Matching Grant Projects Seeking Sponsors

Literacy Education Classes in Costa Rica                              Panama City Beaches / Jim Adamczyk

This project will provide basic classes in English and Spanish for illiterate adults, and provide them with a dictionary, to help them get a job and provide for families Working with Alfalit International .

Shoes for Children in Costa Rica                                         Pensacola Subwest / Trisha Woodburn

This project will contract with local shoemaker to provide shoes for children, a requirement to attend school in Costa Rica. This project will be implemented in 2013 school year, with application submitted in March.

Rotary Youth Camps                         Quincy / Jan Rogers

This project will add extra week of camp activity in summer 2012 at North Florida Rotary Youth Camp, designated for older teens/young adults with disabilities and provide respite for their caregivers. Grant will continue our partnership with Castleton Youth Camp in Sheffield, UK.

Clean Water Business in Haiti       Tallahassee / Larry Kubiak

This project will build storage tanks to collect potable water for schools and orphanages, and generate revenue by selling excess water in the community.  Working with Hope for Haiti organization.

Haitian Recovery Projects              TRF Haiti Task Force

District Governor seeks D-6940 participation in project to rebuild a school or orphanage as part of the Earthquake Recovery in Haiti. All Rotary projects are managed by Haiti Task Force and D-7020.  We are working to identify project where clubs can use DDF shares. Contact Christine if your club is interested.

Specialty Youth Wheelchairs in Costa Rica                           Pensacola Five Flags / Ron Gillette

Continuation of project that builds and distributes specialty wheelchairs to provide mobility and independence for youth with severe physical disabilities. Working with Rotarians in San Pedro region.

Water Wells for Villages in India     Tallahassee / Ivan Johnson

This project will fund bore wells to provide clean water for residents of rural communities in Andhra Pradesh province.  This region was site of our GSE partnership in 2010.

 

School Desks for Students in India                                          Pensacola / Kathy Horton-Brown
This project will provide desks and benches in rural schools in southern India.  

Computers for At-Risk Students in Pensacola                 Cantonment / Deb Hild

Working with Rotary Partner in Costa Rica on project that will provide new computers and software for urban schools with high number of at-risk students.

We expect to have opportunities to work with Rotarians in D-4680, Southern Brasil, where our 2012-2013 GSE visits will take place. 

Contact Christine if your club is interested in a project in Brasil.

Sponsors Needed for International Projects

D-6940 clubs with international service projects eligible for your Cash or DDF contributions. All projects need additional support to get TRF approval for RY-2010.

Dictionaries for All High School Students in BELIZE
Partner Club: Pensacola North
Contact: Norman Wright

Eye Exams and Glasses for Children in COSTA RICA
Partner Club: Pensacola SubWest
Contact: Trisha Woodburn

Dental Clinic for Needy Families in PANAMA
Partner Club: Chiefland
Contact: Bob Mount

Clean Water for Rural Villages in MEXICO
Partner Club: Tallahassee
Contact: Bill Webb

Supplies for Disabled Children's Home in JAMAICA
Partner Club: Panama City
Contact: Pat Sabiston

Recent DSG Projects in D-6940

Hunger Kitchen Feeding Children in Peru

Car Safety Seats for New Mothers in Leon County

Rotary Reading Room in Bay County Library

Playground Equipment for Rural Elementary School

Fallen Heroes Memorial in Okaloosa County

Disposable Diapers for Jamaican Children's Home

Backpacks & Shoes for Costa Rican School Children

Matching Grants and Use of DDF

District 6940 does not use its DDF allocation to "match" member clubs' cash contributions for international service projects. Instead, our DDF expenditures are “directed” to projects by member clubs, in proportion to their prior contributions to TRF. Each year, club presidents are advised how much DDF is available for support of approved MG projects. In most cases, undesignated DDF "rolls-over" for use in the next year.

