is midnight on May 16 5 pm  — yes, that is the deadline for clubs to submit their applications for 2016-17 district grants in the online grants module at dacdb.com. The key thing is for each club in the project to have provided the requisite ‘online’ signatures, and the lead club to have provided a detailed budget, a concise, but clear description of the project, the needs to be met, and the required documents.

norfolkportsmouthelizriverproject4

Norfolk-Elizabeth River Education Project

The District Designated Funds (DDF) available for District 7600 grants this year is $280,000 +/- to be divided evenly between district and global grants.  The grants committee headed by SuAnne Hardee Bryant will vet the applications and provide tentative approval, or not, on grant applications. The district submits all to The Rotary Foundation which has final approval of the spending plan for the district.  Once this approval of the spending plan has been granted, clubs will be formally notified of the status of their grants.

Clubs must at that point be patient and wait for receipt of their funds before beginning work their grant projects other than planning activities.

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Colonial Heights Multi-Club Ferndale Park Project

Individual clubs can receive up to $5000 for a district grant project or go in with other clubs and each receive up to $5000 or a maximum of $25,000 for a regional grant project.

The club stewardship continues through the life of the grant as clubs are required to provide interim reports and final reporting when the grant project is completed.

The district grant process allows Rotary Clubs in District 7600 to make a meaningful and lasting impact in their communities.  Projects may live on past the lives of those involved in the project. That is legacy. So now, doesn’t the application process and deadline seem less daunting?  So, let’s roll up our sleeves, boot up our computers, get project partners on live chat, and wrap up the work on those great district grant applications.

 

 

 

 

 

Ode to the club fundraising analysis

03 Tuesday May 2016

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Conceding to Erato  we will continue the poetic theme which appears frequently in this weekly Foundation update … this is an ode, in prose form, to the Club Fundraising Analysis Report.  Every Club has one of these concise jewels:

Club presidents, presidents-elect, and club Rotary Foundation chairs have access to this nifty little one-page report which is found when those leaders log into My Rotary and click on Foundation Reports. It gives a historic five-year snapshot of the club’s Foundation history in six topic areas.  The analysis includes a year-to-date status for the current year and four years history prior to that in the areas of Annual Fund Goal, Annual Fund Contributions, Total Contributions, Annual Fund Per Capita (Club & District), Membership Levels, and a three-year snapshot of Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY), Sustaining, and Paul Harris Society (PHS) Eligible Members.

2016-05-03 (1)

A Club Fundraising Analysis Report

This lovely report can help the current club president and club Rotary Foundation chair check the current status of giving in relation to the club’s annual fund giving goal.  What a gift to clubs wanting to ‘Bee’ A Gift to the World.

The report can also help the president-elect and incoming club foundation chair set practical giving goals for the coming year based on the goal and giving history.   If you need help the District Foundation Advocates also have access to the Foundation reports for their clubs as does each club’s Area Governor.

Shout Outs:

to Delmar Dayton, Foundation Advocate for Area 4 and member of the South Richmond Rotary Club, for a delightful conversation.

Earl Hale 2008

to Past District Governor and Major Donor,  Earl Hale, home from the hospital and back in the thick of things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

District training assembly & change

26 Tuesday Apr 2016

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Clubs will have more autonomy in fashioning the timing and nature of club meetings and member engagement goals under new provisions out of the Council on Legislation this past week in Evanston …

New Rotary Year ushering in changes:

Zone 33-34 Director-Elect, Joe Mulkerrin,  on changes in Rotary meetings, engagement levels, and attraction methods as a result of the Council on Legislation meeting.  More details to follow soon.  Then Joe made the rounds of the breakouts.

Joe & Chuck DTA withnamesChuck Arnason,  incoming District Rotary Foundation Chair, introduced his team and goals in the Foundation breakout. It was well attended and included a number of club foundation chairs who asked incisive questions and offered practical suggestions for communication and process.  PDG/Director-Elect Joe also attended a portion of the meeting and encouraged us to stay committed to our goal of eradicating polio.  We’re in the last and hardest stages of eradication. Help that effort …

Attend the End Polio Now Baseball games:

July 7 – 2016 Rotary Night Flyer Richmond Flying Squirrels, headed by Co-Chair Stan Wall (Colonial Heights), and

July 27 – 2016 Polio Plus Tides Baseball  headed by Co-Chair Dave Mansfield.

Dave invited Riptide to attend the Assembly and he did drop by.  He had a great time.

Shel & Riptide

Shel Douglas (Prince George)  Riptide

 

Will the web classes below on dacdb.com will fit into your schedule?  Free and informative. Login to dacdb.com, Click on Calendar, scroll down and register.

 

 

The Ides of April

19 Tuesday Apr 2016

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Not the Ides in the Shakespearean sense, but the Ides in the ‘there is a lot going on’ sense. No tragedy here, just lots to do to wrap up the 2015-16 year and get ready for the next Rotary year.

