What is Rotary?
Rotary is a worldwide organisation of business and professional persons who:
- Provide humanitarian service to the community at local, national and international level
- Encourage high ethical standards in all vocations
- Work for goodwill and peace in the world
Rotary Leads Global Effort To Eradicate Polio
PolioPlus, the most ambitious programme in Rotary's history, is the volunteer arm of the global partnership dedicated to eradicating polio. For more than 20 years, Rotary has led the private sector in the global effort to rid the world of this crippling disease. Today, PolioPlus and its role in the initiative is recognized worldwide as a model of public-private cooperation in pursuit of a humanitarian goal.
About Rotary Clubs
Rotary clubs are non-political, non-religious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds. Meeting weekly allows members to build firm friendships. Rotarians can attend any Rotary club meeting anywhere in the world, so there is always somewhere to go, and people to meet, wherever business or leisure travel may take you.
These principles have been developed over the years to provide Rotarians with a strong, common purpose and direction. They serve as a foundation for our relationships with each other and the action we take in the world.
The Object of Rotary
The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
The Four-Way Test
The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships. The test has been translated into more than 100 languages, and Rotarians recite it at club meetings:
Of the things we think, say or do:
- Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned?
- Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
- Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Avenues of Service
We channel our commitment to service at home and abroad through five Avenues of Service, which are the foundation of club activity:
- Club Service: Focuses on making clubs strong. A thriving club is anchored by strong relationships and an active membership development plan.
- Vocational Service: Calls on every Rotarian to work with integrity and contribute their expertise to the problems and needs of society.
- Community Service: Encourages every Rotarian to find ways to improve the quality of life for people in their communities and to serve the public interest.
- International Service: Exemplifies our global reach in promoting peace and understanding through international projects and partnerships.
- Youth Service: Recognizes the importance of empowering youth and young professionals through leadership development programs such as Rotaract, Interact, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, and Rotary Youth Exchange.
The Rotary Foundation
The mission of The Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty.
The Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world.