Club - Challenges

What is Rotary? What does a Rotary club do?
These questions are often ask of Rotarians by prospective members and other interested people, and they are difficult to answer effectively in a few short minutes. Although our primary motto Service Above Self highlights our altruistic nature, it fails to answer the two questions. Therefore, I decided to search for a briefly stated theme that would fulfill two objectives: The first to explain the purpose of Rotary to non-Rotarians and the second to confirm and validate the importance of our principles to Rotarians.In my search for the right words, I reviewed the four Avenues of Service and noted that Club Service and Vocational Service both help us to enjoy life and to be good citizens. Community Service and Vocational Service combine to make our local communities better places for us to live and work. And International Service permits us to partner with clubs in other countries and on different continents to make the world a better place to live with an improved opportunity for world understanding, goodwill, and peace. It is important to remember that Rotary is a “spirit of service” as well as an organization of Rotary clubs, and we need to share our core values of service, fellowship, diversity, integrity, and leadership with other people and organizations. I considered many words and phrases to capture the essence of Rotary,
and the words I finally selected to describe Rotary’s current mission and to highlight our achievements
are what we do best:

Building Communities – Bridging Continents

I hope you agree that these four words aptly reflect who we are, and what we do, as Rotarians. We are
a unique and a premier organization — certainly one of the best in the world. We build the spirit and
resources of our local communities in an important way, and we are the best in the world at linking
people of goodwill around the globe and then gaining their cooperation and support to make the world
a much better place to live and work. In the words of Ed Cadman, “Rotary is unity without uniformity.”
We are indeed fortunate to be Rotarians! I applied the same philosophy in developing the
Presidential Citation for 2010-11. I consider each of the four Avenues of Service to be equally important,
and we have created a new citation program in the form of a questionnaire to help clubs test their effectiveness in all four avenues. We also have produced a higher-level “Presidential Citation with Distinction”
to challenge those clubs that routinely earn the annual presidential citations.
We hope the new questionnaire will be a helpful tool to both the clubs and the district governors as we
seek to lengthen our stride and improve our levels of fellowship and service, as we move forward into the
second century of service for Rotary International, which started with the first convention of

PRESIDENTIAL CITATION FOR 2010-11
Clubs are asked to complete the following questionnaire to test their activities in all four Avenues of Service. Each of the four categories offers a possible 50 points. Clubs that score at least 25 points in each category will qualify for the 2010-11 Presidential Citation. Clubs that score at least 35 points in each category will qualify for the 2010-11 Presidential Citation with Distinction.The questionnaire is to be completed by each club and then sent to the district governor — not to Rotary International.The completed questionnaire must be received by the district governor no later than 31 March 2011 for the club to be eligible for the Presidential Citation. The answers to all questions on the questionnaire are subject to The Four-Way Test! Governors must certify the list of clubs that have earned the citation and the citation with distinction and send it to RI World Headquarters by no later than 15 April 2011. District governors will be accorded special recognition if 50 percent or more of the clubs in their respective districts are awarded the presidential citations.



CLUB SERVICE
❏ Did your club achieve a net gain of at least one member between 1 July 2010 and 1 January 2011 as shown on the club’s semiannual reports to RI? (5 points)

❏ Has your club adopted and used a valid membership recruitment plan, such as the Five for One plan? (5 points)

❏ Has your club developed and used an effective membership retention plan, such as the STAR program for the mentoring of new members? (5 points)

❏ Has your club established a written three-year plan for the club, which has actively involved the current club president, club president-elect, and club president-nominee, and any other club members selected by them, with the development and statement of three-year goals for each Avenue of Service and targets for club membership to support the new goals? (10 points)

❏ Has your club sponsored a new Rotary club that has been chartered within the past 12 months? (5 points)

❏ Are the regular meetings of your club consistently marked by both great fellowship and stimulating programs?(5 points)

❏ Does your club regularly send a weekly newsletter to all club members, either electronically or by postal mail?(5 points)

❏ Has your club developed and maintained a club Website on the Internet outlining its membership, programs,projects, and achievements? (5 points)

❏ Does your club provide financial assistance to the club president-elect for his or her attendance at PETS or the international convention? (5 points)This category has 50 points available. How many points
has your club scored?

