Meeting Duties

Invitation

Does your club want to use Rotary Foundation grants to support its service projects?

Do you want to help your club become qualified to receive grant funds?

Do you want to learn about opportunities for sustainable service projects in one of the Rotary Foundation’s Six Areas of Focus?

Do you want to learn about collaborative service projects that help you team with other clubs to leverage resources to maximize benefits to your community?

If you answered YES to any of the above questions, plan now to attend this exciting seminar (or a subsequent one in January or April).

What: Rotary Foundation Grant Management Seminar (must register for Dist Conf to attend)

When: Oct 27 9:55am to 3:10pm (break for lunch for paid Dist Conf registrants). The 3-hour seminar includes breakouts 3, 4 AND 5 at the conf. Attendance at all three sessions is required.

Where: Doubletree Hotel, 445 S Alvernon Way, Tucson (at D5500 Dist Conf)

Who should attend (Register on-site at the District Conference):

· Club President-elect

· Club Rotary Foundation Chair

· Club Service Projects Chair

· other Rotarians with an interest in Rotary Foundation Grants

· at least two members of each club

Seminar topics:

· Creating a Successful Service Project

· How to apply for a Rotary Foundation grant and implement a project

o Community assessment

o Sustainability

o Six Areas of Focus

o Finding and funding your project

· Using District Grants for local or international projects

· Oversight and reporting made easy

· Simple steps to qualification

Attendees should download these documents from the district web site and review them prior to the seminar:

· Grant Management Manual

· Terms and Conditions for Rotary Foundation Grants

· Club Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

· Worksheets for Grant Management Seminar

Note: If members of your club are unable to attend the seminar in Oct, you will have two more opportunities in Jan and Apr to attend. Attendance by two members of the club at one of these seminars is required for the club to receive most Rotary Foundation grants in 2013-14.

Back to School time is here!

The Dictionary Project is in full swing to distribute over 1500 dictionaries to our local schools! The kids love to get a dictionary of their very own and to be able to get these books out early this year so that the students can enjoy them all year long, is really exciting! 

We will be having Dictionary Distribution sign ups at our next meeting on August 24th! 

Just a few reminders after you sign up:

1) The dictionaries will be at Dennis/Stacey/Aaron's office. If you need them, please coordinate with one of us to either have them brought to our meeting, or arrange to stop by and get them.

2) Make sure to grab your script and goodies for your schools when picking up your books! 

3) Have fun!! The kids love to interact with you!!

We have made such a HUGE impact on so many schools over the last several years with the amount of books we have been able to donate. Yes, we still give out more Dictionaries than any other club in Tucson! The success of this program can only be attributed to the amazing Rotary Members we have in this club!! Your time and dedication is incredible and very much appreciated!!

We may be a small club, but we make a HUGE difference!!
Stacey

• Transition and finalization of duties for next Rotary year (starting 7/1!).
• Fundraising methods/causes to consider. Please come with your ideas.
• Membership.
• Foundation giving YTD, our goal, and gap management.
• If you have anything else you would like to discuss please email me ahead and I will get it on the agenda.

The Annual Fund makes it possible for Rotary clubs to transform lives worldwide. Your generous support funds local and international projects that advance The Rotary Foundation’s mission. All contributions to the fund are spent on quality Rotary projects. Help support these projects. Make a contribution today.

The Every Rotarian, Every Year (EREY) initiative encourages all Rotary club members to help us reach our goal to support The Rotary Foundation financially each year. Our 2011-12: Worldwide EREY fundraising goal (Annual Fund goal) is US$104 million.

Designating your gift

You can direct your Annual Fund gift to SHARE, the World Fund, or an area of focus fund.

SHARE is the primary source of funding for Rotary Foundation programs. It's also the only Annual Fund designation that generates funding for the District Designated Fund. Rotary districts use their DDF to pay for the Foundation activities they choose to participate in.

World Fund contributions provide the Foundation’s portion of funding for approved grants. Through the World Fund, the Foundation Trustees can allocate funds where the needs are the greatest.  

Areas of focus contributions provide the Foundation's portion of funding for activities addressing critical humanitarian issues and needs. Learn more.

