Rotary District 9212 (covering Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and South Sudan) has increased the amount it targets as contributions to The Rotary Foundation to $500,000 (Ksh 64.6 million) in the current Rotary year from almost $376,000 (Ksh 48.6 million) in the year that ended June 30, 2025.
Contributions to The Rotary Foundation are channeled to either the Annual Fund, the Polio Plus Fund and the Endowment Fund. Rotary District 9212 has 19 Endowment Funds with a market value of $2,193,353 at the end of August 2025. The District’s giving to The Polio Plus Fund almost doubled, increasing to $72,857 from $36,885.
Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 30 years and contributions to the Polio Plus Fund help Rotary and its partners under the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to reach every child in the world with the polio vaccine.
Over the past 10 years, Rotary District 9212’s investment in disease prevention and treatment is $15,651,253. Water, sanitation and hygiene projects have received $13,135,071. About $4,341,260 has gone toward community economic development, $3,366,349 for maternal and child health initiatives and $3,290,614 for basic education and literacy. Peacebuilding and conflict prevention got $532,342 while environmental conservation received $519,783. In Kenya, Rotary District 9212 has longstanding partnerships with the Safaricom Foundation, Davis & Shirtliff and Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).
The Rotary Foundation created the Endowment in 1982 to give future generations of Rotary the resources needed to design and implement sustainable projects year after year. While a gift to the Annual Fund helps people live better lives today, gifts to Rotary’s Endowment support the same life-changing programs forever.
During The Rotary Foundation Dinner for Nairobi Region, the biggest contributors to the Foundation were honored. In total, more than 150 people spread across five different categories of contributions -- first time Paul Harris Fellows, Paul Harris Fellow Elevations, Paul Harris Society members, Major Donors and Arch Klump Society members -- were feted.
The Rotary Foundation was established in 1917, when outgoing Rotary International President Arch Klumph proposed setting up an endowment for the purpose of doing good in the world, starting with an initial contribution of $26.50.
Since it was founded 108 years ago, the Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects. In 2023-24, total funding disbursed by The Foundation was $40.7 million, covering 620 different projects.
This comprised $8.6 million for community economic development, $6.7 million for basic education and literacy, $3.6 million for environmental conservation, $13.1 million for water, sanitation and hygiene, $2.6 million for peacebuilding and conflict resolution and $6.2 million for maternal and child health.