District Governors Report to District 9800 AGM
IPDG’s Report to the District 9800 AGM
held at University College on 11th Nov 10
It is a great pleasure this evening to present the D9800 Annual Report for Rotary Year 2009-10.
Firstly, I must say it has been an honour and a privilege to serve our great organization, Rotary International, as the District Governor of this the biggest and best District in Australia.
Could I offer a very big thank you to all who have been involved with what I believe was a great Rotary Year.
The 2009-10 year, the Year of The Future of Rotary Is in Your Hands has been a wonderful year for this District, our Clubs and our members.
This evening I would like to go through some of our achievements and our successes; and also mention few thank you’s along the way. Hope I don’t miss anyone out.
As you will appreciate time is short so I will try and cover as many areas as I can in the 15 minutes that I have been allocated.
You will all be aware of our world President John Kenny’s theme of The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands and you may have noticed I mentioned the theme in every written word whether it be in the Networker Magazine, reports to the board and DLT, even in everyday emails to the club presidents and our members. I kept reinforcing that theme, whenever there was an opportunity. Because it really was all about the future – being in our Hands.
I mention this again tonight because I believe we need to consider the future in every decision we Rotarians make. We need to consider it in every activity we get involved with, every program we initiate and every potential new member we engage.
Looking back at the 2009-10 year I believe we had a very good year with nearly all of our goals being achieved. Some of the things I am most proud of are:
Membership and Marketing
• I am pleased to announce that we increased overall membership last year. With the chartering a new Rotary Club (RC of Melbourne Park) and addition of the Interact club of Aitken College we have added to our organisation.
• We kept up the membership push throughout the year achieving a good outcome at year’s end with 2739 members. Official RI records show an increase overall for the year of 9 new members to Rotary.
• We also increased our profile in the community with many Club and District supported activities; all started early in the year with a very innovative and somewhat challenging Membership, PR and Public Image Seminar at Wesley College.
• In addition to M&M push, I believe we delivered a great Magazine “Networker” and one that showcased the best of D9800 its people, programs and activities.
Foundation
• This District maintained our annual giving to the Foundation, in spite of the Global Financial crisis. The Rotary Foundation Annual Giving from 1st July 2009 to 30th June, 2010 was US$351,521.90 or per capita, US$127.50. This was way beyond our target of $105; a great result.
• It is also pleasing to note that we were the highest contributing District in Australia, and No. 3 on a per capita basis.
• Our Clubs in 9800 also supported the polio challenge with donations of over $108,000 for this year making a total since commencing in Dec 2007 of US $171,000.
• Taking in to account Restricted Giving and donations to the Permanent fund this District donated over US $543,000 for Rotary Year 2009-10.
• During the year this district was recognised for the quality of scholars we sponsor and support. With outstanding outgoing Scholar Roland Dillon attending Columbia University and the hosting of 7 incoming visiting scholars it was a big year for scholars.
• I was very proud to receive at DG Changeover a certificate from RI President John Kenny the Chair of TRF Glen Estess congratulating us on becoming a Rotary Centers Peace Builder District.
• We were again successful last year in providing one Rotary World Peace Fellow and were also successful with our nomination of 3 candidates for the Peace and Conflict Courses.
• D9800 was involved in an outstanding GSE exchange with District 2203 Spain. I was extremely proud of our outgoing team and the way they presented both here and in Spain. We have received glowing reports from everyone involved in the exchange with Spain. I believe this exchange was an outstanding vocational and cultural exchange, another great example of this wonderful Foundation Program; and one that should not be withdrawn
New Generations
• This year we were innovative in our approach to New Generations; with the introduction new programs and activities. The regular program of RYLA, RYPEN and MUNA continued with increased attendances and support from our clubs. Youth Exchange was again successful with 19 inbound and 15 outbound students participating.
• The addition of the Short Term Exchange program to the list added significant value to our exchange program this year. The Short Term Youth Exchange with Turkey and the visit by 16 participants to the dawn service at Gallipoli has been highly acclaimed by all involved.
• We also made several management and administrative changes to the New Gen committees with great success.
Community
• Once again Community Service had a large number of programs and activities to support this year. I was extremely pleased with the level of commitment from our clubs to those District sponsored and supported programs. This was highlight by the great roll-up at the Community Service Seminar held at Camp Getaway early in the year. It was almost a full house on the day, there were Rotarians everywhere.