All options are available for one-time or recurring contributions.

 Friday is almost here...maybe by the time you read this it will be! Please make sure to be at the meeting, Dr. Menconi from TUSD will be our program and what she shares may very well shape our next service project!

 Also, here is the Rotary Basics video to go along with the pdf I sent around a few weeks back. Forward this email to prospective members, let them know what we do and who we are as Rotarians! 

You're Welcome from Rotary International on Vimeo.

 Steve

Hi Everyone,

 Thank you all for participating in the dictionary project and making it a huge success. Thank you especially to Stacey for coordinating! We have had stories from many members about how much the kids and schools appreciated our work -  I know this will come back to us in the form of good reputation in the community and maybe even some future Rotarians.

Let's keep our eyes out for new prospective members and keep the momentum going in terms of new service opportunities!

 Steve 

Good Evening!

 I hope this week is finding each of you well. The Dictionary Project is in full swing and we are on our way to distribute over 1300 dictionaries. Thom and I were at Manzo Elementary today and it was a BLAST - and I heard Aaron had a great experience too. The kids just loved it and were deeply excited to get a dictionary of their own. If you have not done so, please sign up to take on a few schools. This project is one of our biggest each year and we need all the help we can get. At the beginning of the Rotary year we said we wanted to get our hands dirty - this is our chance to do it -trust me, the kids will appreciate it immensely. Couple of notes:

1) The dictionaries are at Dennis/Stacey/Aaron's office. If you need them, please coordinate to either have them brought to our meeting, or arrange to stop by and get them.

2) Scripts are available - honestly it is super easy just like Stacey said. Thom and I were first timers today and it went amazingly smooth. 

 I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow - and to Thom's annual tax planning and strategy presentation. We are very blessed to have someone in our club with his expertise - especially since he shares it! If you or anyone you know needs tax planning/preparation/strategizing let's make sure we support Thom as a friend and fellow Rotarian -send them his way!

 Steve 

Hi Everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend and that the week is off to a good start. At last week's meeting, we had a great discussion about the current state of membership within the club and what we thought we could do during the next few months to increase our membership. Here is the strategy that came out of the meeting:

1) Think of 2-3 people who might be quality prospective Rotarians (financially stable, service minded, local professionals, etc...).

2) Involve prospective members in Service projects this month. During the month of January -invite prospective members to join us during our January 17th -27th Dictionary Project. We are set to distribute almost 2000 dictionaries to over 20 schools. This is huge.

2) Plan a "Membership/Rotary Education" Meeting for the end of February. We will use open meeting between now and mid-February to plan the meeting. in it, we will have a quality/planned presentation on who we are as Rotarians and what Rotary does - we can invite those prospective members to join at that meeting and encourage membership.

 The simple idea is that if we can get people to see what we do (and even participate) - show them what Rotary is about - and then show them the professional benefits that can come as we encourage networking/business amongst members - they will be much more likely to join than if we just invite them to a meeting.

Along with this plan, we also discussed our current attendance - it has been very low. A few members have had personal situations that have taken them away - and we have a leave of absence approved as well - we understand and this is in now way pointed towards anyone in particular. =) But, going forward, can we all make a commitment to be there Fridays to support each other and prospective members - and make this club what we all know it can be. The general feeling was that it is hard to show our commitment and momentum to a prospective member if they come and there are only three or four of us there. Additionally, it is hard to get speakers to commit if we have 3-4 people. No requirements here, just a request for renewed commitment to attendance. 

 We will also be refreshing the new member/visitor kits as soon as possible. Let's band together, get the word out, and grow this club!

 Have a great week and see you Friday!

Steve 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. It is my hope that this will be a great year for each of you, and for our club.

Now that we are all back in swing - we really need to focus on new member development...this along with our service projects will be a major focus of the second half of the Rotary year. Please come Friday with your ideas to discuss on how we can develop quality new members! Also, Thank you again to everyone who was able to make the Salvation Army bell ringing a success!

