Debbie Knobelsdorf was there.......

Foundation Training: The Rotary Club of Collingwood-South Georgian Bay of Collingwood hosted the annual District Rotary Foundation Celebration Dinner on Saturday March 2^nd. Prior to the evening celebrations, the Rotary District 7010 held an updating of members of our Rotary Clubs on the new way of applying for Foundation based grants. I asked Debbie K. to prepare a summary to keep the rest of our club informed. Thanks Debbie for the following........

On Saturday March 2^nd five Rotarians (Pres. Len, Pres Elect Deb, Past Pres Cam, Barb and Rob) made the trek to Collingwood to attend The Rotary Foundation Funding Seminar.  It is a requirement of Rotary International that every club have at least two members attend this seminar annually in order to qualify for District and Global grants. 

Our Rotary Club has benefited greatly in the past from using grants available to us through The Rotary Foundation and our own district.  Grant money is what can change a good project into a great project.    For decades and decades Rotarians just like you have been making contributions to the Foundation which makes all of this possible.

The seminar was taught by our very own PDG (Past District Governor for new members) Ron Strickland who is a walking Foundation encyclopaedia.  Ron spoke about how to qualify for grants, whether they are something locally, requiring a District Grant or the much more complicated Global Grants.  For either grant application we will need to create a three person Committee to oversee the process.  Quoting from the Grant Manual; Effective grant management is more than simply keeping track of funds.  It encompasses everything from selecting projects and activities to applying for a grant to ensuring proper stewardship of funds to evaluating grant outcomes.

Ron spoke much about sustainability, conflict of interest and how to avoid it as well as the goals that The Rotary Foundation is trying to reach with their programs.  The Rotary Foundation seeks to achieve greater impact and more sustainable outcomes through grants implemented by Rotary clubs and districts.

If you want to learn more about The Rotary Foundation and how it helps Rotary Clubs worldwide do great work for humanity go to Rotary.org and explore.