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What Is The Rotary Foundation? Inside a Rotary Club of the Capital City Presentation

If you've ever wondered where a Rotarian's dues and donations actually go, you're not alone — it's one of the first questions any prospective member asks. This past Tuesday, July 21, the Rotary Club of the Capital City got a clear answer straight from the source.


The Rotary Foundation is Rotary International's global charitable arm — the fund that turns individual Rotarians' gifts into scholarships, clean water systems, disease-eradication campaigns, and disaster relief around the world. It's funded almost entirely by Rotarians and friends of Rotary themselves. PDG Donna Peffley, District 7710's Rotary Foundation Chair, walked the club through exactly how it works — from a modest annual gift to a six-figure legacy commitment — and why, in her words on the topic, no goal is ever too big for Rotarians to take on.



What Is The Rotary Foundation, Exactly?

The Rotary Foundation is the 501(c)(3) global charitable arm of Rotary International. It collects gifts from Rotarians and friends of Rotary worldwide, then redistributes that money as grants for humanitarian projects, scholarships, and vocational training across Rotary's areas of focus — from clean water to disease prevention.

Worth clarifying up front, since the names sound alike: this is a different organization from the Rotary Club of the Capital City Foundation, the club's own 501(c)(3) that funds the Styres Scholarship and local community projects here in Raleigh. Donna's talk was about the international one — the engine that funds Rotary's work in every one of the roughly 45,000 clubs Rotary International counts worldwide.


How Do Rotarians Give to The Rotary Foundation?


Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) is the baseline — Rotary's own encouragement that every member give something, annually, at whatever level fits. From there, giving is recognized in tiers:


  1. Paul Harris Fellow — recognition for $1,000 or more given cumulatively to the Annual Fund, PolioPlus, or an approved Foundation grant.

  2. Paul Harris Society — for donors who commit to giving $1,000 or more every year.

  3. Major Donor — for cumulative giving of $10,000 or more, with recognition tiers up to $250,000.

  4. Bequest Society — for donors who pledge a future gift of $10,000 or more, often through a will or estate plan.

  5. Arch Klumph Society — Rotary's highest honor, for cumulative giving of $250,000 or more.


Donna and her husband, Chris, are Major Donors themselves, and members of the Paul Harris Society, Bequest Society, and Polio Plus Society — which is part of why she was the right person to walk the club through what each level actually means.


Where Does Rotary Foundation Money Actually Go?



Donna broke down the flow in plain terms: gifts to the Annual Fund, Restricted Fund, and Permanent Fund feed two channels. A District Designated Fund supports small-scale District Grants — humanitarian projects, scholarships, and vocational training chosen locally. A World Fund matches those District gifts and also funds larger Global Grants, plus direct contributions to Peace Centers and PolioPlus. On the other end of that pipeline sit the actual beneficiaries: Rotarians, clubs, districts, international partners, scholars, and the communities, families, and children the money is ultimately meant to reach.


It's a good-faith system, too. According to Rotary International, 90.8 percent of every dollar given to The Rotary Foundation goes directly to supporting service projects — a ratio that's earned the Foundation a four-star rating from Charity Navigator for 14 consecutive years, placing it in the top 1 percent of charities the watchdog evaluates.


What Is a BHAG, and Why Did Rotary's Foundation Chair Bring It Up?


Donna framed Rotary's areas of focus — promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water, supporting education, improving maternal and child health, growing local economies, and protecting the environment — around a simple idea: a BHAG, or Big Hairy Audacious Goal. It's the goal that sits at the intersection of what you're deeply passionate about, what you can be best in the world at, and what drives your actions and decisions.


Her proof that the framework works: polio. According to End Polio Now, Rotary's polio eradication campaign has driven a 99.9 percent reduction in cases worldwide since 1988, with the disease now endemic in only two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Donna's own experience with that campaign is personal — in January 2019, she took part in a polio National Immunization Day in Karachi, Pakistan, helping vaccinate children in one of the last places polio still exists.


Who Is PDG Donna Peffley?



Donna's Rotary story runs deep — decades of club and district leadership culminating in her current role as District 7710's Rotary Foundation Chair. We covered her full journey, including a firsthand trip to a polio vaccination clinic in Karachi, Pakistan, in our recap of her visit to the club 


How Can You Get Involved With Rotary in Raleigh?


Donna's presentation was really a case study in Service Above Self at scale: the same Four-Way Test that guides our club's local work — the Styres Scholarship, the Annual Golf Classic — applied globally, gift by gift, grant by grant.


If a morning like this — part history lesson, part call to action — sounds like your kind of Tuesday, we'd love to have you. The Rotary Club of the Capital City meets Tuesdays at 7:30 AM at Carolina Country Club in Raleigh, and on Zoom. Visit our Become a Member page to learn what it takes to join us.


Bottom line: The Rotary Foundation is how a Tuesday breakfast club in Raleigh connects to a 99.9 percent reduction in global polio cases — through gifts as small as an annual EREY contribution and as large as an Arch Klumph Society commitment, all moving through the same accountable, highly-rated pipeline Donna Peffley laid out for the club this week.


Frequently asked questions


Is The Rotary Foundation the same as the Rotary Club of the Capital City Foundation? No. The Rotary Foundation is Rotary International's global charitable arm, funding grants and programs worldwide. The Rotary Club of the Capital City Foundation is a separate, local 501(c)(3) that funds the club's own Styres Scholarship and community projects in Raleigh.


What is a Paul Harris Fellow? A Paul Harris Fellow is a Rotary Foundation donor recognition given for $1,000 or more in cumulative giving to the Annual Fund, PolioPlus, or an approved Foundation grant. It's one of several giving-level recognitions, alongside the Paul Harris Society, Major Donor, Bequest Society, and Arch Klumph Society.


How much of a donation to The Rotary Foundation actually reaches programs? According to Rotary International, 90.8 percent of every dollar donated goes directly to supporting service projects. That efficiency has earned the Foundation a four-star rating from Charity Navigator for 14 consecutive years.


Can someone who isn't a Rotarian donate to The Rotary Foundation? Yes. Rotary International accepts donations from the public through one-time gifts, recurring "Rotary Direct" giving, securities, IRA rollovers, and corporate matching programs, in addition to gifts from Rotary club members.


Where and when does the Rotary Club of the Capital City meet? The club meets Tuesdays at 7:30 AM at Carolina Country Club in Raleigh, NC, and on Zoom. Visitors and prospective members are always welcome.


How much has Rotary's polio eradication campaign accomplished? Rotary's polio eradication campaign has achieved a 99.9 percent reduction in global polio cases since 1988. The disease remains endemic in only two countries today: Afghanistan and Pakistan.


Sources


  1. Rotary International, "Ways to Give," rotary.org, 2026. https://www.rotary.org/en/get-involved/ways-to-give

  2. Rotary International, "Donor Recognition," rotary.org, 2026. https://www.rotary.org/en/donate/recognition

  3. Rotary International, "Rotary Foundation Receives Highest Rating from Charity Navigator for 14th Consecutive Year," rotary.org, 2026. https://www.rotary.org/en/rotary-foundation-receives-highest-rating-charity-navigator-14th-consecutive-year

  4. End Polio Now, "Home," endpolio.org, 2026. https://www.endpolio.org/

  5. Rotary International, "Who We Are," rotary.org, 2026. https://www.rotary.org/en/about-rotary

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