For Rotary Clubs

Rotary Club Responsibilities and Expectations

Printable Instructions for Rotary Clubs [.DOCX] [.PDF]

Arizona and Needles, CA Rotary Clubs may submit candidates for grant consideration up to seven percent of our forecasted annual grant budget. Our forecasted annual grant budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 is $85,000.00, which would permit clubs to submit applications up to approximately $6,000.00 in TRVFA grants. As an example, a club may submit six applications for $1,000.00 each or two applications for $3,000.00 each, just so the total request is no more than seven percent of our forecasted annual grant budget. Should TRVFA find that there are grant funds available in the last quarter of our fiscal year, any un-funded applications could be considered for funding at that time. The restriction percent may be reviewed annually to maintain equity.

The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona accepts applications only through sponsoring Rotary Clubs located in Districts 5490, 5500, and 5510. TRVFA considers the sponsoring club to be a partner in assisting a grantee to achieve his or her goals. To that end, there are several areas of responsibility that we expect the club to assume.

The Rotary Club acts as the first evaluator of an applicant’s eligibility. The club helps assess whether the prospective recipient of a grant meets the financial and vocational criteria set out on these web pages. If the club feels that the candidate is well-qualified to receive a grant, it should assist the person with the application process, including the completion of the various forms and letters that need to be submitted. The club must interview the candidate;  the interview process helps determine whether the applicant appears to have appropriate motivation for succeeding at the stated goal.

If the club feels that the applicant is likely to be successful, it becomes the student’s “sponsor” for a TRVFA grant. If the candidate is awarded a grant, the club should maintain periodic contact with the applicant to ensure there is a positive commitment to the successful completion of the course of study. This may involve some mentoring and/or additional financial assistance at the club level.

The candidate should also be invited to your Rotary Club to meet the members and give an informal report on his or her progress. This maintains a level of communication and involvement of both the club and the grantee. This might be intimidating for some people, so the club should use its discretion in extending such invitations.

Seeing a candidate strive and succeed is very rewarding to all the involved parties. TRVFA encourages clubs to share the success of the grantees with club members and the local community.