District Grants

District Grants Timeline

 District Grants Overview

     District Grants are administered by the District Grant Sub-Committee and are funded by a District Block Grant from the Rotary Foundation.  Rotary International information on District Grants can be found on the District Grants page of My Rotary.  The District Block Grant can include up to 50% of the District Designated Funds (DDF) derived from donations made to the Annual Fund three years prior, plus spendable earnings from the Endowment Fund. 

     District Grants have several purposes and may include funding of local or international projects with a maximum grant request of US $5,000 for Local Grants or a maximum grant request of US $10,000 for International Grants. Grant Funds match club funds.

These projects may include:

• Humanitarian projects, including service travel and disaster recovery efforts,
• Scholarships for any level, length of time, location, or area of study,
• Youth programs, including Rotary Youth Exchange, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), Rotaract, and Interact,
• 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.

District Grant Applications are submitted through the District DACdb Grants module.  The following documents provide information about the application process and application requirements. 

The Rotary Foundation Terms & Conditions for District Grants (Jan 2024)

Memorandum of Understanding for D5080 Terms & Conditions Addendum and Club Qualification

Memorandum of Understanding - Cooperating Organization

Club Grants Steward Position Description

Club Financial Management Plan (Example)

District 5080 Online Grant Application Process

Applications for Local and International District Grants must be received no later than April 15th each year.

Several documents will need to be uploaded to the DACdb Grants Module as part of the application process, including:

      1,  Club Qualification MOU – Signed by:

• Current Year Club President,
• Project Year Club President, and
• Club Grant Steward

2.   Grant Financial Management Plan
3.   MOUs with any cooperating organizations
4.   Pro-forma invoices for any budget items costing US $1,000 or more

To complete the Grant Cycle, the Final Report must be submitted through the DACdb Grants module.  This report should be submitted within two months of the project completion no later than April 30^th of the following year.

Express Grants 

The Express Grants Program has been discontinued.

Global Grants

Rotary Clubs in the District (International Club) initiate and manage Global Grants in partnership with a Rotary Club(s) in a foreign country (Host Club).

Global Grants have a minimum budget of $30,000 comprised of a combination of Club Funds, District Funds and Foundation funds. The maximum contribution of RI Foundation Funds that may be awarded is $400,000. 

1.  Global Grants are applied for and administered on the RI Foundation website in the Rotary Grant Center. 

2. Specific information related to Grant Resources can be found on the Rotary Foundation Website – A Guide to Global Grants link.

3. The Terms and Conditions for Global Grants can be found here: The Rotary Foundation Terms & Conditions for Global Grants (Jan 2024) 

4.  Requests for District Designated Funds (DDF) for Global Grants must be submitted to the District Rotary Foundation Chair prior to the completion of the application. A DDF Request Memorandum of Understanding is required to complete this request.

For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, a change in the allocation of District Designated Funds has been established.

1.   District Clubs that are listed as the International Club in the Global Grant application may be considered for a 1:1 (100%) contribution of DDF based on Club contributions.

2.   District Clubs that partner with another District Club that is listed as the International Club in the Global Grant application may be considered for a 1:1 (100%) contribution of DDF based on Club contributions.

3.   District Clubs that partner with non-D5080 Clubs that are listed as the International Club in the Global Grant application may be considered for a 1:2 (50%) contribution of DDF based on Club contributions.

Qualification Criteria for Foundation Grants

To qualify for a District 5080 or Global Grant award, Clubs and members of a Club must meet certain criteria.

1.   The Club musts be considered a club in good standing. This status is determined by the timely payment of RI and District dues each year.

2.    The Club must designate a minimum of one Club Grants Steward to over see the fulfillment of the Club's grants process. Please be sure to designate your Club's Grants Steward as a designated position in your roster of member positions.

3.    Club members participating in the grant process must complete specific education each year. This education will vary depending upon the type of grant being considered.

• District Grants require at least two of the three Grant Project Signers and the Club’s Grants Steward to complete the required training each year.
  
• Global Grants require the Primary Contact and one additional contact to to have current training through the Rotary Learning Center.
  

Global Grant Training is available from the Rotary Learning Center and requires the completion of the Grant Management Seminar or the Grant Management Recertification course for those who have previously completed the Grant Management Seminar.

 District Grant Training is administered by the District Grants Committee Chair. D5080 conducts in-person training sessions, online virtual training sessions and makes available a video of the training session.  Any Rotarian who wishes to become qualified must participate in one of these training sessions or watch the video, followed by the completion of a quiz with a passing score of 80% or higher.

District Grant Qualification Training Schedule for 2024-2025

D5080 Live Training

Live training sessions are usually schedule at the Annual Fall Assembly and Foundation Summit

D5080 Virtual Training

Synchronous and asynchronous virtual training is usually schedule in Jan-Feb each year.

Qualification Quiz

All attendees, Live or Virtual will be required to complete an online qualification quiz with a minimum grade of 80% to be considered qualified.

Please contact Karen Cook at [email protected] to access the online qualification quiz.

Foundation Grants Responsible Parties for 2024-2025