District Grants

District 7230 grants fund small-scale, short-term activities that address needs in our community and communities abroad. The district chooses which activities we will fund with these grants.

What district grants support

Any Club in District 7230 can use district grants to fund a variety of district and club projects and activities, including:

Humanitarian projects, including service travel and disaster recovery efforts
Scholarships for any level, length of time, location, or area of study, , vocational training, team orientation, and grant management seminars
Youth programs, including Rotary Youth Exchange, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), Rotaract, and Interact
Projects and activities in Rotary and non-Rotary countries where permitted by law and in accordance with Foundation policies.
Vocational training teams, which are groups of professionals who travel abroad either to teach local professionals about their field or to learn more about it themselves
May allocate up to 3% of the grant award for grant related administrative expenses such as bank fees, postage, software and independent financial assessment.
May allocate up to 20% of the grant for contingencies but all projects and activities added to the grant post-approval must be pre-approved by TRF

Clubs have plenty of freedom to customize their service projects. Refer to the Terms and Conditions for Rotary Foundation District Grants and Global Grants for information about District 7230 grant requirements.

How they’re funded

Districts may use up to 50 percent of their District Designated Fund to receive one district grant annually. This percentage is calculated based on the amount of DDF generated from a district’s Annual Fund giving three years prior, including Endowment Fund earnings. You aren’t required to request the full amount available.

You’ll receive this funding as a lump sum and then distribute it to your clubs.

Policies

For the Rotary Year 2017-2018, District 7230 will fund District Grants from a minimum of $500 up to a maximum of $2,500 for local community projects. The term ‘grant’ refers to the portion of project funding which comes from the district. The term ‘project cost’ refers to the total cost of the project, including the funding from the district. The district will grant a maximum of 50% of the project cost. For example, if the total project cost is $2,000 the maximum grant will be $1,000. The committee has the authority to reduce the amount requested if the requests exceed the amount available but will in no instance reduce the amount below $1,500.

See the Guidelines for grants. Note that funding is for NEW projects. Projects cannot have started before this Rotary year but planning ahead is encouraged. Grants which request funding for a ‘repeat’ of an identical grant request from the previous year will not be accepted. Grants are designed to encourage the creation of additional club activities. The district will award a second grant to a club in the Rotary year only if all the grant money is not requested.

In order to be eligible for a grant, a club must be in good standing, having paid both district and RI dues. All previous District Grants must be completed and all required documentation submitted before a new grant can be approved.

Approved grant projects must be completed within the Rotary year 2017/18, with all project documentation submitted to the district by 15 September 2018.

The district will reimburse the club for the grant amount after the project is done and a complete set of documentation (see below) has been received by the district. Note: the club must be in good standing, having paid all dues, to receive reimbursement.

The district will accept applications for district projects from 10 July 2017 to 30 September 2017. Clubs will be notified of the approval or disapproval of their grant request by 15 October 2017. The maximum available funding for District Grants is $39,949; therefore clubs are encouraged to submit their applications as early as possible. If demand exceeds funding, first-come, first-served rules will apply.

The available funding is 50% of our District Designed Funds (DDF) for the Rotary year. DDF is 50% of our district’s contributions to the Rotary Foundation Annual Fund three years ago. Donations to the fund through the ‘Every Rotarian Every Year’ program are critical to our district’s ability to support clubs with grant funding.

Only clubs who have been certified and who have signed the District Memorandum of Understanding for District Grants are qualified to receive a grant.

Procedures

1. Complete and submit Grant Proposal Form (see link on right sidebar) to Doris Benson at dwbenson1@verizon.net. Please note that grants are designed to support projects, not donations.

2. Modify application as requested by the district to conform to grant guidelines.

3. After grant is approved, begin project. THIS GRANT IS FOR NEW PROJECTS NOT ONGOING PROJECTS.

4. Retain all invoices, receipts and cancelled checks for items purchased for a period of five years.

5. After the project is complete, send copies of all invoices, receipts, and cancelled checks, along with the individual project report form, to Doris Benson at dwbenson1@verizon.net.

6. Clubs that are in good standing will receive reimbursement.

For more information or assistance Email Taylor Eskew, District Foundation Chair.

Qualification

Districts need to become qualified to apply for district grants.

If your club wishes to apply for global grants, your president and president-elect must:

Agree to the club qualification MOU
Send at least one club member to a grant management seminar held by your district
Complete any additional steps that your district requires

Your club must qualify each year if you plan to apply for global grants.

Learn more about the qualification process.

Final Reports

At the completion of the project a final report must be submitted along with invoices or receipts for all project elements, and copies of all disbursement checks (front and back). If the Project reimbursed an organization the organization must present invoices or receipts for the items the reimbursement covered. Both district and global grants are subject to audit by The Rotary Foundation. Incomplete or missing final reports can render the district ineligible to execute grants until the problem is resolved.