District Sinplified Grants (DSG) for District 5050 Rotary Clubs

DSG Guide for District 5050 Rotary Clubs for 2011-12

District Simplified Grants (DSG) – Preamble

The Trustees of The Rotary Foundation (TRF) have adopted a grant called District Simplified Grants (DSG). District 5050 will use a portion of its District Designated Funds (DDF) to fund DSG’s to district Rotary clubs for local humanitarian or vocational projects that benefit the community and/or improve the lives of the economically disadvantaged.

The amount the District receives as its DSG is computed as follows:
TRF returns to the District as DDF funds a percentage of total TRF donations from all the clubs in the district for the year that is three years prior to the program year. The amount of the DSG grant at the District level can be up to 20% of the District’s DDF funds in a given year.
The DSG Committee for District 5050 has is expecting less funds for 2011-12 than in previous years due to currect economics. The maximum grat that will be awarded for any one DSG will be $3,000 each for 2011-12. In the future, the District is eligible to request more funds from TRF, in addition to surplus funds not used the previous year. However, future funding is heavily dependent on the accurate and timely reporting of the DSG recipient clubs as to exactly how and when their projects are completed in the previous year.

3.The District Simplified Grants are administered in District 5050 by the DSG Subcommittee of the District 5050 Foundation Committee. Committee Chair for 2011-12 is Gayle Carter (Port Moody) and committee members are Frank Fagan (Friday Harbor), Rick Brown (South Whidbey), and Steve Miller (Anacortes- Fidalgo).

4.The District 5050 DSG Subcommittee will award the funds for new, one-time, short-term Community Service or Vocational Service projects that significantly benefit the sponsoring clubs’ communities. It does not necessarily require matching funds from the club. Clubs are encouraged to use these funds for local projects rather than international projects.

5. Some important considerations for working with the DSG type of grant are as follows:

The grant cycle is short: All projects must be complete and the District must submit a final report to TRF within the Rotary year the funds were received by the District. (District Reports are due by March 31 of the Rotary year.)
The time to apply for DSG project funding is NOW.
The funding process will be competitive, and no funds will be awarded for projects until all applications have been evaluated.
Proposals must be for a new club project, with a limit of one proposal per club.
If two or more clubs partner together on one project, one club will be the lead club and will be responsible for all reporting and oversight.
There may be up to 15 awards of up to $3000.00 each.
The $3000.00 is the maximum allowable; this does not mean that projects of lesser value will not be awarded. The project must be started AFTER the grant application has been approved.
The money to fund the project must be spent first by the club and is awarded by the district upon submission of a COMPLETE report.
The clubs must understand that the funds are received upon completion of the project which will require that clubs have sufficient funds to cover the cost of both the club portion and the district portion.

District Simplified Grants (DSG) – Deadlines for 2011-12

May 1, 2011 – DSG Applications by Clubs to begin.

August 1, 2011 – Deadline for submitting proposed grant applications.

August 20, 2011 – DSG Committee reviews ALL applications.

September 1, 2011 – Clubs with selected applications will be notified that their grant request has been approved, as long as the criteria for completion are met.

January 15, 2012 – Deadline for INTERIM report on the project

March 15, 2012 – Deadline for receipt of COMPLETE report on the project per guidelines for reporting.

NOTE: Funds for the project will be released to the recipient club as soon as the COMPLETE project report has been received.

March 31, 2012 – District 5050 Foundation Committee submits its final report to The Rotary Foundation in order to qualify for funds for the next Rotary Year. It is extremely important for all clubs receiving funding to comply with the above requirements.

District Simplified Grants (DSG) - Criteria

Projects funds must be for new, one-time, short-term Community Service or Vocational Service projects that significantly benefit the sponsoring club's community.
Clubs are encouraged to pursue projects that meet RI goals of emphasis: eg. literacy, health, hunger, clean water.
Clubs must be in good standing with Rotary International and District 5050.
Projects should have a realistic plan to meet all the completion deadlines.
Projects must demonstrate Rotarian involvement.
Clubs are encouraged to make a financial commitment from their own funds toward the project (does NOT have to be matching).
Project must comply with RI Terms and Conditions for District Simplified Grants (go to RI website).
Consideration of applications will be weighted according to chronological order in which the application was received, adherence to the Criteria and Guidelines, history of completed reports on previous projects.
Priority will be given to clubs that have NOT received and previous DSG funds.

District Simplified Grants (DSG) – Rotarian Involvement

A committee of at least three Rotarians from the sponsoring Rotary Club must be established to oversee the project(s) and the expenditure of grant funds. The members of the committee should serve for the entire term of the District Simplified Grant is in operation, even if it extends into future Rotary years. District Simplified Grants require the direct involvement of Rotarians who will conduct the following:

Make a brief assessment of community needs and develop a project plan stating the goal and benefit of the project.
Establish a committee containing at least three Rotarians to oversee the expenditure of DSG funds;
Maintain a solid oversight of grant funds provided;
Remain directly involved in the implementation of the project;
Provide evidence of community involvement and ownership;
Organize meetings with local service providers, local officials, and/or recipients as appropriate;
Promote the project in the local media (taking photos where possible);
Provide regular and final reports on the implementation of the project using the TRF Individual Project Summary form.

District Simplified Grants (DSG) – Funds cannot be used for:

Reimbursement for existing projects
Construction or renovation of existing buildings
Wages, stipends or honorariums
Operating expenses of another organization
Personal or professional development
Travel or accommodation expenses

District Simplified Grants (DSG) – Guidelines

Each project the grant supports must:

Respect the wishes of the receiving community;
Comply with all standard Humanitarian Grant Policies and Guidelines. (enclosed);
Report changes or problems with implementation to the District 5050 Foundation Committee Immediately;
Return any unused funds to District 5050;
Utilize funds for the approved project ONLY according to the terms of the application;
Submit Progress Reports not later than six months after the funds are provided from District 5050 to the Club. These must detail the projects’ progress, financial activities, and the estimated completion date.
A highly detailed and clearly organized report of all expenses with copies of receipts clearly identifying any items purchased with DSG Funds.

District Simplified Grants (DSG) – Application

Download from the District 5050 website.

There is also Suggestions for Writing the DSG Application on the District 5050 website:

(Will add these links when we post this on the District 5050 web-site.)

District Simplified Grants (DSG) - Report Form

This will be posted on the District 5050 website after the grant applications have been approved.

Grants require the direct involvement of Rotarians to

 Assess community needs and develop a project plan

 Establish a committee of three Rotarians to oversee the expenditure of funds

 Oversee grant funds

 Implement projects

 Provide evidence of community involvement and ownership

 Organize meetings with local service providers, local officials, and recipients

 Promote the project and Rotary’s involvement in the local media