Steve 

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your participation today in the club elections - it is an important part of what we do to advance plan and work  identifying future leaders. Here are a few items for your Rotary reading pleasure:

 1) Next week we will have our annual Christmas/New Year's lunch - feel free to bring your spouse as has been our custom - and Thom will be joining us with his guitar which has been a blast in past years. Most importantly (sort of kidding...) we will be doing WHITE ELEPHANT gift exchange. This is always fun and a great opportunity to clean out your garage or closet. one man's trash is another man's treasure. I am still relishing the bear I received two years ago that was hand crocheted by a prison inmate at Folsum. Good times. I mean, really, who has that type of asset? But I digress.

 2) Thank you to everyone who has already signed up for the Salvation Army service project next week. If you have not already done so, Noel will be circulating the sign up one more time - please support this great cause. Additionally, Stacey has been hammering out the Dictionary Project - this is subject to change, but as it stands right now we are looking at January 9th-13th and January 23rd - 27th for delivery. Mark your calendars and get signed up!

3) During the second half of the Rotary year we need to again focus on membership. Please be thinking of ideas for a mixer, or some sort of event where we can invite people to come and see what our Club is about. With the service project calendar we will also have a lot of opportunities to get people involved - be thinking of those who might be quality Rotarians... 

Have a great weekend!

Steve 

I hope everyone is having a great week. Please remember that we are having Club elections Friday - everyone's participation is important! If you cannot be in attendance for some reason, please email me with your nominations for Club officers. Also, if you have not already signed up for our December (17th) service project - ringing bells and collecting money for the Salvation Army - please contact Noel. We will be ringing right across the street from Michaelangelo's and this is a great opportunity to not only help those in need, but also to gain some visibility for our Club locally. Have a great rest of your week and see you Friday!

Steve 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We all have so much to be thankful for, which is a big part of why we are Rotarians - we desire to help those who are less fortunate both here locally - and internationally - living out the "Service Above Self" motto. With the holidays upon us it is a great time to reflect, a great time for getting together with good friends and family, and also a great time to find ways that we can impact our community with practical service projects!

Please try and be in attendance Friday, and maybe even bring a prospective member - we will have Bill Nordbrock coming to speak on "Social Networking." See you then!

 Steve 

Ok, so I didn't get the newsletter out in time to have it be dated 11/11/11 - but we did have a great time together on the said day...Thanks to all of you who were able to make it out for the fellowship event - it was a great time!

This week President-Elect Stacey will be leading again (I will be on the road Friday) as we focus again on service projects. The goal is to keep things moving forward after our last service projects meeting and boil down the everyone's input. If you have not already done so, please make your comments on the excel sheet Stacey distributed before the meeting - we want to make sure that projects are chosen that the club is passionate about! 

Have a great week! 

 Steve 

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it to the district luncheon last Friday, it was a lot of fun to meet somewhere else for a change and show our support for the district. This Friday we will have Denise King as our speaker from My Team Triumph - it should be a neat program.

Two other quick items - we will have our board meeting this Friday after the normal meeting, and also I would like to see if anyone was interested in getting together on Nov. 11th for a fellowship event at our house instead of the normal meeting. Check your calendars, and we can take a quick vote Friday to either set it, or pick another date in the future. Thanks and have a great week!

Steve

Thank you to everyone for the participation in our Service Project focused meeting last week - I know that great things will come out of it. We came up with a lot of great ideas to think over and hopefully band around. Please take some time this week to respond to Stacey/add your comments to the spreadsheet she sent around with the compiled ideas, we definitely want to keep the momentum going!

Also, just another quick reminder that this week we will be meeting for lunch at the D5500 District Conference luncheon (if you go to our normal meeting place - you may be alone, unless someone else forgets too!). If you still need to register please do so here: 

http://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1009300

See you Friday at conference!

Steve 

I really enjoyed our program today and hope you did too - Dr. Connie Walker really had some interesting info to share on light pollution and her observatory programs. If you think of it this week, send Noel and email and thank him for the great jo he is doing lining up speakers for our club - it isn't easy work. If you have any ideas for next year (he already has us full up for this year) - great informational programs that we can invite guests to come and see - please let Noel, Bill, or I know - we'd love your input.

