Posted on May 08, 2024
Last week fellow RCFC member Tony Sundermeier presented the results of a new committee focused on our fundraising events as well as a review of the various opportunities for our members to give through our club – Helping Out – The Rotary Way. The committee was requested by our BOD in large part because our leaders have been getting a lot of questions from members on giving, especially from our many new members.
The talk covered -
  • Annual Gift Giving and Donations
  • The Charitable Fund
  • The Legacy Fund
  • The Fundraising Calendar
  • The Club Guidelines for Donations
Now is when (June) we kick off our annual gift and donation calendar and distribute forms to allow our members to change donations (available on each table today as well as online). At the top of the form is the Charitable Fund (CF) which provides for various local and international projects. The next slide showed the various “buckets” in this fund and the current budget ($35,070 plus the annual distribution from our Legacy Fund of $27,532).  Most are familiar to our members and include Community Grants, Volunteer Projects, Merit Badge U, RYLA, Youth Exchange, International Projects, Teacher of the Month, Student of the Month, Cadet of the Month, College Scholarships, Rural Urban College Scholarships, and District 5440 projects. The form includes the option to choose various levels of quarterly giving to the CF.  We are slightly below budget so if we all increase our giving by only $5, we can correct this shortfall.
The Rotary Foundation (RF) is focused on the improvement of health, support of education and the alleviation of poverty worldwide as well as supporting local projects through district grants. Modest donations are magnified on an international scale.  During our speakers’ previous position as a director in a distribution center in Romania focused on Ukraine, he witnessed the impact of Rotary clubs all over the world as they funneled all sorts of projects and goods through this center and on to Ukraine. The next slide showed the 7 areas of focus of the RF - Basic education and Literacy, Community Economic Development, Disease Prevention and Treatment, Maternal and Child Health, Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention, Clean Water, and the Environment. The slide also showed the astounding allocations in millions of dollars each area received last year.
The Legacy Fund (LF) is basically an endowment fund. The club’s goal is to reach a value of $2 million, providing a sustainable resource for our local activities. This fund currently provides about ½ of our Charitable Fund budget. There are various ways to donate to this fund, many of which allow tax benefits, so check with your accountant. The ways to donate are recorded on the form.
The next slide showed the fundraising and event calendar. In April we do Service Above self, in May we have the Water to Wine Fundraiser, and in June the Annual Charitable and Contribution Fund Drive (for the Charitable Legacy Fund and the Rotary Foundation). Pledge forms are due by the end of June. If not received the amounts from last year’s form will carry forward. In August many of our members are part of the Peach Festival fundraiser. In September we have the Golf Fundraiser which last year  raised about $30,000 and is reported to be a lot of fun.  Last year the money went to the Imagination Library. This year the recipient will be Project Healing Waters.
If a member has an idea for a charitable fundraiser, it is best to present it to the BOD. Lastly a plea to those who wish to change their donations - please submit your form before June 30.  The RCFC is a 501(c)3 organization allowing for tax deduction of donations.