(Evanston, Illinois) Following a rigorous reassessment of its grant processes, the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International has recently launched a new grant designed to support humanitarian projects. According to The Rotary Foundation Reference Guide the new ‘Global Grants’ offer “clubs and districts opportunities to participate in strategically focused, high-impact activities.” The key factors for a qualifying project are that they deliver sustainable, measurable outcomes that will benefit the recipients.
Rotary International has identified six areas of focus for service carried out by its members in an effort to maximize the positive results. For grant applications to be successful the intended project must address one or more of these issues.
Smiles for Mobility
Projects are required to have a total budget of over US $30,000, however the funds can be combined from several different sources. These include Rotary clubs and districts, individuals and other sponsors. Ideally, these grants are intended to help promote large-scale international humanitarian projects, vocational training teams and scholarships.
Activities may be carried out individually or in combination — for example, one grant may support a vocational training team and a related humanitarian project. All Global Grants must be sponsored by two clubs or districts: a host partner in the country where the activity takes place and an international partner outside that country. When planning a Global Grant project, sponsors are required to conduct a thorough needs assessment that explores the pressing concerns in the intended location along with the club and community resources available to tackle them.
Each Rotary District and individual Rotary club must first be qualified under a Memorandum of Understanding before they can apply for Global Grant funding. Once this is in place, the application process has been streamlined through an online ‘grants app’ on the newly re-designed Rotary International website.
These new processes will be key to enhancing the ability of Rotary districts and clubs to provide more in-depth international programs to better serve people around the world with the greatest needs.
Background
The Canadian Wheelchair Foundation is an independent Canadian registered charity with the goal to deliver brand new, free wheelchairs to persons with physical disabilities throughout the world who are without mobility or the means to acquire a wheelchair. With a strong focus on developing and newly industrialized states, the Canadian Wheelchair Foundation continues to change the lives of people and communities with a gift that extends hope, dignity, opportunity and independence to all.