89% of our members contributed to the Rotary Foundation in 2024/25. Eighteen members hold Major Donor status. One member has given over half a million US dollars. Here is what that record looks like and why it matters.
The Rotary Foundation is not a charity that Rotarians support from the outside. Every dollar members contribute comes back as Global Grants, scholarships, polio eradication funding, and peace fellowships, multiplied by Rotary's matching mechanisms. It is the engine of everything.
We have been building our contribution to the Foundation for decades.
The Numbers
In 2024/25, 75 of our 84 members contributed to the Rotary Foundation. That is 89.28% participation, among the highest in our history. Total contributions for the year: USD 29,626.67, split between the Annual Fund (USD 17,491.53) and the Polio Fund (USD 12,135.14).
The year before, 66 of 78 members contributed, totalling USD 37,683.82, including USD 10,000 to the Polio Fund.
That nearly nine in ten members chose to give something reflects a genuine culture of giving, not just a handful of wealthy donors pulling up the average.
Major Donors
The Rotary Foundation recognises cumulative contributions at progressively higher levels. Our record here is unusual.
PP David Gibson-Moore reached Arch Klumph Chair's Circle status in July 2023, recognising cumulative contributions of USD 500,000 or more, and achieved Bequest Society Level 5 in December 2024. The Arch Klumph Society is named after the Rotarian who first proposed a Foundation endowment in 1917. Membership recognises contributions that are significant at an organisational level. PP David Gibson-Moore is the only member to have reached this level.
PP Dr. Charles Cheung achieved Major Donor Level 4 in July 2022, recognising cumulative contributions of USD 100,000 to 249,999.
Eighteen members hold Major Donor status at various levels, including PP Ateeb Maskati, PP Chiemi Svensson, PP Linda Cheng, PP Maleeratna Plumchitchom, PP Churairat Panyarachun, PP Rambha Bhoocha-oom, AG Vasana Mututanont, and President Danu Chotikapanich. The record stretches back to Krisda Arunvongse's Major Donor recognition in November 1996.
Paul Harris Fellows
The Paul Harris Fellow recognition, awarded for cumulative contributions of USD 1,000 or more, is Rotary's most widely known philanthropic honour. We have conferred it on over 110 individuals across our history, starting with Rtn Svasti Osathanugrah in 1970/71.
Current members holding multiple recognitions include PP John W. Hancock (PHF+5), PP Mark Butters (PHF+4), and AG Vasana Mututanont (PHF+6, recognised in 2024/25).
The Polio Fund
Rotary launched PolioPlus in 1985, when wild poliovirus was endemic in 125 countries. Today, wild poliovirus is confined to remnant populations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a reduction of over 99.9%. That happened because Rotary clubs organised and funded vaccination campaigns at scale across decades.
We contribute to the Polio Fund every year. In 2024/25 that was USD 12,135.14. Until the last case is stopped, the contributions continue, because the final stage of any elimination campaign is always the hardest.
A Global Grant Scholarship
In 2022, we hosted a Global Grant Scholarship for Christopher Chew, an Australian pursuing a PhD at the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit. His research focuses on the epidemiology of acute febrile illness in rural South and Southeast Asia, work with direct implications for diagnosis and treatment across the region.
The total scholarship cost was USD 66,833, fully contributed by international partner District 9620. PP Dr. Charles Cheung served as Host Partner.
How This Culture Was Built
Our Foundation giving record is not the result of a few exceptionally generous members. It is a culture: one where nearly nine in ten members give something in a typical year, where new members understand early that Foundation contribution is part of what being a Rotarian means, and where the most generous members are publicly recognised in ways that set a tone.
That culture took decades to build. The beneficiaries are the communities in Chiang Rai, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ubon Ratchathani, Kanchanaburi, and beyond that receive the Global Grants it makes possible.
Members contributing USD 1,000 or more to the Rotary Foundation receive Paul Harris Fellow recognition. For more information on Foundation giving, speak to our Rotary Foundation Director.