The Latest Board Decisions
In this Quick News I wanted to share with you the District Board decisions at the end of this Rotary year. Your board considered a number of items and I have picked out the main ones, being - approval to work on a Vocational Training Team project to focus on Indigenous communities,
- selection of reps for the Council on Legislation,
- some changes to the District Conference funding,
- donation to The Rotary Foundation and managing our District Foundation Project grants, and
- the D9700 Membership Grants
Please select Read more for further details.
The Vocational Training Team (VTT)
The Board approved the continued action towards establishing an Indigenous VTT project for the District. The Proposal is to select a number of District Indigenous professionals to be part of this Team to visit an overseas Rotary District with an Indigenous population, for the purpose of training and experiencing the methods and practises used in that Indigenous community, enterprise, etc.
The Board approved the continued action towards establishing an Indigenous VTT project for the District. The Proposal is to select a number of District Indigenous professionals to be part of this Team to visit an overseas Rotary District with an Indigenous population, for the purpose of training and experiencing the methods and practises used in that Indigenous community, enterprise, etc.
While the usual VTT is made up of people in the same industry, this VTT would be made of Indigenous professionals from a range of vocations, where all of them work with Indigenous communities and groups. The selection of VTT members would cover such vocations as Education, Justice/legal, Trades, Business/enterprises, Community development, Medical and health, Culture, Arts, Youth, and so on.
Possible overseas destinations are to be explored. I have had talks with a Rotary Club in South Dakota, which has a large and extensive Indigenous community where Rotary plays a part in community development, enterprise support, education and so on. The contact for this Club is Tom Katus (RC of Rapid City) was introduced to our District by Ken Engsmyr of Parkes RC. I have had brief discussions with RI's Mark Anderson about such a VTT and he gave very positive endorsement for the idea.
Council on Legislation
The Board congatulated, recognised and ratified the outcome of the membership election of PDG Gary Roberts as Council on Legislation Representative and PDG David Kennedy as Alternate. The Council meets annually by electronic meeting and each third year in person, to consider the rules and requirements (Legislation) by which Rotary (including our clubs) operate.
The Board congatulated, recognised and ratified the outcome of the membership election of PDG Gary Roberts as Council on Legislation Representative and PDG David Kennedy as Alternate. The Council meets annually by electronic meeting and each third year in person, to consider the rules and requirements (Legislation) by which Rotary (including our clubs) operate.
District Conference funding
Did you realise that when you pay your D9700 fees, it includes the core cost of putting on the Conference! This means that the only cost (non-core) you have to bear to attend the District Conference is your own costs of food, travel and accommodation. Starting in 2018, the new funding formula will require any surplus (core costs) will be returned to District to support future conferences, and the organising Rotary Club will to retain any surplus non-core funds in their Project Account and be encouraged to consider making a donation to The Rotary Foundation.
Did you realise that when you pay your D9700 fees, it includes the core cost of putting on the Conference! This means that the only cost (non-core) you have to bear to attend the District Conference is your own costs of food, travel and accommodation. Starting in 2018, the new funding formula will require any surplus (core costs) will be returned to District to support future conferences, and the organising Rotary Club will to retain any surplus non-core funds in their Project Account and be encouraged to consider making a donation to The Rotary Foundation.Speaking of The Rotary Foundation
The Board has to manage the funds that come back top the District for District Grants which clubs apply for on an annul basis (how good is that - we get back half of the funds we donated 3 years earlier, to spend locally!!). We have adopted a management plan which formalises how to do that and demonstrate our transparency and accountability.
The Board has to manage the funds that come back top the District for District Grants which clubs apply for on an annul basis (how good is that - we get back half of the funds we donated 3 years earlier, to spend locally!!). We have adopted a management plan which formalises how to do that and demonstrate our transparency and accountability.And we have made a donation of $US15,000 (about $20,850) to the Rotary Foundation from our District Reserves. While this was an unbudgeted donation, the majority of the Board felt that it was appropriate considering that 50% will return to the District in 2020 for District use!
Membership Sustainability
The D9700 Board and AGs are encouraging our local Rotary Clubs to apply for District Membership Sustainability Grants. These grants are also to be funded from our D9700 reserves and will help us all to increase ther number of Rotarians to replace our friends as they move out of Rotary, and hopefully increase our base to help in our desire to continue Serving Humanity.
The D9700 Board and AGs are encouraging our local Rotary Clubs to apply for District Membership Sustainability Grants. These grants are also to be funded from our D9700 reserves and will help us all to increase ther number of Rotarians to replace our friends as they move out of Rotary, and hopefully increase our base to help in our desire to continue Serving Humanity.
Finally, I would like to thank the 2016-2017 Board - DGE George Weston, DGN John Glassford, IPDG Gary Roberts, PDG David Kennedy, Doug Conkey, Peter Gissing, Sue Gordon, Russ Martin and Joanne McRae, John McKenzie, Lauren Slater and Jenny Somerset; and AGs: Miles Hedge, Michael Horth, Don Jewell, Julie Poplin, and Bryan Short.