2026-27 Grants Forms for
D5170 Presidents-elect

Congratulations District 5170 President-elects!

On this page you will find links to download the 2026-27 Rotary Grants Forms that all President-elects are required to complete and submit before April 30, 2026. Specifically, the 2026-27 DDF Spending Plan and the 2026-27 Club Qualification Memorandum of Understanding.   You'll also find below additional information and suggestions on planning for your year's Rotary grants activity.

Important Dates

The following are the important District 5170 grants dates:

• Tue Mar  17, 2026 (5:30p) 1st Zoom "Office Hours" session to answer your questions.
  https://Zoom.WinstonHome.com, MeetingID: 831 588 3452, Passcode: winston

• Sat Apr  18, 2026  (9:00a) 2nd Zoom "Office Hours"

• Thu Apr 30, 2026           Last day to submit your 2026-27 DDF Spending Plan and 2026-27 Club Qualification MOU

• Wed Jul 1, 2026                   First day to submit 2026-27 District Grant Applications

• Sat Oct 31, 2026           Last day to submit 2026-27 District Grant Applications and 2025-26 District Grant Final Reports

Note: Global Grant applications may be submitted at any time throughout the Rotary Year.

Training

It is a TRF requirement, and as noted above a club qualification item, that at least one member of each club participating in Rotary grants take one or both of the two online grants training courses.    Links to the training courses are avilable on the Grants pages of the District 5170 website. 

For your convenience, here are direct links to the courses:

2026-27 District Grants Training Course and Final Quiz

Global Grants Management Training Seminar

DDF & Rotary Grants from 30,000 feet

For those of you not familiar with DDF and the Rotary grants program, you may find this very high-level description of the Rotary donation/grants lifecylcle useful.

First a few of definitions:

• TRF The Rotary Foundation.   The philanthropic 501(c)(3) affiliate of Rotary International

• DDF District Designated Funds.   A credit held by TRF for clubs to use in funding Rotary grants.   The amount of DDF allocated to each club is proportional to the amount of giving by the club each year to the TRF Annual Fund-SHARE

• Annual Fund-SHARE Each year Rotarians everywhere participate in a fundraising effort to support TRF's Annual Fund.   Proceeds from the Annual Fund drive are divided equally between the SHARE fund and the World Fund.   The SHARE fund generates DDF which is given back to clubs (as a credit) to use in grants.   The World Fund is used to provide matching funds for DDF used in Global Grants.   

• District Grants One of the 2 principal types of Rotary grants.   District grants are administered locally by the District.  They are very flexible, lightweight, easy to apply for and report on, and have few restrictions on the types of projects that can be done.    District grants are funded by the applying club's District DDF (that portion of their DDF apportioned to District Grants in the DDF Spending plan discussed above.)   DDF is matched 25% by District 5170 through our Max the Match program when used in a District grant.

• Global Grants This other principal type of Rotary grant is applied through and administered by TRF directly.    Global grants are much larger in scope and budget, they are international, carry significantly more restrictions and typically have a much larger impact.      DDF is matched 80% by TRF when used in a Global grant.

• Max the Match MtM is a District 5170 program that maximizes the use of DDF and TRF matching funds.   Additional DDF, beyond a club's annual allocation, may be purchased through MtM for use in Global Grants at a cost of $1.25 per 1 DDF (each 1 DDF is matched 80% by TRF, yeilding $1.80 for the Global Grant project).     I.e., clubs may purchase DDF at a 25¢  premium for use in their Global grants.  That 25¢ mark-up allows our district to provide a 25% match for DDF used by clubs in their District grants.  NOTE: the amount of DDF available for purchase through MtM is limited and only available to D5170 clubs.  Full details can be found in the 2026-27 Max The Match Global DDF Purchase Form. 

This is what the lifecycle looks like for a given club.   (For simplicity, certain details, e.g., PolioPlus and Endowment funds, are being left out, and other details are somewhat generalized).

• Clubs donate to the Annual Fund-SHARE each year.   That donation is divided evenly between the World Fund and SHARE.

  • The half that goes to the World Fund is used to provide cash matches for DDF used in Global Grants

    • Beginning 1 July 2021, DDF used in Global Grants receives $1 for the DDF face value plus an 80% match.   So 1 DDF will result in $1.80 for the project budget.

  • The half that goes to SHARE is held by TRF for 3 years then returned to the District (and its clubs) in the form of DDF.   In District 5170, that DDF is divided up and given to the District's clubs in proportion to each club's giving to the Annual Fund over the course of the previous 2 years and 7 months. 

    • Each club's incoming president is told how much DDF their club will be receiving for the upcoming year.   They then prepare a DDF Spending Plan to indicate how much of their DDF will be used in District Grants and how much will be used in Global grants. 

    • The club also completes all of the qualification requirements to participate in Rotary grants (see above).

      • District Grants:

        • The application deadline is October 31 of the program year

        • The grant project must be complete and documented with a Final Report by October 31 of the following year

        • MtM provides a 25% match on DDF, so 1,000 DDF in a District grant results in $1,250 for the project

        • District grants are: local or international, no min or max budget, flexible, easy to apply for and administered locally by our District

        • Final report must be submitted by October 31 of the year after application.  I.e., 1 year to complete and report on the project

      • Global Grants

        • Global grants are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.

        • Projects are always international involving at least 2 clubs, one in the project country (the "host" partner) and one outside of the project country (the "international" partner).

        • DDF is matched 80%, so 1,000 DDF in a Global grants results in $1,800 for the project.

        • Projects have a minimum $30,000 budget, typically take several years to complete, often involve collaboration between many clubs, have significant funding, suitability, sustainability and reporting requirements, grant projects must address one or more of the 7 Areas of Focus.

        • Annual progress reports are required until project completion.