Today’s Rotary stands on 3 legs: its clubs, Rotary International (RI), and The Rotary Foundation (TRF)1917: outgoing RI President Arch C. Klumph proposed setting up an "endowment fund for Rotary … for the purpose of doing good in the world." The Rotary Club of Kansas City, Missouri, made the very first donation: $26.50!
1928: renamed The Rotary Foundation and had grown to more than $5000.
1929: TRF made its first gift: $500 to the International Society for Crippled Children, created by Rotarian Edgar F. “Daddy” Allen which later grew into Easter Seals.
1947: When Paul Harris died, contributions poured into TRF, and the Foundation grew.
1947: First program - Fellowships for Advance Study (later Ambassadorial Scholarships).
1965-66: Three programs launched: Group Study Exchange, Awards for Technical Training, and Grants for Activities in Keeping with the Objective of The Rotary Foundation (later called Matching Grants).
1978: Rotary introduced the Health, Hunger and Humanity (3-H) Grants. The first 3-H Grant funded a project to immunize 6 million Philippine children against polio.
1985: The PolioPlus program was launched to eradicate polio worldwide.
1987-88: The first peace forums were held, leading to Rotary Peace Fellowships.
2013: New grant options enable Rotarians around the world to respond to the world’s greatest needs.
Since the first donation of $26.50 in 1917, TRF has invested more than $3 billion on life-changing, sustainable grants, programs and services that support RI’s transformative work.
NO CHARITY HAS A HIGHER RATING ON CHARITY NAVIGATOR THAN TRF!To donate, click HERE.