In his June 1917 address at the annual Convention of Rotary International in Atlanta, Georgia, Arch Klumph asked his fellow Rotarians to "not to live for themselves alone, but for the joy in doing good for others". And so was born the motto of The Rotary Foundation: "Doing Good in the World". Inspired by Klumph's admonition, members of The Rotary Club of Kansas City, Missouri, made the first contributin to the Foundation in the amount of $26.50. Over a century later, more that 35,000 clubs, comprised of over 1.2 million members, have followed the Kansas City example. They have made monetary contributions in a concerted effort to promote world understanding through the improvement of health, the support of education and the alleviation of poverty.
According to the November edition of The Rotarian, the following represent the top 6 (out of over 200) donors to The Foundation over a five-year period by US dollar amount:
United States $395,699,358
India $ 88,875,333
Japan $ 84,467,802
Korea $ 79,249,818
Taiwan $ 53,105,767
Canada $ 40,799,946
The icing on the cake is about these donations is 92% of the funds are spent on programs, awards and operations. (Charity Navigator 4-Star Rating).
$395,699
