District Simplified Grants

Volunteer Service Grants

Matching Grants

3-H Grants 
(Health, Hunger & Humanity)

Rotary Public Relation Grants

Vocational Scholarships
(Rotary Vocational Fund
of Arizona, Inc)

Rotary Grant Programs Available to Support D5500 Club Projects
                                       (Prepared by Sally Montagne, D5500 Grants Chair, July 2007)                                   

 Four types of Rotary Foundation grants support club projects:

1.       District Simplified Grants – Small grants for short-term local or international humanitarian projects.

2.       Matching Grants – International service projects involving Rotary clubs in 2 or more countries.

3.       3 H Grants – Large grants ($100,000 to $300,000) for international long-term, self-help, grassroots  development projects that use an integrative approach to address humanitarian needs

4.       Volunteer Service Grants – Travel grants for international humanitarian service project planning or to provide essential services in a foreign community.

District Simplified Grants – Local or International projects – Small grants to clubs to do new humanitarian projects that involve the active, personal participation of Rotarians and that benefit the community and/or improve the lives of those less fortunate.  They must be:

1.   Humanitarian projects such as literacy and education, health, water, food production, job creation, and alleviation of poverty.    

2.   Projects that involve the active, personal participation of Rotarians. The project cannot start until the grant is awarded because it might need changes or not be approved.

3.   New, one-time only, projects that are not already in progress or completed.  These grants are designed to assist clubs in starting new programs and are not available to fund the same project a second year, even though new beneficiaries are involved. 

4.    Rotary sponsored projects (i.e. not funding the projects of other organizations)

5.   The grants process is managed by the District Simplified Grants Subcommittee.

The Rotary Foundation sends funds to the District, and the District awards them locally. 

1.   In District 5500, we generally have approximately $20,000 of Rotary Foundation funds available each year.

2.   District 5500 rules provide that the club must put up at least half of the total cost of the project and the DSG Committee may match up to $2,000.  If 2 clubs want to join together on one project, please contact DSG Chair, Craig Pemberton, cwpem@roadrunner.com.

3.   Applications must be filed between July 1 and September 30.   If money is left after the October review, additional applications may be considered up to November 30th on a first-come, first-serve basis as long as funds are available. 

4.   The project must be short-term and designed to be completed in the current Rotary year.

5.   An easy two page application is posted on the District 5500 website – http://www.rotaryd5500.org/Simplified-Grant-Application-D.5500.doc    

6.   The complete D5500 rules for these grants are also posted in the Grants section above.

7.   “Terms and Conditions” for all Rotary Foundation funded grants, including District Simplified Grants, are found at www.rotary.org/newsroom/downloadcenter/pdfs/mg_terms.pdf.   

Examples of qualifying DSG projects include:

• Dictionaries for 3^rd graders – Thesaurus’ for 7^th graders – Audio books for slow readers or classroom support

• Equipment and books for orphanages and therapeutic equipment for disabled children in Mexico

• Literacy and job training programs for adults and non-English speaking person

• Seeds, garden tools, and fencing for neighborhood garde 

• Playground equipment in low-income neighborhoods  

• Books and educational supplies & equipment for adult and youth prisons

• Sports equipment & supplies for poor and rural schools in the US and Latin America

• Computer equipment for after school labs in poor areas, rural areas, prisons, schools, adult education, etc.   

• “Clothes Closets” for graduates of job training programs who are looking for jobs

• Developing a “camera club” with new or donated cameras, digital cards, and perhaps computers

• Developing and equipping an art or mural program for perimeter walls, water towers, fire hydrants

• Equipping and coaching high school students to “mentor” younger kids in reading, science, or a club         

• Water project for Leper Colony in Nigeria

Application using Word Document - click here

For an application in Microsoft Word that can be downloaded and filled in, use the following instructions:

1 - Pull up the Word document off the website - http://www.rotaryd5500.org/Simplified-Grant-Application-D.5500.doc 
2 - Fill in information in this Word document
3 - Save to Desktop
4 - Attach to email addressed to Craig Pemberton cwpem@roadrunner.com - to send in application.

Completed applications should be forwarded to:   

Volunteer Service Grants – Available to Rotarians to subsidize travel for international humanitarian service or qualified project planning in Rotary countries for periods up to 60 days.   Spouses are also eligible if they have needed skills that separately qualify.  See the rules and the eligibility chart at the beginning of the grant application which is posted at www.rotary.org/foundation/grants/vsg/index.html.   These grants are awarded by The Rotary Foundation, without requiring the club or the District to contribute any cash or DDF.   The award is for a grant of $3,000 available to an individual or $6,000 available for a team of up to five members.

Matching Grants – 
International only – Assist Rotary clubs in carrying out humanitarian projects with clubs in other countries.  
(This is a brief summary of some highlights.  The full rules are on the Rotary website – see below.)