Finishing Strong:

The March 2016 Joy Report was published this week showing some good news.  The figures showed that club giving  had jumped from being at 48% towards club giving goals in February to 62% as of the end of March.  Overall that is good news but some clubs are still far away from achieving their giving goals and a couple of clubs are at ‘0’ giving.  Where does your club stand?  Will it ‘Bee’ a Gift to the World this year?

And finishing strong refers to completing and submitting final reports for 2015 -16 grants. We all know that 13051752_1196852390327942_4648846823256220338_nthose grants must be completed and the final reporting through the grants module on dacdb.com before a club’s 2016-17 grant applications can be considered. The district grant deadline is another Ides, March 16th.

Getting Ready:

The incoming Foundation Team lead by Past District Governor Chuck Arnason is putting the finishing touches on the Foundation breakouts at the District Training Assembly this Saturday, April 23rd.  They are planning some handouts, but the documents will also be loaded on this site’s ‘Documents’ page and on the Foundation pages rotary7600.org.  Haven’t registered yet?  There is still time to register on the dacdb.com calendar.

Williamsburg HxTriangle Learning Trees

Learning Tree Grant-Historic Triangle

Just a quick reminder that there is one more chance to participate in a Grants Management Seminar, this one focusing on Global Grants, on May 7, in person or via webinar.  Again, the place to register is on the dacdb.com calendar.

Shout Outs:

To Mike Jallo and Carol Woodward for starting to work on the Membership/Foundation Workshop on August 6, 2016.

To Chuck and Rebecca Arnason and Dana Rieves for attending the 2016 Peace Conference at Duke-UNC on April 9.

 

 

 

 

Getting ready for 2016-17

12 Tuesday Apr 2016

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District Training Assembly (DTA):

You’ve heard the term DTA tossed around.  What is it?  The District Training Assembly is ODU Workforce Development Centerthe annual training event for incoming club leaders, April 23rd this year. Most Rotary clubs have a leadership board of at least 10 to 12 members.  At the DTA there is specialized training for Secretaries & Treasurers and other positions,  but there is also an overview of the District Governor’s goals for the year, introduction of key district leaders, and a fantastic breakout for all things relating to The Rotary Foundation, and  many other attractions.  All incoming club leaders should come to the DTA, learn a whole lot, and have a whole lot of fellowship with Rotarians from across District 7600, and have a day off from yard work.

Where and how to register … well … dacdb.com, of course. Scroll down to April 23rd on the calendar, click on Register Now, input credit card info, and you are ‘In Like Flynn’.  There is more detailed information on the Calendar about the event.

Grant Management Seminar (GMS):

On May 7 District 7600 Rotarians have one more chance to get their clubs qualified to participate in a global grant.  You can attend in person in Hampton or by webinar.  Register as above on the dacdb.com  calendar.  However, this is a free event.  The Rotary Foundation requires that the Grant Management Seminars be interactive. Visit dacdb.com to get more details on the event.  Click  GMS 2016 (1) for a flyer.

March blows by … finishing strong?

05 Tuesday Apr 2016

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How are our D7600 clubs doing on their Foundation giving goals?  Finishing strong?

Joy Kline circulated her February Joy Report in mid March which summarized the 7600 clubs Foundation (TRF) giving accomplishments through February 30th. The end of February represented about 66% of the Rotary year. Five clubs were near that goal at 66 to 69 % of their giving goals while  other clubs were at lower or higher levels.

The five clubs in the 66 to 69 % range were Hanover County, Henrico North, Huguenot Trail, Petersburg Breakfast, and Suffolk.  Assuming their 2015 -16 giving goals were reasonable these clubs are clubs which are plugging along at a reasonable pace to meet their TRF goals.

Emails and telephone calls are going out to these five clubs to obtain more information about how they set their goals initially, ongoing efforts to encourage giving or fundraising for The Rotary Foundation, and how they plan to meet their giving goals. These clubs may have tips on how to patiently, but deliberately, keep eyes on the ball and work towards the goals.  We hope to give updates on the progress of these five clubs in upcoming articles.

How is your club doing?  If you’re are a Club president, Club Foundation Chair, or Foundation Advocate you have access to your club Foundation Giving Reports on My Rotary and the upcoming Joy Reports will be posted here and sent to Foundation Advocates. A hint … the Club Fundraising Analysis, available when you log into My Rotary, is a great way to get a snap shot of the club’s current giving status and historic giving pattern.pi5preeiB

One more GMS opportunity on May 7 available in person or by webinar.  Focus on global grants.  Check out the dacdb.com calendar.

 

 

Share grant pics when filing final report

29 Tuesday Mar 2016

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Not a lecture on final grant report for 2015-16 district grants, just some tips:

Each club which received a 2015 -16 district grant is well aware it must demonstrate its stewardship by finalizing the grant reporting through the district grants module by May 16.  That date is the deadline for submission of 2016-17 district grant applications.  A few tips from  Jim Probsdorfer, District Rotary Foundation Committee Chair, to that end …

  • collect receipts/invoices/plan sketches regularly during the grant project
  • copy, pdf, and share these documents so that there is more than one repository.  The old adage of backup, backup, backup is a wise one.
  • take photographs along the way and share these on facebook pages, websites, or on shareable platforms like dropbox, icloud, picassa, etc.
  • consider submitting the final report through the district grants module as soon as it is prepared and as far in advance of the May 16 deadline as possible so that if there are glitches they can be resolved before a club’s new grant application is to be considered.

