The Rotary Foundation Fund Raiser

Prior to instituting this tool, our district was donating ~ $39.00 per capita to the unrestricted portion of TRF Annual Fund. The first year using this tool, the per capita was $75.00. Total contributions were almost double the prior year. The next year the Tool was not used and per capita fell to $45.00. This was our record year without using the Tool, but total contributions to the unrestricted TRF Annual Fund were reduced by +$100,000.00. The Tool has been utilized for each subsequent year and the per capita results have been $84.00, $74.00, and our new record of $89.00. As a side note, our district’s restrictive giving and Permanent Fund donations have also increased substantially. Therefore, the emphasis on unrestricted donations has raised the awareness for contributions for matching grants, Polio Plus, etc.

It is emphasized that this is not a district fund raiser, but a tool or a crutch for Rotarians to utilize. Every Rotarian is expected to contribute at least $100 per year to TRF. Our Tool helps insure that this will happen and it also creates a Win, Win, Win situation.

Basics. It is a raffle. Our State law (Texas) allows each organization to conduct one raffle per year as long as it has a non-monetary prize and the net proceeds are used for charitable purposes.

Each Rotarian is issued one book of tickets. They may have as many more as they desire. Each book has ten (10) tickets at $10.00 each. All proceeds from the sale of the tickets goes to TRF. If the Rotarian sells (or buys) the book of tickets, then the Rotarian’s commitment to TRF will have been fulfilled.

The Club collects the money and sends in the proceeds the same way it sends in any other contribution to TRF. The Club completes the donor recognition forms. There is no administrative paperwork on the district committee. The district simply collects the stubs of the sold tickets to be placed in the drawing which will be held near the end of the Rotary year. We do our drawing at district conference. There is no reason for the Club or the district to keep an accounting of the numbers on the tickets. If a ticket is unsold, it does not have to be returned. Print a lot of ticket books. This makes it easier for the district and clubs to distribute extra books to the Rotarians that are doing a lot of selling.

The stub will be completed with the name and telephone number of the Buyer, the name of the Rotarian that sold the ticket, and the name of his/her club.

No accounting is conducted by the district. Each club has been provided the rules and The 4 Way Test is applied.

The Rules are simple. If a Rotarian makes any unrestricted donation to TRF, then they issue themselves the appropriate number of tickets. In this situation, the Rotarian is listed on the stub as both the buyer and the seller. Contributions made for a matching grant, Polio Plus, the Permanent Fund, etc. are not entitled to tickets.

Many Clubs have it in their budget to give away Paul Harris Fellowships to honor Rotarians and non-Rotarians. As long as it is an unrestricted donation, then the Club can issue tickets for these donations. We have Clubs that issue the tickets in the Club’s name and some club’s use the tickets as giveaways to members as an incentive, for example, to the top producers for the Club’s fund raiser.

It does not matter if the money is not turned in to TRF at the time of the drawing. Usually our district conference is at the end of April. Our only requirement is that the Clubs must have all of the contributions in the possession of TRF by June 30. Prior to using this Tool, many clubs were late in sending in their contributions and therefore, the contributions were credited to the following year. That does not happen anymore. The Clubs know that the tickets were in the drawing and therefore the money is due in the same year.

Procedure. It is best if the tickets are distributed to the Clubs in July. This reduces the tendency or the appearance of the following Rotary year diverting any TRF contributions in the current year. The district committee can be as simple or complicated as you desire. It is responsible for distributing the tickets (maybe use the ADGs), promoting the tickets, answering questions, collecting the stubs, and keeping the DG informed as to the approximate level of success. Clubs should distribute the tickets to the members early in the year and let them sell (or buy) the tickets at their own pace. This will eliminate any conflict with the Club’s fund raiser.

The Prize. We currently give away 3 prizes. We have been using trips, cruises, etc. If you buy the winning ticket, this year you would win a 7 day Caribbean cruise for two. The Rotarian that sold the winning ticket also wins the same trip, as does the president of the club whose member sold the winning ticket. The incentives to sell the tickets are obvious. The winners usually have one year to redeem the trip. They each arrange their own trip.

Funding & History. It has been a work in progress to get to where we are today. Each year has made improvements. I will give you the history so that you can see what would be the best way to start for your district.

It is imperative that none of the proceeds be used for prizes or other costs. All of the proceeds have to go to TRF. That is because the selling Rotarian is receiving Paul Harris credit.

The first year, we had no money for this Tool. We succeeded in having an airline donate 4 roundtrip tickets from Houston to London. A London hotel agreed to donate two 5 day packages. My London DG classmate readily accepted having London Rotarians greet the winners at the airport, transport them to the hotel, provide one night of entertainment, and provide return airport transportation. The airline and hotel received advertising on the tickets and were thanked at every district event. The only cost of the fund raiser was the printing of the tickets. Naturally, a Rotarian printer did it at a discounted price which was paid for with district funds. The prize winners were the buyer and seller of the ticket. We had not thought about including the club president.

The third year, the DGE received approval from his PE’s to assess the clubs from $100 to $400 per club, depending on club size. This raised a prize fund of approximately $13,000.00. No longer was our district a beggar for a prize and now we could approach cruise lines, etc. with the ability to pay, but with the expectation of upgrades since we are a service organization and we will still provide the ticket advertising. We have not utilized the host Rotary district red carpet since the first year. However, it still is a good idea, especially if the winners are Rotarians.

The next year, the PE’s at assembly chose to assess each Rotarian an additional $5.00 instead of the club assessment. This generated ~$18,000.00 for the prizes. This year, the $5.00 was included as a dues increase.

Win, Win, Win. Each Rotarian has an obligation to contribute $100.00 per year to TRF. This tool gives them the opportunity to sell $100 or more of raffle tickets to non-Rotarians and 100% of the contributions are credited to the selling Rotarian’s Paul Harris Fellow’s recognition account. The Rotarian’s club receives its credit and the district increases its future Share funds. Some Rotarians simply buy their own ticket books. If they are the winner, then they receive the prize in duplicate. It is very difficult to come up with a disadvantage for this Tool. I have had some people tell me that they were opposed to gambling and they considered the raffle gambling and therefore they were not going to sell any tickets. I have simply honored their convictions and reminded them that they were still expected to contribute $100.00 or more to TRF and that there was no requirement that they issue themselves any tickets.

Odds and Ends. The clubs usually tell their members that they need a minimum of $100 before they will be entitled to receive credit to their Foundation account. This is to eliminate a little paperwork and to encourage the sale of a ticket book. Partial ticket book sales are then accepted. Recently it was proposed that the Rotarian that sold the winning ticket would not be eligible for the prize unless he/she sold (or contributed) at least $100.00. Also, the president would not be eligible unless the Club’s contributions averaged at least $100.00 per capita or at least 50% improvement from the prior year. Change the rules to what works best for your district.

The first year there was some confusion. Some people tried to make something simple seem complex. Some clubs wanted to account for all of the tickets. The district committee thought that it needed to keep records. Some clubs called TRF and wanted to know details about the prize. It gets easier every year and it is very easy the first year, especially if you educate your PEs, ADGs, PDGs, etc. before the year commences.

Results. So far, at least three other districts have tried it and they doubled their prior year contributions.

Every Rotarian Every Year. To achieve our goal of $100 per capita world wide, I think we need to put 12 or 13 tickets in a book instead of ten.

Good Luck and if you implement it, I would like a report.

Andy Smallwood, PDG