Slide 1 – Presentation Title
It’s great to be with all of you for this year’s RRFC Institute. I appreciate hearing from you and receiving your feedback on my monthly Future Vision updates.
This morning I’m going to cover some high level aspects of the plan. In the breakouts we will focus on specific examples of grant activity and Rotarian’s experience since the pilot began. We will also cover how to prepare nonpilot districts for the full launch of the plan in 2013-14. We look forward to getting your feedback as part of these sessions.
So let’s get started by recalling the five priorities of the plan. ©
Slide 2 – FV Priorities
Future Vision was developed over a 5-year period based on feedback gathered from thousands of Rotarians. This rigorousplanning processresulted in these 5 priorities:
•Simplify the foundation’s programs and processes –making it easier for Rotarians to navigate the menu of grant opportunities.
•Focus Rotarian service efforts to increase the foundation’s global impact – scale up club and district projects for long-term and sustainable outcomes.
•Support the global and local efforts of Rotarians – giveclubs and districts a flexible way to support their local and international activities.
•Increasing a sense of “ownership” at the district and club levels – create more awareness of the foundation and connect Rotarians to the global impact of the organization.
•Enhance Rotary’s public image – helpraise Rotary’s profile in the general public.
Of course all of these will help the foundation attract greater funding from Rotarians, the general public and strategic partners.
We’re only seven months into the pilot and it is far too early to draw conclusions about trends in grant activity or Rotarians reaction to the plan. However, I think it would be helpful to share how some of these priorities are being put into practice.
Slide 3- Comparative Analysis
©To understand how Future Vision simplifies our foundation, it’s important to remember where we started. You’ve allheard about the growth in Humanitarian Grants, however, you might be surprised to see how the Foundation compares to other organizations.
Based on data collected from the Conrad Hilton Foundation, the McArthur Foundation, Lions International, and Habitat for Humanity. The bars chart the total number of grants awarded by these organizations annually.
At the bottom you will see their annual budget and the average grant award. When you compare these you see that TRF makes substantially more small grants than any other foundation at over 4000 per year. The average award is $12,500 in Humanitarian Grants; $20,000 in Educational Programs and of course PolioPlus grants are much larger and more comparable to the others at $446,000.
©Lions International has a much smaller budget of $38.5 m, but the average award is still much higher than TRF at $72,000. ©Habitat for Humanity is a particularly good example as they make grants to their chapters and have a comparable $100 m budget. Their average award is $100,000.
Slide 4 – Simplify Programs and Processes
©Now keep in mind that comparably we make more grants but we also have many more variables that make the process more complicated:
- ©The traditional grant model has some 12 different grant types: Matching Grants, Ambassadorial Scholars, GSE, etc.
- ©Each one is funded in a different way: some use cash contributions, some DDF, some World Fund, some endowments and some a combination of all of them.
- Each one has its own terms and conditions, application process, and deadlines.
Now take all 12 grant types and add the complexity of making grants available to Rotarians in:
- ©9 official languages – for all the applications and training materials
- ©26 currencies – to process contributions and grant payments
- ©Supporting over 30 different volunteer positions at the club, district and zone levels in the grant process worldwide
- ©Making grants in over 200 countries and territories – each with their own local legal requirements, banking regulations, and various associate foundations.
All of this is part of the environment we operate in as an international charity and addsa significant layer of complexity to anything we do.
©But on top of this- remember we are doing this 4160 times per year – more than many other foundations.
So how does Future Vision help untangle this ball of frustration?
Slide 5 – Current vs Future Model
Future Vision attempts to standardize and simplify our menu of grant types, their funding sources and the process. ©We move from the current model with some 12 different grant types to the future vision model where there are only two grant types; District Grants and Global Grants, which fund many of the same activities currently funded by many traditional educational and humanitarian grant types.
By reducing the menu of grant offerings the process becomes less confusing for Rotarians to navigate. The Future Vision model funds many of the same activities Rotarians have supported in the past, but with common eligibility guidelines; and one business cycle that allows for a rolling submission of applications throughout the year. The application and authorization process are more streamlined by making them available online; and the funding mechanisms are also streamlined. ©Of course, all clubs and districts continue to participate inRotaryCenters and PolioPlus throughout the pilot.
Slide 6 – Cost/Benefit
©In addition to simplification, the new model is designed to be more cost effective than the current model. Over the last 10 years, staff size had grown to keep up with the growth of Humanitarian Grants. In designing the plan, the FVC analyzed the cost of maintaining the current grant model and it became clear that its inefficiencies combined with anticipated growth in grant requests was not sustainable.
Over the last 6 years, the foundation’s program operations have averaged about 13% of our program budget when polio awards are included. However, as polio is eradicated and the foundation is not awarding these large grants the ratio of program operations to awards is expected to rise significantly. Program operations costs could exceed 19% without program awards for polio. Therefore, the foundation needs to find a strategy to maximize its efficiency once polio is eradicated.
For the duration of the pilot, TRF will operate the current programs and the future vision pilot in parallel, and costs will rise for a short period. However, once the foundation transitions fully to the new model, positions will be phased out, reducing staff head count by one third.