More about pictures:

Emporia Reading Garden Cleanup

Emporia Grant

Take pictures throughout the grant process and create photo ops to capture the spirit of your grant. Photo ops can include the usual getting the check shot, but should also include the grant committee meetings to plan the grant milestone events, Rotarians and partners actually working on the grant project, the intended beneficiaries enjoying the facility/project made possible by the grant.

norfolkportsmouthelizriverproject1

Norfolk Grant

Then make sure these pictures get submitted through the grants module.  These pictures become great marketing tools for both the club and for the district. The pictures featured here were clipped from pictures submitted by these two clubs in the grants module.

Wayne Boggs wants you to successfully close out your grant.

 

Grants, grants, grants … want fries with that?

22 Tuesday Mar 2016

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Actually, there were home fries served with the full English breakfast at the Grant Management Seminar (GMS) on Saturday, March 19 at the Colonial Heritage Clubhouse in Williamsburg. OK, it wasn’t a full English … there were no beans, but everything expected in a Southern breakfast was to be had.  The food was great, the room was full, and the presenters were well prepared.

Wayne Boggs and Grant CosingThe GMS met all of the requirements for a club in attendance to be eligible to apply for or participate in a global grant.  In our district only global grants require attendance at a GMS, but the application process, grant criteria, and reporting requirements are very similar for a district grant. The information imparted at the GMS  prepared the clubs in attendance for the application, execution, reporting, and close out of either type of grant.

(A little treat if you click on the link below.)

Joan Pollard, Rotary Club of Petersburg

If your club was not represented, there will be two more opportunities to learn what you need to learn to pursue a district or global grant.  On April 2 and on May 7  there will be additional GMS presentations.  Both will be at the Old Dominion University Peninsula Center, Suite 2200,  600 Butler Farm Road in Hampton 22666 and both will also be available as webinars.  The April GMS will focus on district grants.  The program will include demonstrating the district grant module and describing how to develop a district grant.  The May GMS will focus on global grants. Both are conveniently scheduled prior to the district grant application deadline of May 16.

The registrations for these seminars will be available very, very soon so watch dacdb.com and have your club representatives register soonest for one or both of these events.   More information may be obtained from DRFCC Jim Probsdorfer or from District Grants Chair SuAnne Bryant.

Grant Management Seminar

15 Tuesday Mar 2016

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Does your club need to send a representative to the Grant Management Seminar (GMS) on March 19?  Your club does, if …

  • your club would like to participate in a global grant (GMS is required)
  • your club would benefit from learning how to do a needs assessment for a district or a global grant
  • your club would benefit from leaning about the online grant application process for either type of grant
  • your club would benefit from learning how to monitor and document your grant project from beginning to closeout
  • your club would like to hook-up with other clubs on a global grant

imageSuAnne Hardee Bryant will be presenting on these and other grant related topics on Saturday, March 19 at the Colonial Heritage Country Club in Williamsburg.  It is a morning-only seminar leaving plenty of time for golf or shopping in the afternoon.  There is limited time to register so do so now at dacdb.com.  Have a debit or credit card handy. More details are available when you register.

With existing district grants required to close out before applying for a new district grant (May 15 application deadline), the timing of this GMS is perfect.

Pictures worth a 1000 words … except

08 Tuesday Mar 2016

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A few thoughts on public image and digital outreach by Rotarians:

Don’t overestimate the willingness of people to read …

More people are ‘reading’ or looking at content on mobile devices.  Shorter, descriptive passages, are more likely to be read than a constipated 3 page article on the development and implementation of a project.

Structure content in newsletters and information releases with an eye-catching graphic, a curiosity tweaking sentence or two, and a ‘read more’ link.

A still picture depicting action, a gif, or a short video clip if your platform supports it, will be better than a picture with fifteen people staring at the camera.

If there isn’t a picture, it didn’t happen …

Every meeting, event, or project of the club should have one or more members assigned to take photos or video clips.  Yes, the media may come and take pictures, but the publisher may not be readily willing to waive copyright.  Further some professionally taken images can be difficult for amateur newsletter editors to manipulate.

Opt for photos or video clips that show members actually doing something … active at a project work-day, serving each other coffee at a meeting, acting goofy at an End Polio Now Baseball Game.

Avoid using the predictable … the president presenting the speaker’s gift to the speaker,

Grizzard&Pollard

Cheers

the club receiving the grant check from the district leader.  If you must … why not do a video clip?

When possible give attribution to the photographer/videographer.  It’s just the 4-Way Test kind of thing to do.

Feedback invited.