Rotary District 5100

Our District 5100 clubs are very active in World Community Service. Several months ago, an ad hoc committee composed of District leaders and WCS Committee members studied how we might keep an active and current list of projects, which would show at any moment (a) which projects are being prepared, (b) who the contacts are and basic info about each project, (c) what is their status*, and c) how DDF is being allocated so far. In other words, a real-time snapshot of what’s happening, by project, by category, who’s doing what, and where the DDF money dedicated to WCS is going.

The result of that study was a negotiation, then full participation, in an excellent website that tracks Rotary matching grants worldwide – www.MatchingGrants.org. It was developed and grown by PDG Philippe Lamoise, and we use it daily.

To see at this moment which projects have D5100 involvement (as lead International partner), click on this report. Click on a project listed, and you’ll read about it, see which clubs are paired up, and who is the lead Rotarian from our District.

By placing your project on this D5100 and worldwide website, you can share the info with your project partners (participating clubs and Rotarians); do easy emails to the group; status updates; upload PDF documents like the Application, Award and Final Report; get reminders when you haven’t been as “on the ball” as you might. Your project will also have international visibility – and perhaps pledges from clubs you’ve never heard of (one of our D5100 clubs recently received a $5000 contribution from a club in So. Calif.).

Please refer to this FAQ (frequently asked questions) page that describes how to use the site MatchingGrants.org.

In addition to MatchingGrants.org, here is a project listing at WASRAG.org, and another called Project Link. Our District has a Partners in Service project fair each year, with a project list. You can attend a Project Fair in Central America (Uniendo America – late January) or in Mexico each year. Clubs come to Project Fairs with detailed project proposals. Rotarians from developed countries like U.S. and Canada can browse the available projects and talk with the host club promoters.

As you sift through the various options for a project for your club, please keep in mind some basic factors that are more likely to lead to a successful project:

• be sure your prospective project partner (PPP) is experienced, has studied the project well
• that the project is based on a verified community need (not just what someone thinks they should have)
• Is there infrastructure to support the project, like electricity for pumps, teachers in schools, nurses in clinics?
• Does the representative Rotarian speak English well, and use email or fax regularly?
• Please review this WCS Project Checklist for the types of things to “check out” before you commit resources from your club or Rotary (maybe not everything, it’s an exhaustive list).

Above all, make sure the project is sustainable - that it uses “appropriate technology“, that replacement supplies and spare parts can be had, that repair methods will be taught, and that community commitment exists to keep it alive. In Rotary, our stewardship of projects is serious business – we don’t want to see Rotary projects fall by the wayside, unused or kaput.

Definitions:
DDF = District Designated Funds, the money which our District controls through the SHARE program.
DSG = District Simplified Grant (the simplest form of Humanitarian Grant for TRF, 1 level match)
MG = Matching Grant (most common type of Humanitarian Grant for TRF, 2 levels of match)
TRF = The Rotary Foundation, the 501c3 nonprofit corporation that is our financial arm
WCS = World Community Service (and in the Host country, “Community Service”)