Rotary Foundation of Washington Dc

To engage in works of charity of every description and to collect, hold and administer funds to carry on charitable activities. Through charitable giving, the Foundation supports our members and partners in their hands-on service, in our community and around the world, as we work together at a grass-roots level to create economic opportunity, advance justice and equity, foster education and literacy, and improve health and the environment.

Through service, we promote peace and the well-being of people and communities within the Washington metropolitan area and across the globe.

Goal One: Community-Building Measurable Impact: We collaborate and partner with Community leaders by providing grants and other supportive resources that have lasting local and selected global impact.

Goal Two: Asset Growth & Sustainability: With a long-term, sustainability focus, we grow the our Foundation assets to respond to the ever-evolving scope of local and selected global needs and opportunities.

Goal Three: Strategic Communications: We will powerfully communicate the measurable impact of our Foundation’s grants and the resulting opportunities to position communities to thrive into the future.

The Foundation conducts board retreats for its members and annual leadership orientation for leaders at all levels of the organization. For example, 60+ leaders from across the Washington, DC Metro area and Maryland are trained together each year for their upcoming term. Each year, the Foundation supports its members’ attendance at the international Rotary convention where they participate in specific leadership development seminars and sessions. Further, the Foundation actively supports Rotary DEI efforts, and sponsors, supports, and engages in the following leadership programs: Rotaract and Interact, college students and high-school students, respectively, plan, engage, and lead local Rotary volunteer service, and Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA, leadership training program for high-school youth; Young Professionals Membership Program: development of young adult members; and Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI): preparing members who are “potential” leaders.

The Rotary Foundation of Washington, DC exhibited flexibility and adaptability during the COVID-19 crisis in administering our Community Service (CSG) Grantmaking application process by enabling grant applicants to revise their applications prior to the April 2020 Committee review of applications, to describe how operations and community needs had changed as well as how their programs may have changed to adapt to the crisis. Specifically, prospective grantees were invited to submit a one-page addendum to their already-submitted grant applications, addressing any immediate needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These addendums were uploaded to a secure, online data management portal before the first Committee review and deliberation meeting. All but eight of the 84 applicant-organizations submitted COVID-19 related addendums. Further, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the application review Committee prudently shifted plans from traditional in-person meeting to meeting virtually via zoom. Meeting over three consecutive Saturdays from mid-April to early May of 2020, The Rotary Foundation of Washington, DC was able to maintain the critically important timing of awarding grants such that successful grantees administering summer programs would receive funds to timely fund those activities. The Rotary Foundation of Washington, DC established a Disaster Relief program to quickly and effectively respond to the growing number of widespread and often unpredictable disasters throughout the world, including local disasters in the greater Washington DC metropolitan area. The Disaster Relief program enables quick and highly effective granting of funds to those organizations that are directly involved in disaster relief in a meaningful and measurable way. Through our worldwide network of Rotary and other Nonprofit organizations, we are able to identify organizations directly involved in disaster relief and confirm that donated funds will directly impact relief efforts.