SUPPLYING HELP AND HOPE

Posted by Dan Steele

Contributions to the Annual Programs Fund (APF) keep Rotary Foundation programs humming in high gear to help people with desperate needs.

Your APF support through the "Every Rotarian, Every Year" initiative is vital to Doing Good in the World.

At the end of the Rotary year, 50 percent of each district's donations to the Annual Programs Fund is credited to their District Designated Fund (DDF), while the other 50 percent goes to the World Fund. The Foundation uses the World Fund to support the worldwide programs it offers. Likewise, districts use their DDF to fund the Foundation programs they elect to participate in.

Recently, the Foundation was able to restore the World Fund budget for Matching Grants, largely because Rotarians donated a record amount of almost US$115 million to the Annual Programs Fund in 2007-08. The amount of the World Fund available for Matching Grants in 2010-11 increased 82 percent compared to 2009-10. This is because funds for the 100 Future Vision pilot districts were budgeted separately for 2010-11, making it one of the largest World Fund budgets in Matching Grants history.

When every Rotarian contributes to the Foundation every year, we expand our capacity to bring help and hope to a hurting world.