The purpose of this message is to update all club members on our plan to establish and approve a foundation budget for fiscal year (FY) beginning July 1, 2018. The challenges are that we don’t know exactly what we have to spend until sometime after the golf outing in June and we will not hear back from District 6250 until July for the two district matching grant applications.
Everything starts with what we have available to spend on projects. The formula for revenues available for spending in FY 2018-19 includes the transfers from our Schwab account, including $1,000 toward the Meister Scholarship. We then add the proceeds from the prior year’s fundraising activity, which is shown on the FY 2017-18 foundation P&L statement. The biggest wild card is the amount raised from the golf outing (estimated range of $15-20,000). We expect that the 2018-19 foundation budget to fund projects will be in the range from a low of $43,500 to a high of $46,500 (last year’s budget). We have reviewed the current process and plan to use the fundraising period from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019, when we develop the 2019-2020 foundation budget.
The board met on May 29, 2018, and reviewed the funding recommendations from the directors of the four avenues of service. The board developed a recommendation for the foundation budget for FY 2018-19. We will estimate our available funds, plan to have the district matching grants approved and have the current board consider the foundation budget at the June 19, 2018 meeting. Our expectation is that the board will approve the 2018-19 foundation budget on that day and all applicants will be notified of the board’s funding decisions by the end of June. The new board will make any necessary adjustments to the 2018-19 foundation budget based on final fundraising totals and District 6250 approvals.
Despite our wishes and best efforts, our foundation budget is limited and the need always outweighs the resources available. We will do our best to ensure that the projects we support reflect the needs of our community and the priorities of our club. We are a group of volunteers who do our best to do good in our community and the world. We encourage applicants for and recipients of foundation funding to work with the avenues of service chairs (see below).
- Club – Dawn Frank (leaving), Connie Smith and Mary Ruth Marks (incoming)
- Community – John Gerold (leaving), Kevin Welton and Patrick Rees (incoming)
- International – Paul Patenaude (leaving), Steve Aune and Deb Dieter (incoming)
- Vocational – Adam Schaller (leaving), Roxanne Brazeau and Ginny Jenkins (incoming)
If a project is not selected for funding or is not funded fully, there is no need to despair. Our 2018-19 foundation budget will likely have funds available to meet unmet or unanticipated needs throughout the year. Further, the district normally has money available to fund a second round of district matching grants as was the case last year. So, get ready to meet the December deadline for filing.
Please understand that we take this responsibility seriously and we appreciate your interest, enthusiasm and support. We strive to ensure transparency and good communication of the work we are doing. The Rotary Club of Madison West Towne-Middleton has done great work and the best is yet to come. We look forward to working toward a FY 2018-19 foundation budget that will make us all very proud. Your support is greatly appreciated!