The Rotary Foundation is one of the oldest and the most trusted Foundation in the world. Every year many Rotarians, Non Rotarians, other organizations donate to this foundation and in return, The Rotary Foundation uses these funds for the use of mankind.
One of the major tools it uses is the Global Grants. The Global Grants, as the name suggests are Global, meaning can be done across the world, which can be used for a Humanitarian Community Service Project, Vocational training or an International Scholarship.
Out of these 3 the Global Grant is most popular for the service projects which are in the seven focus areas, done on a large scale which are normally beyond the scope of clubs and where it is mandatory to have an international partner and the project budget is Min. 30,000 US Dollars.
Do you know that since the start of Global Grant projects in 2011, our District has done more than 260 projects, worth more than Rs. 200 Crores and do you know how much our clubs have spent on these projects – Rs. 19 Crore. Yes, less than 10%.
Yes this funding is the most attractive feature but what makes the Global Grant service projects really worthwhile? They are ‘community need assessment’ , ‘sustainability’ and ‘training’
Before you undertake any project, you need to do community need assessment properly. You need to take the community into confidence. Say, if you’re doing a project in a village, you should do meetings with community elders, the panchayat, community women, understand their needs properly, discuss what kind of project is in your mind, see that the community understands and likes the project. They cannot make any monetary contribution, but they must be involved in proper execution.
The project needs to be sustainable. You should use local or easily available resources, see that the project gives benefits for many years. If you’re donating some equipment, then ensure that the equipment will be in good condition for many years and will be used properly for many years. If you’re donating cows to deserving women, then see that the women will take care of the cows properly and they keep on giving milk for many years.
And nothing happens without proper training. Use good, renowned, qualified trainers, make a proper training schedule and train the users, beneficiaries. If you’re building toilet blocks for students, see that they, the teachers as well as housekeeping staff are trained in good hygiene, proper housekeeping and see that they get the necessary cleaning material also.
Above are the things that make Global Grants projects outstanding service projects.
And here is 3131, we’re also very good at Synergy, so we can involve many clubs in some excellent projects where many clubs can contribute a small amount and still be a part of an impactful service project.
Now let us come to some number game, which all of you’re waiting for.
- The project cost – Minimum 30,000 US Dollars, maximum World Fund Contribution could be 400,000 Dollars.
- International partner – a must.
- International contribution – Min. 15% of the project cost.
- District Designated Fund will be matched 80% by world fund, meaning if your project gets a District Designated Fund of say 10000 Dollars, the World Fund will add 8000 Dollars.
- Whatever is the Club’s contribution, 5% administrative charges will be added to it.
Hope You enjoyed this. So if you’re not already doing a Global Grant, come on, what are you waiting for?
Rtn. Hemant Jere,
District Director Global Grants
