Happy February District 7600 Foundation Advocates and Club Foundation Chairs!

In my virtual travels through District Foundation Land I have encountered many questions from Advocates, incoming Advocates, and from others. Sticking to the Carol’s Rule of 5, I will address s five of those questions here.

1. Who has access to Club Foundation Reports? Advocates do not have direct access to Club Foundation Reports through Rotary Club Central on rotary.org. To view any of the three reports from the clubs in an Advocates area, the Advocate must rely on one of three sources …
   1. District Foundation Committee Chair (Jim Probsdorfer), or the Development/Giving Chair (Ken Hodge). The Annual Giving Chair (Randy Cash) should have access, but apparently that hasn’t been closed on yet.
   2. The corresponding Area Governor (AG) for the Advocate’s Area. Good idea to develop a relationship with the AG to increase receiving those 3 club reports for each club.
   3. The Club Foundation Chair from each club in an Advocate’s area. This is another good reason to establish a relationship with an Advocate’s Club Foundation Chairs, another source for receiving those three reports. Some Club Foundation Chairs have reported not having access to club reports. When this occurs it means that the club President or Secretary must input the Club Foundation Chair’s name into the ‘current officers and/or incoming officers’ area of club administration.
2. What are the three reports discussed above and how do I interpret them … how does the Club Foundation Chair use and interpret them? The three reports are the Monthly Contribution Report (MCR) , the Club Recognition Summary (CRS) , and the Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) Report . There is a guide for downloading and using each on the Foundation Resources page under Rotary Foundation on rotary7600.org. For your convenience they are listed here.
   1. Monthly Contribution Report
   2. Every Rotarian Every Year Report
   3. Club Recognition Summary
   4. Accessing Club Reports (Share with your Club Foundation Chairs)
3. I am a new Advocate or will be an Advocate beginning in July 2015, where do I start? I suggest you check in with the prior Advocate and get the lay of the land from that person. Give a call to the Club Foundation Chairs for the Clubs in your area and offer to buy them a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. In other words … begin the conversation. Reach out to Carol Woodward, Bruce Settle, Cindy Pecht, Jim Probsdorfer, or anyone you feel comfortable chatting with to get a tailored response to your questions. Check out some of the documents on the rotary7600 Rotary Foundation Resources page or similar documents on the Resources page of www.7600Adovcates.wordpress.com. Reading is a great way to start. Two starting documents are the Advocate Roles and Responsibilities and The TRF Guide for Zones 33 & 34.
4. Are there Publications we can put into the hands of our Club Foundation Chairs? The answer is yes and are available from shop.rotary.com. However, these are limited in quantity per order, often take an inordinate amount of time to arrive, and are often dated. Another source of printed materials are the actual PDFs of these publications which any Rotarian can download.
5. As an Advocate am I required to make club visits? The short answer is no, however, building a relationship with your Club Foundation Chairs is a gateway to success and mutual information sharing. The basic role of the Advocates and the District Rotary Foundation Committee is to assist the clubs in setting and meeting their Foundation Giving goals and applying for and completing grant projects. Building relationships is key to that role. In fact, all of Rotary has been built on relationship building from day one.

This is enough for this message, but don’t hesitate to reach out to me at any time. I want to be your best friend in your role as an Advocate ( and by extension … Club Foundation Chair). This is because I love Rotary and I love The Rotary Foundation.