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2016-2017 Rotary International President Ian Riseley said it best in his August 1, 2017 memo to us all."As an organization, Rotary has always had a difficult time conveying the scope of our work: not just what we do, but how we do it, and the value of what we contribute to the world.
As an accountant, I like numbers. They work in every language, and often they communicate complex information much more effectively than words. That is why, in this Rotary year, I am asking each club to provide Rotary headquarters with two numbers: the amount of money, both in cash and in kind, spent on humanitarian service; and the number of hours of work performed in Rotary’s name.
If we want these numbers to be useful, they have to be accurate. That means beginning now to accurately track the hours and the money that our clubs spend on their service.
The simplest way for clubs to provide this information at the end of the year will be by entering it every month on Rotary Club Central – a tool that has been completely rebuilt and relaunched to be significantly more useful, and user-friendly, than it has been in the past. If for some reason (for example, limited Internet access) your club is not able to connect to Rotary Club Central, please be in touch with your district governor, who will ensure that your information can be submitted through other means."
With 6 months gone in 2017-2018, how are the clubs in District 5790 doing?
Rotary clubs are asked to set goals for their club in 3 basic areas; Support & Strengthening of their club, Increasing Humanitarian Service and Public Image. In addition, to be eligible, clubs must process their RI dues in a timely fashion.
In each of the 3 categories mentioned above, clubs are asked to report project volunteer hours, in-kind donations and cash donations to the community or project. Lastly clubs report when each initiative is completed. Every Rotary member can see how their club is performing by going to Rotary.org, logging into MyRotary and clicking on Rotary Club Central which will appear at the bottom of the "My Club Snapshot" in the left column of the My Rotary page. To learn the specific criteria measured in each of the 3 areas, download the 2017-2018 Presidential Theme and Citation Brochure by clicking here.
The amazing news about achieving the citation is that most Rotary clubs simply need to record the the amazing work they are already accomplishing. When all clubs are participating, Rotary will be able to share with the world the value of Rotary member efforts both financially and in volunteers and their volunteer hours.
Certainly, there is much to be done this year to encourage clubs to report their first 6 months of achievements plus the achievements our 71 clubs will have during the next 6 months. Even with the limited data we have from the clubs that have reported, those clubs have had 1000 volunteers volunteering 6,800 hours and raising 59,000 dollars in cash and services for the Rotary initiatives that were reported.
If you are having problems navigating and reporting your clubs activities please contact you clubs AG or John Pokorny at pokornja@gmail.com. We will provide whatever assistance necessary to make sure your clubs service above self activities are recorded.