Remember that next week we will focus on service project ideas - this is a great opportunity for us to find some small projects we are passionate about and help make a difference in our community. I know Stacey has a nice program planned - please make sure to mark your calendars! 

 One last thing...check your calendars to see if we might be able to have our 11/11 meeting (Veteran's Day) in the evening -at my house just North of Oro Valley. It would be fun to grab some hot apple cider/hot chocolate, maybe have a fire, and get a chance to get together with our families outside of the normal club setting to enjoy some fellowship.

 Have a great weekend, thank you for the great showing today in terms of attendance and participation with our great speaker!

 Steve 

Some great things came out of our Club Assembly...

Linda T. will be extremely upset to know that she is off the hook for a member bio on 10/21, but WE as a club should be very excited that we will be able to get together as a group and discuss upcoming service projects. We want to re-focus, get our hands dirty as a club, and not only see what we can all do to help Stacey (our Service Projects Chair) in her coordination of the Dictionary Project in November, but also see what we can plan for months ahead. Ideally, we can come up with one small service project a month, giving all members an opportunity to collaborate, work together, and serve our community. Rotary is "Service Above Self," let's band together around some great projects!!! This will also be a great way to introduce prospective members to what Rotary does. Let's not just tell them, lets show them!

Couple of quick housekeeping items after the board meeting as well:

• Please remember to be here on time/ahead of noon, we really want to start on time.
• We lost a significant amount of money last year (and first quarter of this year) paying the restaurant for members who have not been buying lunch (we had a minimum requirement of 12 members we had to pay for - no matter what). We have renegotiated a deal with the restaurant that we believe will help (and we ADDED the Tuscan Chicken Salad to our set menu since so many people love that dish!) - but please show your support for our club, and the restaurant that hosts us by buying lunch. Lunch is $15 - part of which goes to our club to support the great things we do - the other part to pay the restaurant so we can have a private room. 
• We will be moving to the smaller room in the rear of the facility on a trial basis - we need to keep our attendance up, invite prospective members, and add to our membership - but we also all need to be there, buy lunch, and make sure we can keep our private room. 
• Remember that on 10/28 we will be meeting at the DoubleTree for the District Conference Lunch. If you have not already signed up, please do so - just click on the link on our bulletin/web page to the event.

Have a great weekend and I hope to see you all next week!

 Steve 

This Friday we will be having a "Club Assembly" and board meeting to follow. Please plan on attending - this is our club, and the future of it depends on all of us. Here is a quick excerpt from RI's website for what a "Club Assembly" meeting should look like. Please consider these items, bring your ideas for projects and programs (like we discussed two weeks ago), and think about strengths and opportunities we have. See you then! - Steve 

Club Assemblies

Thank you to everyone who was able to make the meeting today - we took a look back at our 2009 visioning document regarding service projects and I proposed a new challenge: keep your eyes open for humanitarian projects in the community that you think we as a club can band around. New projects that we can make our own - that we are passionate about seeing get done! Let's show people why we are Rotarians - that will tell them more than if we say it. If there are some ideas related to this that you have please bring them to our Club Assembly meeting on the 7th of October. If you have other ideas for fellowship, or anything else you think we can do to grow stronger together as a group it would be a great venue to discuss those things. This is our club, let's make it into what we want it to be!

 A few gentle reminders:

1) Please show up 5-10 minutes before the meetings start - we really do want to get started at 12:00p - we have been consistently been getting started about 12:10 and we need to be respectful of members other obligations. I will do a better job of trying to get us started on time as well...

2) If you can't make it on a particular week (especially if you are listed on the schedule as a program or GPI) - please let myself or one of the other club officers know.

3) If you have not yet registered for the District Conference Luncheon at the Doubletree on 10/28 please do so - we really want to show our support by coming together as a club. Info can be found by clicking on the event links in the bulletin or on our web page.

4) Membership - please be thinking of people you can invite to the club as potential members - we need to build our club up by bringing in "service above self" minded individuals to join us!

5) We have a great program next week and Stacey (President-Elect) will be leading the meeting (I will be on vacation with the family) - please make sure to show your support for the hard work that goes into getting these programs scheduled.

6) Our board meeting is also 10/7 after the meeting. 

