District Grants

District Grants Timeline

District Grants Overview

     District Grants are administered by the District Grant Subcommittee 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 $10,000 for Local Grants and 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 5080 DACdb Grants module. 

District Grant Resources:

TRF Terms and Conditions for District Grants July 2024

D5080 Addendum to TRF Terms and Conditions for District Grants

Club Qualification MOU and D5080 Addendum

Cooperating Organization MOU

Club Grant Steward Duties

Club Financial Management Plan (template)

TRF Guidelines for Project Signage

     Applications for Local and International District Grant projects 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
• Club Grant Steward

2.  Grant Financial Management Plan

3.  MOUs with any Cooperating Organizations

4.  Pro-forma invoices or quotes for any budget items costing US $1,000 or more

     To complete the Grant Cycle, a 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 30th of the project year.

Global Grants

     Rotary Clubs in District 5080 (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 USD comprised of a combination of cash contributions, Rotary Foundation District Designated Funds (DDF) and matching funds from the Rotary Foundation World Fund. The maximum budget for a Global Grant-funded activity is $400,000 USD. 

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

2. Specific information related to Global Grants can be found on the Rotary website – A Guide to Global Grants link.  Helpful resources also can be found in the Grants Center using the link - Global Grant Resources.

3. The Terms and Conditions for Global Grants can be found here: Terms and Conditions for Rotary Foundation Global Grants - July 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 MOU Request for Global Grants is required to complete this request.

5.  Prior to applying for DDF, the following tasks must be completed:

a.  All three project committee members and the club grants steward must complete required training.

b.  The Club Grants Steward must be listed in DACdb.

c.  The Community Needs Assessment must be completed by the Host Partner.

d.  A draft of the global grant application must be reviewed by a Rotary Foundation Regional Grants Officer or a member of the Cadre of Technical Advisors and any necessary modifications completed.

e.  A conversation scheduled with the DRFCC to discuss your intended project, vocational training team, or scholarship.  All DDF commitments are conditional and will be based on the partners' history of grant completion and reporting, the number of current grants outstanding, and the number of grants your club is currently sponsoring.  Ideally, all global grant applications should be submitted by December 31 to allow time for processing and funding before June 30 of the program year.  DDF that is authorized but not utilized within the current program year creates an unfair situation for other clubs that could have utilized DDF for their projects.  This can also lead to the forfeiture of DDF from our district's use, with those funds transferred to another Rotary Foundation fund.

6.  DDF funding approvals by the DRFCC will be for a limited time.  If the Global Grant Application is not complete and approved by The Rotary Foundation within 6 months of the date DDF funding was approved by the DRFCC, the authorized use of the previously authorized DDF will expire and the request for DDF funding must be submitted again for approval.  DDF requests made after December 31 of the program year might not be approved for funding, unless there is compelling evidence that the grant application can be processed and funded by June 30 of the program year.

 Qualification Criteria for Foundation Grants

To qualify for a District Grant or Global Grant award, D5080 Clubs and members of a Club must meet certain criteria.

1.   The Club must be considered a club in good standing. This status is determined by the timely payment of RI and District dues each year; by being current with tax return filing; and by being current with grant reporting.

2.   The Club must designate a minimum of one Club Grants Steward to oversee 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 Committee Members (club signatures) and the Club Grants Steward to complete the required training each year.
• Global Grants require all three project contacts (primary contact and the other project committee members) and the Club Grants Steward to have current training through the Rotary Learning Center.  Training must be repeated annually for the life of the project.

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 Subcommittee Chair.  D5080 conducts two in-person training sessions, one online training session, and makes available a video of the online training session.  Any Rotarian who wishes to become qualified must participate in one of these training sessions or watch the video and complete the post-training quiz with a score of 80% or higher.

District Grant Qualification Training Schedule for clubs that are planning a grant project for 2025-26

D5080 In-Person Training

October 19th in Spokane Valley, WA, and October 20th in Creston, BC

D5080 Online Training

The online training will be offered in January 2025 (date pending), and the video will be available after the online session has been delivered.

Post-training Quiz

Please contact Karen Cook at [email protected] to request a link to the post-training quiz.

Foundation Grants Responsible Parties for 2024-2025