1.   The TRF match award must be between $5,000 and $25,000, which usually limits the total cost of projects to approximately $60,000.  Applications can be submitted anytime between July 1 and March 31.  Approval usually takes up to six weeks.  (Larger “competitive” grants, which are reviewed only twice yearly, are available for TRF matches up to $150,000). 

2.  The District may match all or part of your club funds with DDF.  TRF will match club funds by 50%.  TRF will also match the District’s DDF contributions 100%.  

3.   Must be a humanitarian service project designed to improve the lives of those less fortunate – such as literacy and education, health, water, food production, job creation, and alleviation of poverty. 

4.   Must partner with a Rotary Club in the project country, and involve the active participation of Rotarians in both countries.

5.   Must be a new Rotary-sponsored project that is not already in progress or completed.

6.   Must be an “eligible” activity.  Can not be for construction of a building, or any kind of building repairs or upgrades.   However, it can be for furnishing a school, clinic, or other such structure that already exists.

7.    Matching grant applications, instructions, eligible activities chart, rules, and “The Guide to Matching Grants” (Publication 144-EN) is at www.rotary.org/newsroom/downloadcenter/pdfs/144en.pdf.   A great chart of the eligible activities is at www.rotary.org/newsroom/downloadcenter/pdfs/hg_eligibility_guidelines_en.pdf. 

8.   International Conventions and meetings are great places to meet potential partners and discuss mutual interests which can lead to successful international projects.   

9.   Examples of recent matching grant projects include:
a.   Mobile medical clinics for rural areas.  Also equipment for village, prenatal and child care clinics.
b.   Water wells for villages with no safe water.  Filtration systems for areas with unsafe water.
c.   Rainwater harvesting from school roofs (or wells at schools) so children can attend school and then bring home            safe water (instead of walking several hours a day for water at polluted water sources).
d.   School buses or vans for rural areas that don’t have schools, or schools past the elementary grades.
e.   Basic school equipment, furniture, books, computers.  
f.    Computer equipment for schools, rural areas, prisons, adult education programs.
h.   Used ambulances for hospitals and clinics in Mexico.  Used fire trucks are also often needed.
i.    Therapeutic equipment and programs for deaf, blind, and disabled children and adults.
j.    Projects for orphaned and abandoned children including AIDS orphans and “street children”.
h.   Food production projects (including seeds, tools and equipment, and fencing) – village gardens,  
      poultry raising, animal loan programs, planting fruit and nut trees, reforestation projects.  Also flood   
      control and drainage projects.   These often turn into income producing projects for the village.                             i.        Income generating projects – Sewing machine co-ops, computer labs, milking goats or cows, grain 
      banks, welding programs, wood-working factories, local craft coops, construction crafts, etc.
j.    Revolving loan and micro-credit programs for small businesses, often home based.            
k.   Day care center projects for disabled persons, seniors, working parents, and street children.
l.    Public sanitation facilities for rural areas, marketplaces, schools, clinics, etc.  

The Rotary Foundation provides a 1:1 for District Designated Funds SHARE contributions and a 0.5:1 match for new cash contributions.  More information

  Health, Hunger, and Humanity Grants (3-H)
 International only – 3H Grants fund long term development projects that are designed to improve the 
quality of life for a large number of persons through projects that lead to self-reliance. 

1.   Partnerships must include at least 2 Rotary clubs and/or districts, one from inside the project country and the other from outside, who together have successfully completed and reported on a Matching Grant within five years prior to submitting the 3-H grant request.  A community needs assessment is also required.

2.   The minimum 3-H grant award is $100,000 and the maximum award is $300,000.  The sponsoring partners must contribute an amount equal to at least 10% of the project.   

In addition, from time to time, there are other grants available from Rotary International, or other Rotary sources. For instance:

Rotary Public Relations Grants   

This is a one-time only, short-term, grant to a District for publicity about Rotary International and its programs. It is different from the grants available in 2006-2007. These grants are enable districts to place RI produced television and radio public service announcements, billboards, banners and newspaper supplements in their communities. This opportunity was announced late July 2007 and the District's request must be completed in September. District 5500 will have a total of $8,000 available from a combination of Rotary International and District funds. www.rotary.org/support/protools/awards/pr_grants.html Soon as the District's procedures are available, they will be posted on the District 5500 website.      

               Vocational Scholarships from The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona, Inc   

Up to $2,000 per student is available, through Rotary club sponsorships, to help disadvantaged individuals pursue non-degree vocational training opportunities. These vocational scholarships are available for tuition, books tools, uniforms, supplies, etc. They are primarily funded by Arizona Rotarians taking advantage of the Arizona Tax Credit program. www.trvfa.org has full details. The District 5500 liaison is Skip Horie drskip@theriver.com    

Rotary website information about grants:  www.rotary.org/foundation/grants/index.html.  This site contains the links to these programs, as well as the application forms and all the instructions and rules.

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