Mission

The mission of New Castle Rotary #89 is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.

Giving Philosophy

The Rotary motto “Service Above Self” conveys the humanitarian spirit of the organization’s members. Strong fellowship among Rotarians and meaningful community and international service projects characterize Rotary Grants & Giving. New Castle Rotary #89 is committed to giving back to our communities, both locally and globally, by supporting organizations and projects whose shared goal is to improve the lives of individuals from all walks of life.

New Castle Rotary #89 has a rich heritage of supporting communities across the world where Rotarians live and work. We take pride in this leadership role and carry out our mission by supporting existing humanitarian programs as well as innovative new programming. We believe that giving back is an integral part of our history and our future.

The focus of the New Castle Rotary #89 Grants & Giving program is to improve the lives of individuals and build strong communities. We believe our community involvement through our Grants & Giving program enables us to actively live Rotary’s values and communicate the spirit of our mission.

New Castle Rotary #89 provides support to a diverse group of humanitarian projects and nonprofit organizations whose missions align with our philanthropic priorities. By targeting our giving in this way, we are able to make the most of our resources, and in turn, have a greater impact on our communities. We prefer to direct our funding resources to specific projects that can demonstrate innovative approaches with measurable results rather than general operating support.

Grants & Giving Guidelines

The following guidelines are designed to help you determine whether your organization may be eligible for funding. Please carefully read the following information before moving forward with the application process.

Our Grants & Giving program focuses on two key priorities:

  • Community Service Projects that improve the quality of life within
  • International Service Projects that expand Rotary’s humanitarian reach around the globe

Community and international service projects should focus on at least one key area:

  • Meeting the basic needs of at-risk populations which help to stabilize their lives and become more self-sufficient.
  • Supporting community vitality through community development, cultural enrichment, civic leadership, disaster response and recovery and environmental awareness

New Castle Rotary #89 prefers to fund service projects that do more than just offer a “quick fix” to problems.  Service projects that are considered to be most effective will include:

  • A response to critical issues;
  • Improve the lives of community members;
  • Incorporate the abilities of those who are served;
  • Provide a realistic assessment of available resources;
  • Aim for specific goals and objectives with measurable results;
  • Build effective and sustainable networks;
  • Inspire community support and involve community stakeholders; and
  • Empower people and communities

New Castle Rotary #89 also gives preference to projects where Rotarians are involved with the organization.

Grant awards will usually not exceed $3,000.

Eligible Service Projects and Organizations

  • Qualify as a nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) status or 509(a)(1,2 or 3);
  • Clearly match the guidelines of our giving philosophy and areas of focus;
  • Provide all application requirements;
  • Show measurable and demonstrated results; and
  • Comply with non-discrimination laws

Non-Eligible Service Projects and Organizations

  • Organizations that are not tax-exempt under IRS Code 501(c)(3) or 509(a)(1,2 or3);
  • Capital or endowment campaign requests;
  • Travel for individuals or groups;
  • Political organizations or initiatives whose primary purpose is to influence legislation, candidates or political campaign;
  • Purchase of advertising or marketing initiatives; and
  • Religious organizations for religious purposes

Project Selection Criteria

 All grants are made at the sole discretion of the New Castle Rotary #89 Grants & Giving Committee based on evaluation of individual proposals, determination of relative priorities and availability of funds. Proposals will be evaluated based on the merit of the request and the alignment of proposal with New Castle Rotary #89 giving priorities, philosophy and organizational mission.

This is a competitive process. Decisions will be based on our desire to support a diverse mix of service projects that reflect a variety of organization types and project venues, as well as balancing geographic considerations.

New Castle Rotary #89 reserves the right not to award any specific grant for any reason, or for no apparent reason, no matter how clearly the proposal may seem to relate to giving philosophy and areas of focus.

To be considered for selection, all requests must address the following criteria:

  • Purpose of the service project with clearly stated goals and objectives;
  • Planned activities must clearly relate to the accomplishment of stated goals;
  • Timeline for the completion of project;
  • Unique and/or innovative aspects of service project should be described in detail;
  • Target audience must be clearly defined;
  • Project plan should outline how results will be identified, achieved, measured and presented as part of the project’s final written report and presentation;
  • Ability to implement service project should be demonstrated through past record of successful programs and projects;
  • Proposal budget; and
  • Alignment with New Castle Rotary #89 giving philosophy and areas of focus

Application Deadlines

Grant requests will be reviewed by the Grants & Giving Committee as received. Our grant year runs from July 1 through June 30 each year. Approved grants will be awarded while funds last.

Reporting Requirements

Projects that receive funding from New Castle Rotary #89 are required to submit a final report summarizing the purpose of the project, all executed activities and the achievement of stated goals and objectives within 90 days of the completion of project. Recipients of New Castle Rotary #89 funding are also required to present a brief synopsis of their written report during a regularly scheduled Rotary meeting.

Thank you for your interest in the New Castle Rotary #89 Grants & Giving program.