Current Guidelines for TRF approval of Matching Grant Project:

1. Projects must have two Rotary partners. The "Host" Partner is Rotary club/district in beneficiary country with primary responsibility for project implementation and reporting. The "International" Partner is club/district outside the beneficiary country, which usually is responsible for raising money and submitting the application. Both partners must have a project committee with at least 3 Rotarians. Committee needs analysis describes why project is needed, what outcomes are anticipated, and how it addresses Rotary goals.

2. International service projects can be done here, if you have a Rotary Partner from outside the U.S. The Host club (project site club) must contribute some cash to the project, and may contribute DDF if they have it. Sponsoring clubs must contribute at least $100 in cash to be recognized by TRF for their participation.

3. TRF Matching Grant is normally funded with contributions from Host and International Partners and other Rotary club and district sponsors, which are matched with a grant from the Rotary Foundation World Fund. As of Sept. 1st, all World Fund money is committed to approved international projects.

4. Substitution Matching Grants are alternative way to fund a MG project without the TRF World Fund match. These projects are known as “$0 Match" or “Substitution” Matching Grants. Substitution MGs allow sponsors to use DDF and Cash to replace the WF match in the project funding budget.

5. To get DDF money "released" for a Substitution MG, you must follow the normal TRF application process, present project budget that is fully-funded, and show that Rotarians will be actively involved in project. Projects should be completed 12-18 months from start date. Application must clearly define local need, describe who will benefit from the project, and state how it will be sustained after grant ends. Substitution MG project budgets must be at least $10,000. Applications can be submitted July through March, and early submission is recommended.

6. Substitution MG projects must comply with TRF guidelines: no construction of buildings; training for local ownership and maintenance; approval of local authority if appropriate; itemized budget that identifies all purchases and vendors; fiscal management plan; no international travel costs; allowance for delivery, freight, customs, storage in budget.

What is DDF?

DDF stands for District Designated Funds. The Rotary Foundation asks its member districts to "designate" how some funds will be used to accomplish Rotary goals and aims around the world.

Rotarians get huge ROI on their contributions to The Rotary Foundation. TRF invests the annual contributions from its members, and uses the earnings from those investments to operate the Foundation and its programs for three years. At that point, TRF "returns" approximately 50% of the money contributed by each member district and allows district leaders to "designate" how that money should be used.

Rotary districts and their member clubs advise The Rotary Foundation which service projects they wish to support with their DDF. The annual DDF "share" is directly related to level of district and club contributions three year earlier.

DDF can be used to support an international service project, Rotary scholarship, or special activity such as the Polio Plus campaign. In most districts, officers decide how to allocate their annual share of DDF, often using this money to "match" club contributions toward international service projects.

In District 6940, we use the "revenue sharing" DDF plan, where each club may "designate" how its share of the annual DDF allocation is used to support a Rotary project. The club's share of DDF is proportional to its previous annual contributions. Clubs may join together in support of a service project and get more leverage from their individual DDF shares.

Many Rotary districts, including 6940, allocate a portion of DDF for District Simplified Grants(DSG). DSG is a district-directed program that provides grants to member clubs to support service projects in their local community, region, and sometimes at international sites. DSG projects are smaller and less complex than TRF-MGs, and grants are modest.

Download D-6940 Grants Documents

https://sites.google.com/site/rotarygrantsguru/home

Come on In!

Welcome to Rotary Grants Guru!

This site is intended to provide ideas, opportunities, updates, and reminders about the process of getting funding to underwrite the humanitarian work of Rotary around the world. Rotary clubs generate financial resources from event proceeds, community activity, and direct fund-raising appeals, but, most Rotary service projects are funded by grants.

These posts are meant to help Rotarian colleagues in District 6940 in Northwest Florida, but many tips will be useful to all Rotary grant-seekers.

The site will also serve as an electronic Bulletin Board where Rotarians seeking partners and sponsors for service projects and grant applications can give an "elevator speech" explaining why they should get your attention and/or money.

Content is based on the Aims of Rotary and the Four-Way Test, but this is not an official Rotary site and the author is not a spokesperson for The Rotary Foundation. For resources and information about Rotary, go to www.rotary.org