What is The Rotary Foundation’s Endowment Fund? Gifts to Rotary's Endowment ensure that future Rotarians will have the resources they need to design and implement sustainable projects year after year. Donations to the Endowment Fund can be made as an outright gift or a planned gift, such as a bequest in your estate. As of the 2018-19 Rotary year, Rotary’s Endowment totals US$374.5 million and has US$828.9 million in commitments. |
Dear Fellow Rotarians,
During these trying times, Covid-19 is on the minds of almost every Rotarian in the world. Many clubs are using grant funds to provide a financial life line to local food banks and other charitable organizations. Our own Rotary Foundation has been asked to approve more than double the number of global Grants than in the previous years.
We contribute to the Foundation Annual fund because we understand that our contributions keep our foundation alive for important current projects to help people right now.
You may be interested that contributions to the Rotary Foundation Endowment Fund can provide a continuing stream of funds to the Annual Fund also. This continuing flow keeps supporting Rotary’s works around the world not only today but in perpetuity.
Please click read more for just such an experience from our own PDG Al Bonney, on how easy it is and why he and Joan decided to support the endowment fund.
Hope you find Al’s experience interesting. Maybe his story will help you make your next giving decision to The Rotary Foundation.
Yours in Rotary,
Gernot Runschke
DRFC 2019/21, PDG 2016/17 D6290
By PDG Al Bonney, District 6290 Rotary Foundation Committee Chair, 2016-2019
When I entered my second year as District 6290 Rotary Foundation Chair, I began preparing a new club presentation for club visits. My first year presentation was entitled, “What Do They Do With My Money?” While it was a good presentation and people liked learning the answer, it generated a key suggestion: they wanted more. More in this case meant a broader introduction to The Rotary Foundation’s full range of services and benefits. So I entitled my second year’s presentation, “TRF: The Engine Behind Rotarians Doing Good in the World.” Basically it was a tour of the range of services and benefits that TRF brings to Rotary clubs and members.
Preparing and presenting that talk turned out to be a major learning activity for ME. What struck me most was discovering how the different funds were each unique benefits that helped Rotarians focus their charitable donations in very specific ways to insure THEIR money did what THEY wanted it to do.
One of the funds was a special learning opportunity for me. I always thought that an endowment fund was for the old rich guys who could write checks in 6 or 7 figures. Hardly my level of giving. That is, until I read a quote from an old Michigander, Bill Diamond, who said, “I give to the Annual Fund to support the Foundation’s immediate needs. I give to the Endowment Fund to insure that Rotary can address those needs long into the future.” The light bulb in my head went on! I got it! "Rotary’s tomorrow depends on what we do today," That afternoon I actually read the Endowment Fund brochure, cover to cover, and then called The Rotary Foundation office for help.
What the fine folks at the Foundation brought to the table were a set of questions to make me think more deeply about what I wanted my money to do if channeled through one of the Endowment Fund’s programs. Their questions were very helpful to Joanie and me when we sat down later to examine our entire set of charitable giving practices. What evolved was that the amount of money we were able to put into the Endowment Fund (Not 6 - 7 figures) could be used to do exactly the kind of good in the world that we wanted; in this case, to support projects for Water and Sanitation, AND it would continue doing this forever!.
Our gift to Rotary's Endowment would earn somewhere around $1,000 a year which could be transferred once a year to the World Fund to, in Bill Diamond’s words, “Support Rotary’s immediate needs.” The original donation, of course, would not be touched, but keep earning around that same amount every year – long after we are gone - to keep supporting Rotary’s work for clean water and sanitation around the world! I had created a perpetual Annual Fund gift. Current trustee policy states that you may direct undesignated gifts of $10,000 or more to World Fund, if you prefer that.
There are a number of other ways to direct your money through the Endowment Fund, but my original lesson holds: You don’t have to be in the 6 – 7 figure giving line to consider accessing the benefits of the Endowment Fund. I was able to direct my gift to Endowment - SHARE, but there are several other places and ways you can direct your gift. A simple call to the Foundation office gets you on the road to understanding what plan is the best for your specific circumstances.
I also learned that other types of financial resources, besides cash, can be included in an estate plan such as:
- Insurance beneficiary designations
- Real estate and other asset transfers, and
- Gifts of retirement plan assets or other financial accounts.
Not being a lawyer or a financial planner, I personally found the staff’s patience to be important when deciding what I wanted to do to create my legacy. Joan and I were able to provide funding for our personal passion: Water and Sanitation, year after year, and make a lasting difference. Your District Foundation Chair (DRFCs), Regional Rotary Foundation Chairs (RRFCs) Endowment Major Gifts Chairs (EMAGs), and our Rotary Major Gifts Officers, Kevin Kelly can answer your questions and help you with the process.
So, my question to you, again, is, "What do you want YOUR Rotary legacy to be?" Be the Inspiration for others.