The Rotary Foundation

The Rotary International Foundation is a non-profit entity, dedicated to promote peace and worldwide comprehension through humanitarian programs, educational and cultural exchange in the international field.

The financing that the Rotary Foundation receives comes exclusively from voluntary donations from Rotarians and people unaffiliated with Rotary who also aspire to the ideal of a better world.

The mission of the Rotary Foundation is to motivate Rotarians to achieve worldwide comprehension, peace and good will through improvement of health, support to education and the mitigation of poverty. The foundation is a non-profit organization and depends completely of voluntarian contributions that involve the Rotarians and non-Rotarian benefactors, who share the vision of a better world.

The contributions for the Annual Contribution Fund Program are invested for three years; together with interest accrued to cover the administrative costs. A hundred percent of donated funds cover the cost related to programs implemented by the foundation three years later. Donations to the Rotary Permanent Foundation Fund are invested in its entirety and are used only to finance programs. The Rotary Foundation was created in 1917 “with the object of doing good in the world” and was organized initially as a special fund of contributions for charitable purposes. Although it was constituted in 1928, it did not receive important contributions until 1947, upon the death of Paul Harris, the Rotary founder, when a significant increase in economic support was registered.

Ever since, the Rotary Foundation has invested almost 860 millions of dollars on the implementation of its programs. All proposals and requirements for grants and scholarships offered by the Rotary Foundation are originally presented by the Rotary Clubs at a District Level.