About Rotary

Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.  

It is a secular organization open to all persons regardless of race, color, creed, gender, or political preference. There are 34,282 clubs and over 1.2 million members worldwide.  The members of Rotary Clubs are known as Rotarians.  

Members usually meet online weekly or meet weekly for breakfast, lunch or dinner, which is a social event as well as an opportunity to organize work on their service goals.  

Rotary's primary motto is "Service above Self"  


Philosophy

The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

  • The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
  • High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
  • The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life;
  • The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service. 

This objective is set against the "Rotary 4-Way Test", used to see if a planned action is compatible with the Rotarian spirit. It is still seen as a standard for ethics in business and every day interaction with others.  

Of things we think, say or do:

Is it the truth?

Is it fair to all concerned?

Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

 

History

The first Rotary Club was formed when attorney Paul P Harris together a meeting of three business acquaintances in downtown Chicago at Harris' friend Sylvester Schiele's office in the Unity Building on Dearborn Street on February 23, 1905  In addition to Harris and Schiele (a coal merchant), Gustave E. Loehr (mines engineer), and Hiram E. Shorey (tailor) were the other two who attended this first meeting.  

The members chose the name Rotary because initially they rotated subsequent weekly club meetings to each other's offices, although within a year, the Chicago club became so large it became necessary to adopt the now-common practice of a regular meeting place. 

PolioPlus Program

In 1985, Rotary launched its PolioPlus program to immunise all of the world's children against polio. As of 2011, Rotary has contributed more than 900 million US dollars to the cause, resulting in the immunisation of nearly two billion children worldwide. 

As of 2006, Rotary has more than 1.2 million members in over 32,000 clubs among 200 countries and geographical areas, making it the most widespread by branches and second largest service club by membership, behind Lions clubs International 

Structure

In order to carry out its service programs, Rotary is structured in club, district and international levels. Rotarians are members of their clubs. The clubs are chartered by the global organisation Rotary International (RI) headquartered in Evanston, a suburban city near Chicago. For administrative purposes, the more than 32,000 clubs worldwide are grouped into 529 districts, and the districts into 34 zones. 

Club

The Rotary Club is the basic unit of Rotary activity, and each club determines its own membership.. Each club meets weekly, usually at a mealtime on a weekday in a regular location, when Rotarians can discuss club business and hear from guest speakers. More recently E-clubs have evolved and Rotarians meet online each week. 

Each club conducts various service projects within its local community, and participates in special projects involving other clubs in the local district, and occasionally a special project in a "sister club" in another nation. Most clubs also hold social events at least quarterly and in some cases more often. 

Committee

Each club elects its own president and officers among its active members for a one year term. The clubs enjoy considerable autonomy within the framework of the standard constitution and the constitution and bylaws of Rotary International.  

The governing body of the club is the Club Board, consisting of the club president (who serves as the Board chairman), a president-elect, club secretary, club treasurer, and several Club Board directors. In the majority of clubs, the immediate past president is also a member of the Board.  

The president usually appoints the directors to serve as chairs of the major club committees, including those responsible for club service, vocational service, community service, youth service, and international service. 

District level

A district governor, who is an officer of Rotary International and represents the RI board of directors in the field, leads his/her respective Rotary district. Each governor is nominated by the clubs of his/her district, and elected by all the clubs meeting in the annual RI Convention held in a different country each year. The district governor appoints assistant governors from among the Rotarians of the district to assist in the management of Rotary activity and multi-club projects in the district. 

Zone level

Approximately 15 Rotary districts form a zone. A zone director, who serves as a member of the RI board of directors, heads two zones. The zone director is nominated by the clubs in the zone and elected by the convention for the terms of two consecutive years. 

Rotary International

Rotary International is governed by a board of directors composed of the international president, the president-elect, the general secretary, and 17 zone directors. The nomination and the election of each president is handled in the one-to-three year period before he takes office, and is based on requirements including geographical balance among Rotary zones and previous service as a district governor and board member. The international board meets quarterly to establish policies and make recommendations to the overall governing bodies, the RI Convention and the RI Council on Legislation.

The chief operating officer of RI is the general secretary, who heads a staff of about 600 people working at the international headquarters in Evanston and in seven international offices around the world.

 

Membership

According to its constitutions ("Charters"), Rotary defines itself as a non-partisan, non-sectarian organization. It is open to students, business and professional people ers of all ages (18 and upwards) and economic status. 

One can contact a Rotary club to inquire about membership but can join a Rotary club only if invited; there is no provision to join without an invitation as each prospective Rotarian requires a sponsor who is an existing Rotarian. 

Active membership

Active membership is by invitation from a current Rotarian, to professionals or businesspersons working in diverse areas of endeavour.. The goal of the clubs is to promote service to the community they work in, as well as to the wider world. Many projects are organised for the local community by a single club, but some are organised globally. 

Honorary membership

Honorary membership is given by election of a Rotary Club to people who have distinguished themselves by meritorious service in the furtherance of Rotary ideals. Honorary membership is conferred only in exceptional cases. Honorary members are exempt from the payment of admission fees and dues. They have no voting privileges and are not eligible to hold any office in their club. Honorary membership is time limited and terminates automatically at the end of the term, usually one year. It may be extended for an additional period or may also be revoked at any time.