Foundation history
From a $26.50 endowment in 1917 to over $4 billion invested in projects worldwide.
The Rotary Foundation began with a single sentence and a single donation — and grew into one of the largest non-profit funders of community service in the world.
1917: An endowment for doing good
Arch C. Klumph, RI President 1916–17, who proposed the endowment fund.
In 1917, outgoing Rotary International President Arch C. Klumph proposed setting up an endowment fund “for the purpose of doing good in the world.”
The first contribution was $26.50, from the Rotary Club of Kansas City. Modest beginnings for what would grow into a global force for change.
In 1928, the endowment was formally named The Rotary Foundation.
Key milestones
- 1917 — Arch C. Klumph proposes the endowment. First donation: $26.50 from Kansas City.
- 1928 — The endowment is formally named The Rotary Foundation at the Minneapolis Convention.
- 1947 — Rotary founder Paul Harris dies. Gifts in his memory total $1.3 million, launching the Foundation’s first major programme: the Rotary Fellowships for Advanced Study.
- 1965 — The Matching Grants programme launches, multiplying the impact of local club contributions for the first time.
- 1978 — The Rotary Foundation makes its first contribution toward polio vaccination, in the Philippines.
- 1985 — PolioPlus is launched. Rotary commits to eradicating polio worldwide.
- 2002 — The Rotary Peace Centers are established, training Peace Fellows at universities worldwide.
- 2007 — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announces the first of several major partnership grants for polio eradication, eventually committing more than $1 billion.
- 2013 — The Foundation’s seven Areas of Focus framework is introduced, replacing the older general grant programmes.
- Today — over $4 billion contributed and invested in life-changing projects since 1917.
The polio commitment
In 1985, Rotary made an audacious commitment: to wipe polio off the face of the earth. At the time, the disease paralysed 350,000 children every year across 125 countries.
Today, polio is endemic in just two countries, and global cases are down by more than 99.9%. It is the largest internationally-coordinated public health initiative in history — and Rotary is its driving force.
The Foundation today
The Rotary Foundation funds work across seven Areas of Focus: peace and conflict prevention, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, community economic development, and the environment.
It is consistently rated among the world’s most efficient and accountable global charities — a four-star Charity Navigator rating, the highest possible.
From a $26.50 donation to a $1 billion endowment.
The Rotary Foundation is the giving arm of Rotary — our charity, owned and run by Rotarians. From its first gift in 1917 to the global polio eradication effort today, every Foundation grant traces back to ordinary Rotarians choosing to give.