About Rotary
A Rotary glossary
Rotary has words of its own and does not always remember it. Here we explain the ones we use on this site — one by one and without jargon.
How it is put together
- Rotary International
- The world organisation of Rotary clubs, founded in Chicago in 1905 by Paul Harris. It is what admits new clubs and gives them their numbers.
- Club
- Rotary’s basic unit. A club decides for itself what it does, elects its own board and answers for its own projects.
- District
- A group of clubs from one area; Poland forms District 2231. Training, reporting and access to grants go through the district, but the projects themselves are run by the clubs.
- Governor
- The person who leads a district for one year. Under Rotary’s rules they should visit every club in that time.
- Rotary year
- It runs from 1 July to 30 June. Club presidents and district governors change with it.
- Club charter
- The document confirming a new club’s admission to Rotary International. Ours was handed over in Warsaw on 3 October 2001.
- Sponsor club
- An existing club that brings a new one into Rotary and helps it find its feet. Ours was RC Warszawa-City.
- Partner club
- A club in another country with which joint projects are run — most often out of two budgets at once. Ours is RC Berlin-Gendarmenmarkt.
Programmes and money
- The Rotary Foundation
- The fund Rotarians give to voluntarily, and from which grants for club projects are financed.
- Grant
- Co-funding for a particular project from The Rotary Foundation. A club applies for it, usually together with a club from another country.
- PolioPlus
- Rotary’s programme to end polio, run since 1985 — the organisation’s longest and best-known undertaking.
- Paul Harris Fellow
- Recognition tied to a gift of one thousand dollars to The Rotary Foundation — one’s own, or given in someone else’s name.
- Rotaract
- A club of young adults that runs itself: its own board and its own projects. A Rotary club may sponsor it.
- Interact
- A club for teenagers, most often based at a school and run by the young people themselves.
Customs you will see at a meeting
- Service Above Self
- Rotary’s motto — in English, “Service Above Self”. A sentence easy to quote and hard to keep — and that is rather the point of it.
- The Four-Way Test
- Four questions a Rotarian puts to themselves before deciding: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
- The club bell
- A brass bell opens and closes every meeting. Ours can be seen in the gallery.
- Pennant
- A small club banner that clubs exchange when they visit one another. A wall of pennants is a record of every visit a club has made.