The Rotary Foundation
“For the purpose of doing good in the world” — Arch C. Klumph, 1917. What began with one club’s seed gift is now one of the world’s top-rated charities.
From one gift to a global endowment
At the 1917 Rotary convention in Atlanta, Arch C. Klumph — Rotary’s sixth president — proposed that Rotary accept endowments “for the purpose of doing good in the world.” A few months later, the Rotary Club of Kansas City answered — the seed of everything on this page.
Seven Areas of Focus
Every Foundation grant serves at least one of seven causes: Peacebuilding & Conflict Prevention; Disease Prevention & Treatment; Water, Sanitation & Hygiene; Maternal & Child Health; Basic Education & Literacy; Community Economic Development; and Supporting the Environment (added 2020–21). Explore each in depth on our About page.
How the money flows
The Foundation’s engine is SHARE — the system that turns club giving into local and global grants three years later, with investment earnings covering the overhead.
| Grant type | Size | Match | What it funds |
|---|---|---|---|
| District Grant | No minimum | Block grant from DDF | Fast, flexible, local: clubs decide and act within the year — school repairs, tree planting, health camps. |
| Global Grant | $30,000 minimum budget | 80% match on DDF, 50% on cash (max $400K World Fund award) | Large international projects with sustainable, measurable outcomes — sponsored by clubs across borders, aligned to an area of focus. |
| Programs of Scale | $2,000,000 | Competitive — one per year | Evidence-based 3–5 year programs ready to scale — the five winners so far are in the achievements list. |
| Disaster Response Grant | Rapid release | Disaster Response Fund | Money released within days when emergencies strike. |
Worked example: $100 given to Annual Fund-SHARE in 2022–23 becomes $50 of World Fund and $50 of DDF in 2025–26. If the district puts that DDF into a global grant, the World Fund adds its 80% match — the original $100 becomes roughly $190 of project money.
The recognition ladder: PHF to AKS
The Foundation honors cumulative giving with a ladder every Rotarian knows — starting with the Paul Harris Fellow and crowning at the Arch Klumph Society.
| Cumulative giving | Recognition |
|---|---|
| $1,000 | Paul Harris Fellow — certificate and the iconic pin (est. 1957) |
| $2,000–2,999 | PHF +1 — pin with one sapphire |
| $3,000–3,999 | PHF +2 — two sapphires |
| $4,000–4,999 | PHF +3 — three sapphires |
| $5,000–5,999 | PHF +4 — four sapphires |
| $6,000–6,999 | PHF +5 — five sapphires |
| $7,000–7,999 | PHF +6 — one ruby |
| $8,000–8,999 | PHF +7 — two rubies |
| $9,000–9,999 | PHF +8 — three rubies |
Cumulative giving never expires — every dollar moves you up this ladder. Points you earn can also be transferred to honor someone else as a PHF: the full transfer system is the next section.
| Arch Klumph Society circle | Lifetime giving |
|---|---|
| Trustees Circle | $250,000 – $499,999 |
| Chair’s Circle | $500,000 – $999,999 |
| Foundation Circle | $1,000,000 – $2,499,999 |
| Platinum Trustees Circle | $2,500,000 – $4,999,999 |
| Platinum Chair’s Circle | $5,000,000 – $9,999,999 |
| Platinum Foundation Circle | $10,000,000 and above |
AKS members who give an additional $250,000+ may designate a Circle of Honor member — passing the flame to a child, parent, sibling, or friend.
Recognition points: how clubs mint new Paul Harris Fellows
Every dollar a Rotarian gives to the Annual Fund, PolioPlus, the Disaster Response Fund or as global grant sponsorship earns one Foundation recognition point. Points are the district’s currency of honor — transferable, strategic, and the engine behind nearly every “new PHF” ceremony you’ve attended.
Points belong to the original donor until they are used or transferred — and a Major Donor’s surviving spouse may use them. A member’s available points and PHF level are visible to club leaders in the Club Recognition Summary on My Rotary.
