CHATHAM ROTARY CLUB - DONATIONS COMMITTEE

The Chatham Rotary Club Fundraising Philosophy

Over a decade ago, the Chatham Rotary Club adopted a simple philosophy that we only "spend/donate" money raised from the prior years fundraising, not current year funds. Consequently, the net proceeds from the Annual Auction and other events are moved by the Board into a Restricted Account at year end. These funds are used to support our Club's standing obligations (scholarships, etc), Club funded events (Rotary Festival) and any requests the receive from the public, other non-profit groups. This one-year delay approach (similar to TRF annual fund) means we always know, at the start of the year, what we have available to support the youth, community and international projects. 

Restricted versus Reserved Funds

The "Donations Account" is separate from the Operating Account. Within this account we manage Restricted funds that are appropriated by the Board, Reserve funds that are set-aside by the Board for special projects (Disasters, etc) and any District/Global Grant monies awarded to our Club by Rotary.

Donations Committee (new 2018-2019)

The role of this special Chatham Rotary Club committee will be to manage and administer external (and internal) requests for donations, and grants. The committee will be comprised of veteran Club members that will oversee a multi-year donations strategy that reflects the Club memberships desire to support local youth initiatives, as well as, local community and international projects. 

Any financial requests made to the Chatham Rotary Club must be forwarded to the Donations committee. They will consider if the requests are a good fit for our Club, and consistent with our overall giving, projects and donation strategy. Accepted requests must be presented to the Board for an approval vote. Donations should be presented to recipients at a regular meeting, and considered a photo-op.

Our Club has a long standing tradition of supporting local youth including both DCC and high school scholarships, community organizations including Boys and Girls Club and more. In addition the Donations committee should oversee the Chatham Rotary Club Fund managed by the Community Foundation. By developing a recurring donations strategy, our Club becomes an integral part of our local community.

Periodically, the Board will designate certain restricted funds to be allocated for future projects and donations. These funds constitute the Club's Reserve Funds. In addition, our Club may apply for various Rotary matching grants and/or collaborative grants. If awarded, these funds will be managed by the Donations committee although the actual projects will be managed by the Projects committee.