• We supported Bushfire recovery in many ways with a large number of hands on projects from many clubs; gifts and loans of specialized equipment to support organizations such as Global Care; provided finance for building reconstruction; provided counseling to those in need and, we even provided holidays to NZ to many bushfire victims and families.
• In summary we spent over $447,000 last year on our commitment to bushfire relief.
I would like to single out the work of Chairman Ross Butterworth in the development of a District Program Policy. This new policy, introduced this year, will provide guidance to program chairs and clubs on what constitutes a District sponsored or supported project. Thank you Ross and all involved in developing this important policy.
International
• In International this year we focused on Clean Water and Sanitation. We participated in two significant Water and Sanitation programs in the Philippines, one in partnership with Ausaid and the other a multidistrict project with other Victorian and two South Australian Districts. A total commitment of some $38,000.
• RAWCS, RAM, ROMAC, Friendship Exchange continued to be supported by the Clubs with the addition this year of Eyes Wide Open and Mental Health for Seafarers joining the list of supported programs.
• On a somewhat sad note: The breakup in the relationship of Shelterbox International and their Australian affiliate SBA was very disappointing and caused considerable concern to everyone involved, especially those in our clubs who were committed to providing International emergency relief aid. However, the recent emergence of two distinct organizations, SB in A and DAA, now gives our member a choice of emergency aid support not previously available.
• The management of DIK was successfully transferred on the 1st July 10 to a simple incorporated association, a group consisting of interested supporting clubs. I and the Board hope that the long term viability of the DIK store will now be assured under this new management arrangement/structure.
Vocational Service
• In Vocational Service this year I highlighted the need to put our “Vocation” back into our service ethos. I was very keen to see Vocation Service get a better deal in our clubs and pushed strongly the fact that Vocational Service is the difference between us and any other service organization.
• I believe Chairman Adrian Nelson and his team did a great job in selling our message. The Committee achieved great results with their Literacy presentations, Shine on Awards, Computer’s For Kids, and the outstanding Police Mentoring Program.
I can now honestly say Vocational Service is back!
Club Service• I would like to recognise the work of our Club Service Chair Committee for the work they have done throughout the year; much of it out of sight from the clubs and members. Membership, Attendance, Family of Rotary, RDU, Speakers Bank and Info Line all achieved excellent results.
• I was particularly pleased with the handling of the District Awards this year and their presentation at DG Changeover.
District Administration
In summary I can report that we have:
• Improved our administrative processes both at Club and District level,
• Improved our communications and message delivery systems, and
• Produced an outstanding District Directory full of valuable Rotary and member information.
The District Secretariat kept formal records of all decisions and actions of the Board and leadership team made during the year– A bound copy of those records is available after this meeting.
District Management
• Last year’s Training Team revised the way our future leaders were trained. Our team significantly changed the timing and the content of the formal training sessions including Pre-PETS, SETS, PETS and District Assembly with great success.
• We provided good governance to the organisation and performed due diligence in all financial matters.
• One aspect that was particularly pleasing to me personally was the success of the Conference. The District held a very successful 78th District Conference in Perth, one that was enjoyed by all who attended. Of special note was that delivery of the conference came in well under budget – a significant result indeed.
The Year In Summary
• I think we made the Rotary experience enjoyable for everyone.
We continued to work in developing countries, to provide safe water, hygienic sanitation systems, improved nutrition, better health and literacy programs.
At home, all of our clubs engaged with their local communities in many and various ways with great success.
We have also generously supported our own global charity – The Rotary Foundation.
We have met the goals set by our world President John Kenny when asked us for support of Water and Sanitation, Health and Hunger and Literacy – It certainly has been a great year.
To my Board of Directors and the members of District Leadership Team (DLT) thank you for all your efforts in providing outstanding support to our clubs and also providing the necessary assistance and guidance to our committees throughout the year.
The assistant Governors, lead by AG rep Chris Wong, did everything possible to make last year a great success – thank you all.
To the Presidents, the Clan of 2009-10, I thank you for your leadership and the stewardship of your Clubs over those last 12 months. You can look back with pride at the achievements of your club in your Presidential year.
I would like to finish this final report as I do in all my presentations and that is to remind everyone that:
The Future of Rotary is in Your HandsThank You