7) Have a great relaxing weekend and wonderful next week! =)

 Steve 

Thank you to everyone who supported and coordinated "A Taste of Jazz." One thing is for sure - if you were there - you know Neamen Lyles can play the saxophone. WOW.

Please check some of the event updates (D5500 Conferecne info added) on the web page/bulletin as well as the speaker schedule (which doubles as our meeting/greeter/invocator schedule on the web page and bulletin). If you are listed on a date as "GPI" - or as the program, and you cannot make it please let me, or another club officer know and do your best to find a person to take your spot. Also, we will not be having a board meeting this week as would would normally on the 4th Friday of the month - it has been moved to October 7th.

Have a great week and see you Friday!

 Steve 

Yes we do have our normal meeting tomorrow. 

Yes we do have our normal meeting tomorrow. 

Yes we do have our normal meeting tomorrow.

Yes we do have our normal meeting tomorrow. 

Yes we do have our normal meeting tomorrow. 

Yes we do have our normal meeting tomorrow. 

Ok, so there it is. =) I am not putting much stock in the effectiveness of my inclusion of the meeting/speaker schedule and the weekly newsletter since I have gotten so many emails this week still asking if we are still having the normal weekly meeting. Now, I know why this is, so I don't blame anyone who has asked. In the past when we had done a fundraiser the same day we canceled our lunch meeting - but this year we didn't for some reason - not sure why honestly. BUT, there is nothing wrong with a little extra fellowship in prep for the night's event and we have a great speaker scheduled - so please plan on attending and showing your support for the club and the great programs that Noel and Yoly work so hard to bring in.

 Also, please make that last minute push for ticket sales - and if you have not bought your own please do so now - there is a lot of hard work at stake here and we have to remember why we are doing this - to support self sufficiency through support of these charities. As you can see from Aaron's emails, we have around 90 so far, and we have had almost 300 at previous events, so please push on this with everyone you know. The price has been reduced to $50 for regular tickets, $75 with the dinner promo - again, please direct people to eventbrite to purchase today:

 http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2011808373 

 Thanks, and see you all tomorrow!

 Steve 

I hope that everyone had a great Labor Day weekend and that your work weeks are off to a good start. Since we didn't meet last week - just a quick reminder to think of someone you can invite Friday - we will be having a presentation on Rotary that will provide some great insight into WHO we are as Rotarians and WHY we do what we do.  I am sure it will be very beneficial for anyone wanting to learn about Rotary, but it will also be a good refresher for each of us. Have a great week and see you all Friday!

 Steve 

Is it Friday yet? I am certainly looking forward to the Labor Day Weekend. Just as a reminder, we will not be meeting this week due to the holiday - BUT please use the extra week to think of a potential member you can bring next week on the 9th of September. Dennis Breen will be giving a presentation on Rotary and the Foundation that will be very informative and a great opportunity for potential members to learn about who we are and what we do. We need to grow membership and grow right. For any resources you might need related to Rotary for new members please let either Eugene or I know, we would be happy to assist. Membership is each of our jobs and will help us do even more for the community.

Also, PLEASE do everything you can to help promote "A Taste of Jazz." Linda had a great win in selling a table of 10!

 Enjoy the long weekend and see you all next week!

 Steve

I hope everyone had a great weekend and that the beginning of the week has gone well! Hopefully everyone has had a chance to get out and do some club visits promoting "A Taste of Jazz" this week. I had lunch today with Scott Polston of the Sahuaro Club and he said that someone was there yesterday - which was great to hear! Keep thinking of new ways to promote this event - post it to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, email to other clubs you are a part of - put flyers out in public locations. We have less than a month to go and can use all the PR we can get. We did get a notice for the event placed into the district  newsletter for August - if you did not get a copy let me know and make sure to get your info updated in ClubRunner - there are a lot of great things happening locally with Rotary and it is good to keep apprised. I look forward to seeing you all Friday - board members please remember we are meeting afterwards to work on the budget and for our normal monthly meeting. Also, we are going to start the 50/50 drawing - bring some extra dollar bills to buy tickets!!

 Have a great rest of your week,

 Steve