Dear Rotarians,
Dear Rotaractors,
The Rotary Foundation is building strong momentum across District
1990. More grants, a significant increase in giving and clearly
defined Rotary priorities demonstrate what we can achieve when we act
together. These encouraging results should inspire us to continue on
this path, engage even more clubs and make fuller use of the
opportunities offered by our Foundation.
The District 1990
Rotary Foundation Committee can look back on a particularly
successful Rotary year 2025/2026. Under the leadership of DRFCC
Hanspeter von Flüe, the Foundation’s impact across our District
has grown visibly, while laying solid foundations for further
sustainable projects.
The results speak
for themselves:
10 Global Grants supported a
wide range of international projects, particularly in water, health,
eye care and prevention.
9 District Grants supported
important local and international initiatives benefiting children,
education, medical training and humanitarian assistance.
7 international scholarship
recipients are being supported by clubs in our District as sponsors
as they begin their study programmes in Switzerland.
Giving to the Annual Fund
increased by 42%, a particularly encouraging result.
Overall giving increased by
27%, including contributions to the Annual Fund, PolioPlus, the
Endowment Fund and direct contributions to Global Grants.
This growth made it
possible to turn numerous projects into reality. At the same time,
the funds available for 2025/2026 were fully deployed and previous
carryovers were reduced.
These figures
matter. But what matters even more is what lies behind them: clubs
and Rotarians willing to take responsibility and turn our shared
philanthropic commitment into tangible action.
The increase in
giving will enable our District to support even more Global Grants
and District Grants in the years ahead. The potential is there. Our
challenge now is to sustain this momentum and involve more actively
those clubs that have so far made limited use of the Foundation’s
opportunities, or have not yet contributed to it.
In September, Rotary
will highlight one of its key areas of focus: Basic Education &
Literacy. This is an ideal opportunity for our clubs to develop
educational initiatives, launch new projects and strengthen existing
partnerships.
We have created real
momentum. Now we must build on it. The more our clubs actively
support the Foundation, the more projects we can make possible, the
more partnerships we can develop and the greater Rotary’s lasting
impact will be, both in our communities and around the world.
With Rotarian greetings,
René LoretanGovernor 2026-2027