As we automate more processes and provide services and information to Rotarians online further cost savings are expected. With fewer manual systems staff can be more focused on supporting Rotarians in the design of their grants. You will see in the breakouts that this has potential for greater results in project outcomes.
Slide 7 – Focus and Increase Global Impact
© By focusing global grants inthe six areas, the project results can be consistently measured so we can aggregate our impact worldwide on issues like maternal and child health and water and sanitation. Rotarians will develop greater capacity in designing and implementing humanitarian projects, vocational training teams and supporting scholars in each of the six areas. As a result of these first three steps the foundation will be able to secure more contributions from Rotarians and the general public that are increasingly interested in giving to causes and knowing how their contributions are making a difference. We will also open the door to potential funding from strategic partners.
If you think about it, this cycle illustrates our success in Polio. Polio plus started as a 3-H grant in the Philippines where Rotarians were focused on the eradication of polio and could measure the results – polio cases dropped significantly; clubs and districts learned how to mobilize communities for immunization; that knowledge was shared with other Rotarians and it became the organization’s primary focus, which has resulted in millions of dollars of contributions from Rotarians, governments and foundations.
Slide 8 – Support Global and Local Efforts
©Future Vision has responded to Rotarians desire to fund activities both locally and globally with foundation support. District Grants have expanded the opportunities for funding in many new ways. Districts have greater flexibility to support a wider range of activities including scholarships for students to study locally or abroad; to partner with another district to exchange a group study team; or to fund international travel for Rotarians doing a service mission or to plan a global grant project. We are seeing some fantastic and innovative projects that will be discussed during the breakouts.
Slide 9 – Increase Ownership
©As Rotarians become more comfortable with Future Vision, we hope to see an increased sense of ownership of the foundation and the outcomes of the grants. In global grants for example, proposals include a community needs assessment, focusing the projects on specific results like the reduction of infant mortality rates in a geographic area or a decrease in water born diseases. The Rotarians take ownership of achieving the results and find ways to address them more effectively. There is also greater emphasis on the host club in the project country taking a more significant role in the design of the project.
The qualification process not only emphasizes the importance of local Rotarian oversight, but through the grant management training, Rotarians now have the tools and resources to do this more effectively. District qualification has also given districts more discretion and control over how they use their DDF through district grants.
Slide 10 – Enhance Public Image
©Future Vision can enhance Rotary’s public image by giving non-Rotarians a clearer picture of what we do. When you mention Rotary, many people know about our work with polio, some may know us for our peace program, but they often don’t know the scope of our work. The areas of focus will allow us to gain greater recognition not only from the general public, but also by other NGOs and government agencies, creating new opportunities for partnerships.
At their January meeting the Trustees approved three packaged grants opportunities with Aga KhanUniversity and Oikocredit. Aga KhanUniversity’s School of Nursing trains health care providers at their campuses in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Packaged Grants with AKU will support the areas of Maternal and Child Health and Disease Prevention and Treatment. There will be two types of packaged grants: scholarships for nurses, in which Rotarians will select the recipients and provide mentoring to them, and vocational training teams that will support faculty development at AKU.
Oikocredit is the world’s largest private provider of financing to microfinance institutions (MFI). They currently support a network of some 790 MFIs in 70 countries, reaching over 17.5 million loan recipients.
This partnership will support the Economic and Community Development area of focus. Packaged Grants with Oikocredit will connect individual Rotary clubs with an MFI in the Oikocredit network to fund vocational training teams thatprovide business skill training to at-risk communities who can then access loans through the MFI. This relationship will allow the MFI to handle the loans while the Rotarians focus on what they do best – social mobilization and vocational training.
Application details and announcements about these packaged grants are being developed for April and we will keep the RRFC’s updated on the progress.
Slide 11 – Evaluation = Learning
©We’verecently begun surveying Rotarians on their experiences since the start of the pilot. So far we’ve collected feedback from Rotarians on: the service received from staff; their experience with the online system; their experience working with the grants; and the qualification process. A consulting firm will be conducting focus groups with randomly selected club and district representatives later this month for additional feedback.
Measuring the outcomes of foundation grants will help improve our effectiveness and measure our progress in the six areas. At a future RRFC Institute I hope to be able to report to you that through global grants, TRF has reduced the incidentsof Malaria by 10% in Africa or has increased access to clean drinking water to 100,000 people in Asia. This kind of tangible data would be invaluable to our public relations efforts and an incredible asset to fundraising as more donors want to see results from their gifts. So where are we now in this transition? ©
Slide 13 – Where are we now?
At this moment in time, our pilot districts are like trapeze artists. They are being asked to let go of the trapeze bar – the safe, familiar way we have of doing things with our Rotary Foundation – but they have not quite been able to grab the other trapeze bar that represents how our Foundation will operate and look in the future. These pilot districts are, indeed, in mid-air. And those on the ground – in the non-pilot districts – are looking and wondering - is she going to fall? Is she going to hurt herself? That period of time can be a bit scary for all of us who love our Rotary Foundation and what it stands for. But a French novelist (Andre Gide) once said, “One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time”
On behalf of myself and the Future Vision team I want to thank you for all that you are doing to manage change in your zones and we look forward to getting your feedback. Thank you.