Q. What is the District Double?
A. District 6250 will be matching every dollar of club money in Global Grants with two dollars of District Designated Funds (DDF), within the following limits: One club on each Global Grant may receive the double match for up to $5000 of club money ($10,000 DDF). Each of the next nine clubs to join that grant may receive the double match for up to $2500 of club money ($5000 DDF). All other club money will continue to receive the 1:1 match.
Q. When does this double matching start?
A. The double matching went into effect on April 25, 2025, and will continue for all Global Grants submitted for approval to The Rotary Foundation before March 1, 2026 or until we have exhausted our extra DDF.
Q. My club isn’t grant-qualified. Can we still participate?
A. Yes! Your club is not required to be grant-qualified in order to contribute to a Global Grant or receive matching DDF. Clubs must be grant-qualified to be the host or international sponsor.
Q. What if my club wants to contribute $5000 each to two different global grants?
A. You would get the double match ($10,000) in each grant, as long as your club is the only club contributing that much. See above for the limits.
Q. Is there a deadline for applying for a Global Grant?
A. No. Global Grants can be submitted for approval to TRF at any time of the year. The deadline for the Double Match offer from our district is March 1, 2026.
Q. Will we still get the World Fund match?
A. Yes! Remember, the World Fund provides an 80% match to DDF. This means that if your club contributes $5000 to a Global Grant, your club’s money will get a $10,000 match of DDF and another $8000 from the World Fund. Your club’s $5000 turns into $23,000 in the final grant funding!
Q. How much “extra DDF” are we trying to spend through? Where did it come from?
A. We will be trying to spend through about $250,000 of DDF on global grants during RY 2025-26. We receive about $80,000 of new DDF each year, calculated from the money Rotarians in D6250 donated to the Annual Fund-SHARE three years ago. This money used to never expire. Some years we would spend a little more than we received, and some years we’d spend a little less. Eventually our district, and districts around the world, grew a sizeable cushion of unspent DDF. The trustees of The Rotary Foundation (TRF) decided to have this extra money start expiring on a rolling five-year basis, with the catch being that we must spend our new money before we can spend the old, expiring money. RY2025-26 is the first year that our funds will start expiring, so it’s not just the extra from five years ago, but everything from 5+ years ago.
Q. My club really wants to participate, but we don’t know how to find a global grant that resonates with us. What can we do?
A. You can reach out to your Rotary connections throughout the USA and the world to see what they have in the works and if they’re looking for support. Check-in with Rotarians from clubs that have sent or hosted exchange students for your club. Email those nice Rotarians you met on a Friendship Exchange. Do you winter somewhere warmer than Wisconsin and have you nurtured a relationship with a Rotary Club there? Your club’s Assistant Governor might have a lead on a project that aligns with your club’s passions, too. Of course, your district Rotary Foundation leaders would also love to provide support and ideas.