- Transfers move in blocks of at least 100 points at a time, via the signed Recognition and Transfer Request form.
- Only the individual donor can transfer points from an individual account.
- Only the club president can transfer points from the club’s account.
- Only the district governor can transfer points from the district’s account.
- Points may not be transferred from a person to a club or district — only to individuals.
- Only individuals can become Paul Harris Fellows; businesses and organizations receive a Certificate of Appreciation for $1,000+ gifts or 1,000+ transferred points.
The strategic playbook — points as encouragement
- Mint a new PHF: the club transfers 1,000 points to a member who has given $500 outright — their combined recognition amount crosses the $1,000 line, and the pin is theirs.
- Match a member’s gift: “give $500 and the club matches it with 500 points” — members who might never reach $1,000 alone cross the threshold, and the club climbs toward 100% PHF status.
- Honor a champion: name a spouse, community hero or departing president as a PHF by transferring 1,000 points to them — the classic tribute.
- Convert pledges in November (TRF month) and at year-end: districts deploy points to turn goodwill into outright gifts before 30 June.
- Lift a club’s numbers honestly: points count toward the club’s recognition totals and Annual Fund goal momentum.
Recognition amount = personal giving + points received from individuals, clubs or districts. It sets a member’s PHF level and their sapphires and rubies — but points given to you never count toward Major Donor recognition, which requires personal outright giving only.
Club-level honors to aim for
| Honor | Requirement | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 100% Paul Harris Fellow Club | every dues-paying member is a PHF | one-time recognition |
| 100% Foundation Giving Club | $100 per-capita and every member gives $25+ | EREY culture in full |
| Every Rotarian, Every Year Club | $100 per-capita to the Annual Fund, each member $25+ | the annual standard |
| 100% Paul Harris Society Club | every member gives $1,000+ within the year | the recurring pledge |
| Top Three Per Capita | highest Annual Fund per-capita in the district | clubs giving $50+ per capita are eligible |
PolioPlus: the promise
1985: Rotary pledges to immunize every child on Earth. 1988: Rotary co-founds the GPEI with WHO, UNICEF and the CDC (Gates and Gavi join later). The finish line is now in sight — and every matched dollar pushes the last mile.
Kenya & District 9212 in the polio story
- District 9212 partnered with Kenya’s Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF and the Gates Foundation for five-county immunization campaigns — Migori, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Narok and Siaya — with the official launch hosted in Migori.
- End Polio walks ran nationwide: Nairobi (University of Nairobi graduation square), Mombasa, Naivasha, Taveta, Mwatate, Voi, Nyeri, Thika and Suna — plus 100-day giving campaigns by RC Hurlingham (KSh 600K target) and RC Nairobi Kilimani Alfajiri’s gold/silver/bronze daily tiers.
- Immunization drives RCNS helped organize include the Kikopey campaign with RC Hurlingham, Ngong Road, Nairobi East, Milimani and Parklands — and the St. Catherine Primary School drive in Nairobi’s South B.
- Trustee Geeta Manek and Dr. David Githanga carried the district’s polio message onto national television talk shows for World Polio Day.
Who funds the Foundation
The Rotary Foundation’s donor base is 76.1% individuals — 478,629 people gave in 2024–25. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is its giant partner on polio, governments fund the wider eradication effort, and clubs worldwide do the rest.
| # | Country | Total contributions | Annual Fund per Rotarian |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | $197.4M | $175 |
| 2 | India | $38.3M | $55 |
| 3 | Korea | $19.8M | $251 |
| 4 | Taiwan | $17.8M | $245 |
| 5 | Japan | $16.9M | $140 |
| 6 | Canada | $8.4M | $201 |
| 7 | Germany | $7.3M | $84 |
| 8 | Italy | $5.7M | $93 |
| 9 | Brazil | $5.2M | $86 |
| 10 | Philippines | $5.1M | $119 |
Top 10 giving countries, all TRF funds, 2024–25 (per-capita = Annual Fund per Rotarian). The US figure includes a $100M PolioPlus gift from the Gates Foundation.
