As we embark on our new Rotary year, we are excited to Create Hope in the World, the mantra of our Rotary International (RI) President, R. Gordon R. McInally.  Rotary clubs and individual members are integral to achieving hope in the world and awards are akin to carrots on a stick as a crucial means by which to inspire clubs and members to do so.  However, it’s important to remember that awards are not only recognition of past achievements, but award requirements can be viewed prospectively as providing clubs with a comprehensive plan of action for the year.

Immediate Past District Governor, Sheila Brennan, along with her Awards Committee, did an amazing job of significantly restructuring the awards program, which, because of its complexity, was pretty much a work in progress up to the very end.  My intent is to begin very early on in providing clubs with an overview of all the awards, as well as at times wading into the intricacies of the award process, with May 20 being the deadline for submitting award applications followed by the Awards Recognition/Installation on June 30.

The two most important awards are both club awards, the RI Citation and the District Governor’s Citation, which are closely linked.

To achieve the RI Citation, clubs first need to begin the year as active clubs in good standing, having paid each RI balance in full upon receipt & continuing to do so throughout the year.  Secondly, clubs need to go to the Goal Center in Rotary Club Central, set at least half of the 26 available goals, achieve those goals, and report achievement in Rotary Club Central by June 30.  Moreover, District 7610 has imposed a requirement that goals for Club Membership, Annual Fund Contributions, and Polio Plus Fund Contributions must be included among those being set.

It’s very important that you set your goals immediately, if you haven’t already done so.  After registering on the site, the goals can be accessed by going to My.rotary.org, then Manage, then Rotary Club Central, and then the Goal Center [https://rcc.rotary.org/#/goals].  Moreover, there’s a helpful U-tube video about goal-setting and recording progress [https://youtu.be/s1_XB5jOmgU].

To achieve the District Governor’s Citation, clubs must (1) be on track to receive the RI Citation, (2) have a net membership increase of 1% on June 16 (with expectation to maintain the increase on June 30), (3) have had 50% of club members participate in Rotary-sponsored community projects and attend the club’s District Governor visit, (4) have promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion when engaging members, (5) themselves as well as any club foundation/endowment be current on IRS filing, (6) have achieved a minimum of 7 of the Rotary Club Central goals, and (7) have earned at least 100 Merit Points in each of the 8 Governor’s Citation categories.  In terms of setting the goals for Annual and Polio Plus Contributions, your attendance at the District’s Rotary Foundation Education & Planning Conference being held on September 30 is vitally important.  Consequently, I’ve added to the Club of Excellence Club Foundation Award Merit options a 6^th option, entitled “Club member attended the District’s annual foundation seminar,” worth 10 points.

After registering on the site, the District Governor’s Citation information can be accessed by going to rotary7610.org, then Our Clubs, and then Districts Awards [https://www.rotary7610.org/district-awards].  

In subsequent newsletters the other RI and District awards will be described, as well as additional information provided to assist you in navigating the awards websites, particularly as we approach end-of-the year submissions.

I sincerely hope that all of the clubs in our District can be award winners!