Five Points Rino Rotary Foundation

Background Statement

Rotary was founded on principles that remain at the heart of the organization today. These principles reflect our core values — integrity, diversity, service, leadership, and fellowship, or friendship. Our core values emerge as themes in our guiding principles.

The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service.

SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society.

THIRD: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life.

FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

As People of Action, we share a strong sense of purpose. More than a century ago, we pioneered a new model of service leadership grounded in person-to-person connections. Today, those connections are a network that spans the globe—bridging cultural, linguistic, generational, and geographic barriers—and shares the vision of a better world.

Priority 1: Increase Our Impact

People of Action are effective problem-solvers. Why do Rotarians achieve so much? We invest in relationships. We make decisions grounded in evidence. We know how to mobilize our networks to create solutions that last. And we’re always learning from our experiences in projects, clubs, and careers. Throughout the fight to end polio, we’ve shown what we can do when we draw on our collective strengths. We’ve created solutions that match the people they serve. We’ve evaluated the results to learn from our successes and setbacks. This is a model we will use again and again in pursuit of our audacious goals: educating the world’s children, ensuring equitable access to water and sanitation, helping local economies grow sustainably, and so much more.

Priority 2: Expand Our Reach

People of Action activate and inspire one another. We know that our capacity to make a difference is larger when more people unite with us. We want the world to appreciate our ambitious, compassionate, and inclusive spirit—because when they do, they see that Rotary is the source for the person-to-person involvement so many are seeking.

Told widely and emphatically, our stories give people hope that the world can change for the better, inviting listeners to imagine themselves as part of that change, too.

Priority 3: Enhance Participant Engagement

People of Action strive to understand the needs of others. Just like the people and communities we serve, our participants need to feel seen and heard. They’re seeking experiences that feel personally and professionally relevant and fulfilling. When they see our dedication to investing in them at every stage of their professional life, our participants are eager to go the distance with us—even at a time when there are many other options for networking and volunteering.

Priority 4: Increase Our Ability to Adapt

People of Action are inventive, entrepreneurial, and resilient. We’ve shown throughout our history that we excel at finding new ways to lead the world to lasting change. And we’ve proven in our own careers that we know how to help organizations of every kind move forward. That’s why new approaches to our organizing principles don’t threaten our sense of who we are. We’re ready to seek out fresh opportunities, create more paths to leadership, open up our conversations to diverse voices, and simplify how we operate—with confidence.

The Four-Way Test:

The Four-Way Test is Rotary’s unique approach and process to address conflicts, solve problems and make decisions to achieve desired outcomes. It can help us be more successful in reaching mutually beneficial, sustainable and scalable solutions.

1-Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? FELLOWSHIP. Rotarians are known for being sociable and building relationships. Ensure the process is civil and there’s a feeling of respect and openness to ask questions that can lead to creative and innovative solutions. Discuss and agree on desired outcomes.

2-Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? EMPATHY. Have an open mind and a curiosity for new ideas, novel applications and different point-of views. Consider many options and build on different ideas. Come to mutually beneficial solutions that are sustainable and scalable.

3-Is it FAIR to all concerned? ACCOUNTABILITY. Keep in mind both the Golden Rule and the Platinum Rule. Identify and include all interested and affected parties. Try to understand the other point-of-views in the context of conflict and reaching shared goals.

4-Is it the TRUTH? TRUST. From the Rotarian Code of Conduct, act with integrity and high ethical standards. Acknowledge and define the problem including the root causes. Collect information and apply critical thinking by asking questions to identify the difference between facts, beliefs, assumptions and opinions. Moreover, be a trusted problem solver.

Avenues of Service:

We channel our commitment to service through five Avenues of

Service, which are the foundation of club activity:

1-Club Service focuses on making clubs strong. A thriving club is anchored by strong relationships and an active membership development plan.

2-Vocational Service calls on all members to work with integrity and contribute their expertise to the problems and needs of society.

3-Community Service encourages every member to find ways to improve the quality of life of people in their communities and to serve the public interest.

4-International Service exemplifies our global reach in promoting peace and understanding. We support this avenue by sponsoring or volunteering on international projects, using local member expertise to build long-term partnerships for sustainable projects, seeking service partners abroad, and more.

5-Youth Service recognizes the importance of empowering youth and young professionals through leadership development programs such as Interact, Rotary Youth

Leadership Awards, Rotary Youth Exchange, and New Generations Service Exchange.

Areas of Focus:

The causes we target to maximize our impact are called our areas of focus. Our most successful and sustainable projects and activities fall within these areas. Through grants and other resources, we help clubs focus their service efforts on:

1-Peacebuilding and conflict prevention

2-Disease prevention and treatment

3-Water, sanitation, and hygiene

4-Maternal and child health

5-Basic education and literacy

6-Community economic development

7-Environment