The Gates Foundation
Rotary’s match partner since 2007: every dollar Rotary commits to polio is matched two-to-one. The June 2025 renewal is a joint commitment of up to $450M over three years (Rotary raises $50M a year, Gates adds two). Cumulatively the Gates Foundation has put $6.18B into the GPEI — its largest private donor.
The real base: Rotarians themselves
In 2024–25: 4 donors gave $1M+ ($12.2M), 51 gave $250K+, 1,604 gave $10K+, and 45,121 passed the $1,000 Paul Harris Fellow mark. 87.2% of all 35,633 clubs gave something — including 156 districts where every single club participated.
In our district — D9212’s legacy, Kenya’s giants
The Rotary Foundation does not publish per-district donor ledgers — but the district’s own farewell conference decks do. The tables below come from the giving records presented at the D9212 send-off, alongside the names confirmed in public records.
Rotary Club of Muthaiga. Arch Klumph Society members, Major Donors, Benefactors and Bequest Society members. Geeta was the first female Governor of District 9200 (2013–14), served as a Trustee of The Rotary Foundation — chairing its Executive, Programs and Stewardship committees — and received Rotary’s Service Above Self Award. Kaushik led District 9200 as Governor in 2008–09.
Rotary Club of Nairobi — Kenya’s Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy laureate (2022). The visionary and financial backbone of the Kenya Rural Blindness Eradication Project (the 17,000-surgery story is in the achievements below).
Top five giving clubs — the full thirteen years
Cumulative TRF giving across District 9212’s thirteen-year life, as honored at the district’s farewell.
| # | Club | Cumulative TRF giving |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nairobi Muthaiga North | $293,243.31 |
| 2 | Nairobi Utumishi | $258,636.00 |
| 3 | Nairobi Lang’ata | $247,377.21 |
| 4 | Nairobi Southour club | $225,893.73 |
| 5 | Karen Nairobi | $152,807.73 |
All five are Nairobi-area clubs — and our own club sits fourth all-time at nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
2025/26 giving leaderboard — “the last dance”
The final Rotary year of District 9212, as presented at the farewell: the top twenty giving clubs.
| # | Club | Given |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muthaiga | $17,096 |
| 2 | Nairobi Muthaiga North | $12,993 |
| 3 | Nairobi-Lang’ata | $12,940 |
| 4 | Nairobi-Utumishi | $8,935 |
| 5 | Kitengela | $8,637 |
| 6 | Karen-Nairobi | $8,583 |
| 7 | Lavington Jioni | $8,408 |
| 8 | Nairobi Thika Road | $6,873 |
| 9 | Hurlingham-Nairobi | $6,217 |
| 10 | Nairobi Upper Hill | $5,360 |
| # | Club | Given |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Nairobi Kilimani Alfajiri | $5,072 |
| 12 | Ngong Road | $4,953 |
| 13 | Kikuyu | $4,697 |
| 14 | Embakasi | $4,431 |
| 15 | Naivasha | $3,897 |
| 16 | Nairobi Parklands | $3,533 |
| 17 | Nairobi Madaraka | $3,137 |
| 18 | Lavington Nairobi | $2,898 |
| 19 | Nairobi-East | $2,880 |
| 20 | Addis Ababa-West | $2,710 |
Muthaiga led the last dance, and all four all-time top clubs stayed in the year’s top four — with Kitengela, whose African-culture fashion show raised polio money, finishing fifth.