VOCATIONAL SERVICE
❏ Has your club sponsored an effective Four-Way Test essay or speech competition for young people within the past 12 months? (5 points)
❏ Have your club members been actively involved in providing career information for local school students within the past 12 months? (5 points)
❏ Have four or more of your club meetings been devoted to vocational service topics during the current Rotary year?(10 points)
❏ Has your club utilized classification talks by club members for at least three club meeting programs during the current Rotary year? (5 points)
❏ Has your club recognized the importance of high ethical standards and public values by giving an award, within the past 12 months, to honor an individual who exemplifies such traits? (5 points)
❏ Has your club recognized the importance of high ethical standards and public values by giving an award, within the past 12 months, to honor a business or other organization that actively promotes such traits? (5 points)
❏ Has your club developed and initiated a new vocational service project during the current Rotary year? (5 points)
❏ Does your club routinely provide a copy of Th e Four-Way Test and the Declaration of Rotarians in Businesses and Professions to all new club members as they join the club? (5 points)
❏ Did your club observe Vocational Service Month in October of 2010 with a special club program or other event? (5 points)
Th is category has 50 points available. How many points has your club scored?

COMMUNITY SERVICE
❏ Has your club completed a significant community service project involving the active participation of virtually all the club members within the past 12 months? (5 points)
❏ Is your club currently sponsoring an active Interact or Rotaract club? (5 points)

❏ Has your club sponsored a RYLA camp or a student participant in a RYLA camp within the past 12 months? (5 points)

❏ Has your club completed a community service project within the past 12 months that has improved the public image of Rotary in the community and also increased the pride of your club members in Rotary? (10 points)

❏ Has your club conducted one or more successful fundraising events in the past 12 months that have produced reasonable results for the amount of time expended by the club members and provided sufficient funds to conduct meaningful projects for the community? (5 points)

❏ Has your club spent substantially more time and money, during the current Rotary year, on Rotary service projects in the community rather than using its resources to fund requests from other organizations for their projects without clear identification of your club’s contributions? (5 points)

❏ Has your club undertaken a community service project, during the current Rotary year, within one of the six areas of focus established by the new Future Vision Plan of Th e Rotary Foundation? (5 points)

❏ Has your club conducted a community needs assessment during the current Rotary year? (5 points)

❏ Has your club provided a community service project to benefit young people in your community within the past 12 months? (5 points)

This category has 50 points available. How many points has your club scored?

INTERNATIONAL SERVICE
❏ Is your club currently serving as the host club, or as the sponsor club of a candidate, for a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar or a Rotary World Peace Fellow? (5 points)
❏ Has your club served within the last 12 months as a host club for a Group Study Exchange team or as the sponsor club of a candidate for a Group Study Exchange team? (5 points)
❏ Is your club currently serving as the host club, or as the sponsor club of a candidate, for a Rotary Youth Exchange student? (5 points)
❏ Has your club actively supported Rotary’s US$200 Million Challenge for polio eradication? (5 points)
❏ Has your club actively participated in a Matching Grant or a 3-H Grant from Th e Rotary Foundation during the current Rotary year? For clubs in a pilot district, has your club actively participated in a Rotary Foundation Global Grant during the current Rotary year? (5 points)
❏ Has your club actively participated in an international project during the current Rotary year with the assistance of funds from a District Simplified Grant received by your district from Th e Rotary Foundation? For clubs in a pilot district, has your club actively participated in an international project during the current Rotary year with the assistance of funds from a Rotary Foundation District Grant received by your district? (5 points)
❏ Has your club supported a World Community Service project though a financial contribution, the donation of goods, or volunteer service in the past 12 months?(5 points)
❏ Has your club accepted the challenge of the Every Rotarian, Every Year initiative as evidenced either by a contribution from every club member to Th e Rotary Foundation during the current Rotary year or by an average contribution to Th e Rotary Foundation of at least US$100 per member for the current Rotary year? (10 points)
❏ Does at least one member of your club belong to a Rotary Fellowship or a Rotarian Action Group? (5 points)
This category has 50 points available. How many points has your club scored?