Our speaker today was Past District Governor Steve Lewis. Steve is the District Foundation Giving Chair. He gave us an overview of the Rotary Foundation giving programs and funds. There are three main Foundation funds that we can contribute to: The Annual Fund, the Endowment Fund and the PolioPlus fund.
He pointed out that when we give to the Annual Fund, the money that we donate is held for three years. At the end of the three years the interest received goes to offset the Foundation's operating costs. At that point about 50% of the donated funds are available for Rotary Foundation programs, and about 50% of the funds are returned to our district for use by clubs in District 5190. Steve also pointed out that while most foundations fund programs from other groups, the Rotary Foundation funds Rotary programs/projects.