About Rotary

About Rotary

Rotary is a global network of community volunteers. Rotary members are business and professional
leaders who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.
Some 31,000 Rotary clubs in more than 165 countries carry out service projects in their local communities
and abroad to address such critical issues as poverty, health, hunger, illiteracy, and the environment.

Projects
Rotary clubs participate in a broad range of humanitarian, intercultural, and educational activities designed
to improve the human condition. Rotary’s humanitarian grants support club projects that provide health care
and medical supplies, clean water, food, job training, youth development, and education to millions of people in need — particularly in the developing world.
In addition, Rotary provides more than 200 grants each year to fund the work of Rotary volunteers, who
travel to parts of the world where their technical expertise and knowledge are most needed to alleviate hardship and solve problems.

Peace
Rotary builds understanding through international scholarships, exchange programs, and humanitarian grants.
In 2002, Rotary launched the Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution, an innovative program designed to educate tomorrow’s peacemakers. Hosted at seven leading universities
around the globe, the program funds 70 World Peace Scholars each year for graduate studies in international relations, conflict studies, and negotiation — providing promising leaders the tools to further the cause of peace.
Some 35,000 students from 110 countries have also studied abroad since 1947 as Rotary Ambassadorial
Scholars. Rotary’s Group Study Exchange has helped more than 45,000 young professionals explore
their career fields in other countries.
And, each year some 8,000 secondary- school students experience life in another country through Rotary’s
Youth Exchange program.

Membership

Rotary club members are part of a diverse group of professional leaders working to address various community and international service needs. Through community service and other means, Rotary club members help promote peace and understanding throughout the world. Our members are our most important asset. They are the force that allows Rotary to carry out its many humanitarian efforts and achieve its mission.

Why Join Rotary?

Each Rotary club strives for a membership that is an up-to-date and progressive representation of its community's business, vocational, and professional interests. Membership in Rotary offers a number of benefits, including:

• Effecting change within the community
• Developing leadership skills
• Gaining an understanding of — and having an impact on — international humanitarian issues.
• Developing relationships with community and business leaders

(Link to prospective membership form)

Becoming a Rotarian

An association of some 31,000 autonomous clubs in 166 countries, Rotary International is one of the world's largest service organizations. The goal for a club's membership is an up-to-date and progressive representation of the community's business, vocational, and professional interests.
An important distinction between Rotary and other organizations is that membership in Rotary is by invitation. Rotary clubs invite individuals to join and become members.
Membership is vital to a Rotary club's operations and community service activities. A primary goal of the club is to continually expand the club with committed members who have the interest and ability to get involved in service and humanitarian projects.

Prospective members must:

• hold — or be retired from — a professional, proprietary, executive, or managerial position;
• have the capacity to meet the club's weekly attendance or community project participation requirements;
• live or work within the locality of the club or the surrounding area.

The membership process

Often a person being considered for membership is invited by a member/sponsor to attend one or more club meetings to learn more about Rotary. The sponsor may then submit the name of the candidate to the club's membership committee.
An individual who is interested in membership but doesn't know any Rotarians can contact the local club directly. Search the Club Locator and Rotary Web Sites databases to find contact information for clubs. Some Rotary clubs maintain an office and may be listed in your telephone directory. Other resources include a Rotary club in an adjoining community, the local chamber of commerce, the public library, or other non-profit service organizations.

Classifications: professional representation

Rotary uses a classification system to establish and maintain a vibrant cross-section or representation of the community's business, vocational, and professional interests among members and to develop a pool of resources and expertise to successfully implement service projects. This system is based on the founders' paradigm of choosing cross-representation of each business, profession, and institution within a community.
A classification describes either the principal business or the professional service of the organization that the Rotarian works for or the Rotarian's own activity within the organization. Some examples of classifications include: high schools, universities, eye surgery, banking, pharmaceutical-retailing, petroleum-distribution, and insurance agency.