You may know that my passion in Rotary is Our Rotary Foundation. I am continually amazed by The Foundation's good works. Actually, these are the good works of Rotarians delivered through the Foundation. We must enable with our gifts.
Supporting the Annual Programs Fund is something I have asked of each club this year. I have visited you and talked of what I believe is our responsibility as Rotarians to fund the continued good works through the Annual Programs Fund.
50% of our APF gift comes back to the District in three years as District Designated Funds. Those funds fuel our dynamic projects. DDF makes it possible for us to fund District Simplified Grants for projects in the communities of D6900. DDF dollars also make it possible to participate in many of the programs important to our District. Scholarships are funded with DDF. We sponsor our Group Study Exchange team with DDF.
This year, following a highly successful Projects Fair where clubs were partnered for service, we were informed that Matching Grants funding had been fully committed and there would be no money for new projects in 2009-2010. We responded by devoting our remaining DDF to the funding of our international projects. The projects and the partnerships were too important to abandon. Besides, we can't take a year off. There is still hunger and thirst and people who need our help. We must serve and deliver the much needed Rotary service product.
With only club funds and DDF we are completing more projects, with more clubs participating, than ever before in D6900 history! We have some clubs doing their first-ever international projects.
The importance of continued giving to the Annual Programs Fund cannot be overstressed.
Competing for our dollars is the aggressive PolioPlus Gates Matching Grant program. We have exceeded our goal in response to the Gates Challenge. The District has now responded generously to two disasters - one was the flood that affected communities in our District. The other is a disaster of much greater magnitude in Haiti.
Now, at the half-way point in our year of service we must take stock. Where do we stand in Annual Giving? Where will we be three years from now when we need to fund the dynamic works of this District? I report to you that the next several months will do everything to make our year. We started off better than in any previous year. We are slightly behind now and that is because we have had other programs to support. It is time to refocus on Annual Giving.
I encourage you to ask every member of your club for a generous gift to the Annual Programs Fund. Become an EREY club with a gift from every member. Become a Sustaining Member Club with every member gifting at least $100 this Rotary year to the Annual Programs Fund.
We have welcomed 3 new 100% Paul Harris Fellow Clubs this year. Will your club join the ranks?
Paul Harris Fellow is not a destination. Some Rotarians reach PHF status and stop giving. The best time to start another PHF is when you have just received or awarded one. Rotary needs our continual support- and as Rotarians, we have an obligation to support Our Foundation.
Our Paul Harris Society is largest in the Rotary world. Join me and the other D6900 Rotarians who gift the APF at least $1,000 a year. These gifts make a difference for others and membership in the PHS moves you toward Major Donor status at a much faster pace than through Sustaining membership.
We have added already this year more Major Donors than in any previous year. I encourage you to find more Rotarians willing to take the next step to Major Donor status.
I have helped raise a lot of money for TRF over the past few years. Let me share my "secret". I share with my fellow Rotarians the wonderful good works of TRF and then I respectfully ask that they join me in support of TRF's Annual Programs Fund - as a Paul Harris Fellow, a Paul Harris Society Member, or as a Major Donor - whichever is appropriate for the circumstance.
You know what? There are very few turn-downs. A lot of Rotarians are happy to make that additional gift and only needed to be asked. In sales, that's called "asking for the order".
I request that you ask your members (most effectively one-on-one) to support The Rotary Foundation's Annual Programs Fund.
Our wonderful Rotary Foundation Team is ready to assist you in any way. Call on them.
Let's continue to lead. The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands.
DG Roy
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