Posted by Michelle Gasbarro

Many of you have heard that the process for entering a grant for next year, 2018-19, has changed. You are right! A new process for District Grants will go into effect for the 2018-19 grant cycle.
 
Here’s what you need to do to be eligible for district and global grants:
-Your club still needs to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for 2018-19 and send it to Michelle Gasbarro at michellegasba@gmail.com
- Your club must have at least one member who has participated in Grant Management Training in the last two years
- You do need to enter an Annual Fund goal on the Rotary International website under Club Central
-You do need to identify a Foundation Chair in the District website for 2018-19
Once you do these things your club will be qualified to enter a grant.
 
The new stuff you need to know:
-Your grant can be entered into the ClubRunner Grant Module under the 2018-19 year but you need to do it well before June 1. Enter a grant request, fill in the application, budget (expenses) and funding (income), including the requested grant amount, and submit it for review.
-Between June 1 and 10 all the grants that have been entered will be reviewed by the Grant Review Panel for completeness, and if found incomplete, you will be asked to complete the application. It may take a couple of iterations before the application is deemed complete.
- Between June 10 and 17, the Grant Review Panel will score all completed applications per the 2018-19 Scoring Rubric and recommend the grant amount to be awarded to each application on the principle of “best use of funds”.
- There is no longer a 1:1 match or $1500 limit on District grants.
- The recommendations of the Grant Review Panel will be forwarded to the Foundation Advisory Board (FAB, comprising DG, DGE, DGN, DGND and DRFC) for approval. Approval of the recommendations by the FAB will be communicated to the clubs by June 30, or when the District’s Master Grant DG #1962807 is approved.
- Clubs will then be able to start work on the project and the grant will be awarded as soon as Funds become available from TRF. Clubs will receive the grant check up front and will no longer have to wait for reimbursement after the grant is completed. Clubs will be required to submit the Final Report for the Grant by April 30, 2019, so that they are deemed to be eligible for district grants in the 2019-20 grant cycle.

You need to be aware of the time line for grant submission. All the grant and foundation information for the upcoming year will be reviewed at the District Assembly. Even if your club has qualified members it would be good to attend to hear the new procedures, ask questions and get started on next years’ grants. You can register at the District website under the Calendar for the District Assembly.

Michelle Gasbarro,
District Grant Subcommittee Chair