Heritage clubs — our enduring roots
The fourteen oldest clubs of the district, in order of charter — the roots every D9212 club grew from.
| # | Club | Chartered |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rotary Club of Nairobi | 1930 |
| 2 | Rotary Club of Mombasa | 1944 |
| 3 | Rotary Club of Nakuru | 1952 |
| 4 | Rotary Club of Addis Ababa | 1955 |
| 5 | Rotary Club of Kisumu | 1963 |
| 6 | Rotary Club of Nairobi Southour club | 1963 |
| 7 | Rotary Club of Nairobi North | 1969 |
| # | Club | Chartered |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Rotary Club of Kilindini Mombasa | 1973 |
| 9 | Rotary Club of Nairobi Utumishi | 1982 |
| 10 | Rotary Club of Bahari Mombasa | 1984 |
| 11 | Rotary Club of Diani | 1986 |
| 12 | Rotary Club of Mombasa Central | 1986 |
| 13 | Rotary Club of Milimani | 1988 |
| 14 | Rotary Club of Hurlingham Nairobi | 1989 |
Our club is the sixth-oldest in the lineage — chartered in 1963, the same year as Kisumu.
The Sunshine Rally — one man’s compassion, thousands of smiles
In 1979, Dr. Manu Chandaria — renowned industrialist, philanthropist and past president of the Rotary Club of Nairobi — began the Rotary Sunshine Rally: a joyful day in the sun for children living with disabilities, built on laughter, dignity, love and belonging, at a time when conversations around inclusion were still limited. In 1980–81, during the UN International Year for the Handicapped and Rotary’s 75th anniversary, clubs across Nairobi, Kiambu, Thika and Machakos officially adopted it. What began as a local act of kindness is today one of Kenya’s most enduring humanitarian legacies.
- District 9212’s TRF giving: ~$290,000 in 2022–23 (against a $400K goal), with a $500,000 target for 2025–26 and a $1M+ three-year ambition.
- Kenya sits at the doorstep of the global top 30 — Nepal holds #30 at ~$450K. Meeting the 2025–26 target puts Kenyan giving inside that table.
- Signature fundraisers: RC Lavington’s award-winning End Polio Bikeathon, Foundation dinners across Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan, and first-of-their-kind district art exhibitions.
Top 15 achievements — worldwide
From a single seed gift to the brink of eradicating a human disease.
PolioPlus and the GPEI — a volunteer organization promised a world without polio, and the world’s health agencies followed. The full story is the polio section.
The steepest disease decline in public-health history — charted above.
Four years with zero wild poliovirus across the African region — Kenya’s immunization drives in the vanguard.
The partnership that triples every Rotary polio dollar — the funding engine of the endgame (details in the funders section).
Klumph’s seed idea, compounding for a century — 2024–25 set the all-time record.
The 2025-by-2025 campaign beat its own target — principal untouched, earnings funding programs forever.
Charity Navigator’s top rating every year since 2009 — scored 99/100.
Capacity rises to 170 fellowships a year with the new Symbiosis center (Pune, 2026); Africa’s first was Makerere (2021).
Malaria-free Zambia (1.2M people, 2,500 health workers) · healthy families Nigeria · cervical cancer Egypt (30K girls vaccinated, 4M reached) · water & harvests India (60K farmers, +25–30% income) · peace Colombia ($3M with the World Food Programme).
1,423 global grants ($81.0M), 468 district grants ($27.8M), 74 disaster response grants ($1.9M) — one year’s output of the SHARE engine.
Rotary’s advocacy has unlocked more than $21B in government funding for polio eradication — including Saudi Arabia’s $500M pledge in 2024.
Nearly four in ten Rotarians give in a typical year — a participation culture few charities match.
$5.2M invested in fellows and centers in 2024–25 alone; global grants also fund graduate scholarships and vocational training teams.
Donor engagement campaigns generated $41.7M (+8% YoY); Raise for Rotary peer events raised $2.7M from 18,500 donors in 140+ countries.
Supporting the Environment joined the areas of focus — Rotary’s youngest cause.
Top 15 achievements — District 9212 & Kenya
Thirteen years, four countries — and a club from Nairobi South in the story from the start.
