How to make payments to The Rotary Foundation
Here you will find all you need to know about how to make payments from a club or individual to the Rotary Foundation (TRF).
The District TRF finances are managed by the District Foundation Administrator, who works closely with the District Treasurer.
All payments whether from clubs or individuals, to The Rotary Foundation should be sent to the District 9930 Foundation account: 03 1552 0121120 01. It is essential that every payment is referenced with the club and/or Rotarians name, and which fund the payment is to be made to:
- Annual fund
- PolioPlus
- Disaster response fund
- Endowment fund
- A specific global grant with the GG number
- Any other specific/active/short-term TRF fund e.g. war or major disaster fund (Please note the Ukraine Response Fund is now closed)
Please DO NOT SEND your Foundation contributions to; Rotary International South Pacific and Philippines office (RISPPO) in Norwest (Sydney), the District Treasurer, Rotary New Zealand World Community Service (RNZWCS), or to Guardian Trust, as has been done in the past. This may cause delays and errors in attributing payments to the right donors.
Money is sent from our District to RozOps on the 12th of each month and then to the TRF account in the US at the end of that month. The exchange rate is set monthly and can be found here. To ensure that contributions are allocated to a current Rotary year payments must be made to the District account above by 11 June but we advise payments be sent early in the Rotary year. Best practice is for clubs to make donations in October (World Polio Day is on the 24th) or November (Foundation month) and possibly in February (Rotary’s birthday). Rotary club Boards should review their Foundation contributions against club giving goals in May of each year.
If a club is sending a payment that is made up of multiple individual contributions then it is essential that the club treasurer completes a Multiple Donor Form and sends this to the District Foundation Administrator at the same time as making the payment. Recognition points are then allocated to individual Rotarians while the giving still counts towards the clubs Foundation giving goals in Rotary Club Central.
Tax and legal
Most clubs now are an Incorporated Society and have a Charitable Trust which is registered with the Charities Commission. A Charitable Trust allows your club to accumulate funds which are not liable for New Zealand income tax. Contributions transferred to your club’s Charitable Trust from your club’s Incorporated Society may be tax deductible by the club. Donations from an individual to the Charitable Trust should qualify for a donation tax rebate. Tax receipts will be issued by club Charitable Trusts or the District Foundation Administrator.
Important: individual donors can be issued with a receipt for tax purposes only when the contribution is made from the donor’s personal funds and not from an auction, raffle, or purchase of donated goods or services. Further, contributions which come from a collective effort of the club members, and apportioned across the club membership, may not be reported as individual contributions for tax credit. However, the club may apportion collective funds as individual giving for Rotary Foundation (Paul Harris) recognition.
Legally, income from your club’s Charitable Trust may only be distributed within New Zealand. A club cannot send funds directly overseas. For this reason, New Zealand’s Rotary Districts have established a separate body, the Rotary NZ Clubs Charitable Trust (RNZCCT), managed by Guardian Trust. New Zealand legislation allows RNZCCT to distribute income outside the country. Therefore, to stay within the bounds of your Trust deed and the New Zealand tax laws, contributions to TRF should be sent to the District Foundation Administrator who will manage the process. As above, DO NOT send payments directly to Guardian Trust.
If you have any further questions please contact the District Rotary Foundation Administrator before making any payments.
