Use Alumni Project Funding Circle to offer former members a respectful way to reconnect without assuming that they want to rejoin.
Where this idea came from
Playbook entry
E-138 · Alumni Project Funding Circle
Theme
Theme 2: Engagement & Belonging · Subtheme 8: Past Member Re-Engagement
Source material
Current playbook index title and category plus an internally authored detailed-guide draft
Initiative-specific development wave
How this draft was developed
These sources support general principles for formal Rotary grant eligibility, jurisdiction-specific fundraising and fair South Australian charitable-collection practice; they are not an endorsement of the named Alumni Project Funding Circle and do not authorise any solicitation, entity, tax statement, grant, project or transaction.
Primary references consulted
Grants(Rotary International) Used for: Rotary Foundation grants have defined purposes and eligibility, and applying for a grant requires Rotary or Rotaract club membership.
Charity fundraising and the public(Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission) Used for: Fundraising is regulated by states and territories and organisations need to comply with the requirements in every jurisdiction where they raise funds.
Charities Code of Practice(Consumer and Business Services South Australia) Used for: South Australian charitable collections require practices that support informed donation decisions, privacy and respect for a decision not to donate.
Candidate District material consulted
These records remain draft evidence and still need a human source decision.
Club Playbook - Theme 2 Candidate records 81 Project-Only Participation for Alumni and 99 Ideas Marketplace Night provide related alumni participation and project-pitch concepts. Neither is a literal current-title match or supplies legal-entity, fundraising, no-investment, donor, partner, due-diligence, conflict, banking, receipt, reconciliation or accountability controls.
Theme 2 source-assurance wave
What has been checked
3 current primary pages used by this guide were reopened on 9 August 2026.
3 attributed source claim(s) were mapped to their bounded use in this initiative.
Candidate District material remains separate and does not establish this result.
See each source's scope and limit
Grants Supports: A high-level distinction between Rotary Foundation grant types, purposes, scales and outcome expectations for renewal-related service opportunities. Does not establish: Eligibility, funding availability, approval, compliance, project quality or the suitability of a particular grant proposal.
Charity fundraising and the public Supports: The 1 attributed Theme 2 claim attached to this source, limited to the implementation elements and supporting documents named in each initiative-level claim mapping. Does not establish: Whether a law, duty, licence, registration, governing rule or regulator requirement applies to this club; whether a person or supplier is suitable; or whether a local design is compliant, authorised or approved.
Charities Code of Practice Supports: The 1 attributed Theme 2 claim attached to this source, limited to the implementation elements and supporting documents named in each initiative-level claim mapping. Does not establish: Whether a law, duty, licence, registration, governing rule or regulator requirement applies to this club; whether a person or supplier is suitable; or whether a local design is compliant, authorised or approved.
What still needs a person to confirm
Confirm the member, prospective-member, past-member and community needs, preferences and consent that the local design assumes.
Confirm which privacy, safeguarding, incorporated-association, charity, work health and safety, food, liquor, copyright, licensing, screening and other duties apply to the club and the activity.
Test accessibility, cultural safety, belonging, language and alternative participation routes with affected people and recognise First Nations cultural authority rather than inferring suitability from the guide.
Confirm every local fact, starting point, cost, role, current service contact, measure, stopping condition and platform capability before the club decides to proceed.
Confirm the authority and current scope of each primary source, resolve login-gated or moved-page references and keep any candidate District material attributed and unapproved until its source decision is made.
The source-verification release gate remains closed.
Checks still on hold
No invitation, solicitation or money handling may begin until the club has written current entity, jurisdiction, licence or notification, banking, receipt, tax and Rotary approvals.
The circle is discussion and advice only and cannot pool funds, offer returns, lend, invest, award grants or substitute for club, district or Foundation authority.
Donation amount cannot affect access, recommendation, recognition, project choice, membership or leadership influence, and a decision not to donate must be respected.
Project authority, safeguards, financial controls, donor privacy, conflicts, reconciliation, reporting and unused-fund treatment require normal accountable governance.
Still an internal draft: source interpretation, local suitability, accessibility, governance and editorial approval remain open checks.
What could this idea change?
It turns member energy into visible, organised action that is easier for other people to join.
It may suit: Former or less-connected members, and the club members reaching out to them.
Could this work in our club?
Consider Alumni Project Funding Circle when past members may value news, friendship or a limited service opportunity but have not been offered a suitable route back.
A club with confirmed legal entity, licence or notification, bank, receipt, tax, Rotary, district, Foundation and partner arrangements for the exact project and fundraising jurisdiction.
A small set of project briefs showing community authority, need, alternatives, budget, safeguards, outcomes, risks, conflicts and what happens if the target is not met.
Participants who may learn, ask questions, advise, decline or donate individually through an authorised channel without public amounts, benefits, voting weight or repeated solicitation.
Before you start
Written board, legal-entity and treasurer approval plus confirmation of applicable South Australian and any other jurisdictional fundraising, licence, notification, banking, receipt, tax and record obligations.
A circle charter separating discussion, advice, recommendation, individual donation, club decision and any Rotary Foundation or district grant process, with no pooled or investment activity.
A project due-diligence brief approved by the community partner and authorised club process, covering need, alternatives, scope, budget, safeguards, outcomes, evidence, risks, conflicts and contingency.
Fair participant terms, conflict declarations, donor privacy, no-pressure and vulnerable-person controls, accessible information, authorised payment channel, reconciliation and public reporting plan.
At the end: At the 90-day review, compare the recorded measures with the starting point, resolve the listed governance holds and tell participants whether Alumni Project Funding Circle will change, continue or stop.
Made for this initiative
Tailored supporting documents
These working documents use the decisions, safeguards and evidence needs of this initiative. Complete them with the people affected and keep the agreed version with the club's project record.
01
Funding Circle Legal and Governance Boundary
Confirm what the club and circle may do before any invitation or money handling.