The Kenya Rural Blindness Eradication Project: Dr. Manu Chandaria and RC Nairobi, backed by 50 clubs from Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Camps at Kapkatet and Kabarak — one performed 309 cataract surgeries with President Moi in attendance; the programme ran nine years.
Dr. Manu Chandaria’s day in the sun for children living with disabilities — the full story is in the funders section.
Our club founded the prosthetics programme that became the Jaipur Foot Trust — restoring mobility to thousands of amputees.
Launched with the Girl Child Network (President Megan White, Rtn. Naisiae Paloshe) — it grew into the national Sanitary Towels Campaign and a government programme keeping girls in school.
Migori, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Narok and Siaya, with the Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF and the Gates Foundation — RCNS co-organized the Kikopey drive (full story in the polio section).
$36,885 in 2023–24 to $72,857 in 2024–25 — walk by walk, shilling by shilling.
The district’s voice at the Foundation’s highest table — full profile in the funders section above.
RC Nairobi — chartered 11 March 1930 at the New Stanley Hotel by John Innes and Mayor Charles Udall — Africa’s third-oldest club and the root of every East African club; Juba joined the family in 2010.
Chartered 1963 (second-oldest Nairobi club, third in Kenya); Golden Jubilee in June 2013 graced by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta.
RCNS won the coveted Foundation giving award at the 91st District Conference in Addis Ababa.
RC Lavington Eco — the continent’s first environment-focused Rotary club — chartered under Wairimu Njage (RC Lavington).
Kenya and Ethiopia hosted joint exhibitions around Darren Jones’s “Imagine Ones Dream” — $115K+ raised for under-five immunization and surveillance.
D9212 spanned four countries and grew to 267 clubs and 3,727 Rotarians — 90% of clubs voted to split, and 101 District Conferences closed the story at Naivasha in 2026.
From 1 July 2026, D9215 (Western Kenya, Rift Valley, Western Nairobi + South Sudan) and D9216 (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Central & Eastern Kenya, Coast) carry the flag — RCNS serves in D9215.
Our club chartered RC Kirinyaga, mentors Rotaract Kenyatta University (100+ members) and Interact clubs at State House Girls and Upper Hill — and sponsors 30 needy students through secondary school.
Our club & the Foundation
The Rotary Foundation story has a Nairobi South thread running through it — highlighted wherever it appears on this page.
- Chartered 1963 — look for our highlighted rows above: fourth on the all-time giving table, sixth in the heritage lineage.
- Our stories above: the Jaipur Foot Project, the national pads campaign, the Kikopey drive and the district’s Best TRF Giving Club award — each tagged in the district achievements.
- Chartered RC Kirinyaga; mentors Rotaract Kenyatta University (100+ members) and Interact clubs at State House Girls and Upper Hill.
- Sponsors 30 needy students through secondary school.
Sources
Figures as published by each source; retrieved September 2026. Amounts in US dollars.
- TRF Annual Report on Operations 2024-25 (PDF)
- TRF 2024-25 Fact Card (Giving)
- Donor Recognition — rotary.org
- Arch Klumph Society — rotary.org
- Understanding Foundation Recognition Points — District 5580
- Foundation Recognition Points fact sheet — District 5010 (PDF)
- Rotary & Gates Foundation extend polio partnership (June 2025) — endpolio.org
- GPEI historical contributions 1985-2024 — polioeradication.org
- GPEI Donors & Financing
- Peace Fellowships — rotary.org
- Symbiosis Peace Center inauguration (Feb 2026) — rotary.org
- District 9212 — homepage, strategy & redistricting stories
- D9212 timeline: eye surgeries & polio walks
- D9212 farewell conference giving-records deck (club tables, leaderboard, heritage clubs, Sunshine Rally) — slides shared by the owner
- Rotary Club of Nairobi — founded 1930
- Jaipur Foot Project — founded by RCNS 1990
- Kenya sanitary pads campaign origins — ZanaAfrica
- Charity Navigator — TRF rating
- Geeta Manek profile — The Task Force for Global Health