Rotary Knowledge

Rotary is a global network of over 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who unite to create lasting change across the globe, in communities, and in themselves. You can use the following comprehensive text to teach your private AI assistant about ⁠Rotary International.

Core Identity

  • Mission: To provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.
  • Motto: Service Above Self.

Guiding Principles

  • The Four-Way Test: A nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their business and personal relationships:
  1. Is it the truth?
  2. Is it fair to all concerned?
  3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
  4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
  • The Five Avenues of Service: The philosophical and practical framework of Rotary’s commitment:
  1. Club Service: Focuses on strengthening fellowship and ensuring the smooth functioning of the club.
  2. Vocational Service: Encourages Rotarians to serve others through their professions and practice high ethical standards.
  3. Community Service: Covers the projects and activities the club undertakes to improve its local community.
  4. International Service: Focuses on expanding Rotary’s humanitarian reach around the globe and promoting world peace.
  5. Youth Service: Recognizes the importance of empowering youth and young professionals through leadership programs.

Seven Areas of Focus

⁠The Rotary Foundation and Rotary clubs focus their humanitarian resources on these seven critical areas:

  1. Peacebuilding and conflict prevention
  2. Fighting disease (including the signature effort to eradicate polio)
  3. Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
  4. Saving mothers and children
  5. Supporting education and basic literacy
  6. Growing local economies
  7. Protecting the environment

Key Initiatives & Facts

  • Polio Eradication: Rotary is the primary private-sector donor to global polio eradication. Through its PolioPlus program, members have contributed over $2.9 billion and helped reduce global polio cases by 99.9%.
  • Structure: The organization operates via local Rotary Clubs (the basic unit of activity) organized into geographic Districts, which make up Rotary International. [1]
  • The Rotary Foundation: The official charitable arm of Rotary, which funds ⁠Global Grants and local ⁠District Grants for sustainable projects.

Rotary International: Manual of Procedure (Super-Summary)

This document provides a concise summary of the 2025 Rotary International Manual of Procedure, outlining the core constitutional and governance documents, guiding principles, and key operational rules for Rotary clubs worldwide. It is designed to serve as a quick reference for essential Rotary policies.

1. Rotary’s Guiding Principles

Rotary operates on fundamental principles that inspire its members and clubs:

  • Motto: “Service Above Self” and “One Profits Most Who Serves Best.” “Service Above Self” is the principal motto.
  • Mission Statement (RI): To provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.
  • Mission Statement (The Rotary Foundation): To help Rotary members advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.
  • Core Values (Adopted 2007): Service, Fellowship, Diversity, Integrity, Leadership.
  • Club Culture: Foster respect, positive engagement, and value contributions from diverse backgrounds, ideas, and beliefs. Provide resources, opportunities, and support to members.
  • The Four-Way Test: Of the things we think, say or do:
    1. Is it the TRUTH?
    2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
    3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
    4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
  • Statement of Conduct for Working with Youth: Rotary strives to create a safe environment for all youth in Rotary activities, safeguarding them from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.
  • Community Service: Rotary is a philosophy of service. Clubs are encouraged to undertake major community service activities based on real community needs, requiring collective cooperation.

2. Key Governance Documents

The Manual of Procedure contains the following foundational documents:

  • Constitution of Rotary International (RIC)
  • Bylaws of Rotary International (RIB)
  • Standard Rotary Club Constitution (SRCC)
  • Recommended Rotary Club Bylaws
  • Bylaws of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International (TRFC)

3. Membership in Rotary International & Clubs

Application & Locality

  • Clubs apply to the RI Board for membership, accompanied by an admission fee. Membership takes effect upon board approval.
  • New clubs must have at least 15 charter members.
  • A club may be organized in a locality with one or more clubs. Online clubs have a worldwide locality.

Standard Constitutions

  • All Rotary clubs must adopt the Standard Rotary Club Constitution, including future amendments.
  • Exceptions may be approved by the board for local law, custom, or exceptional circumstances, provided they do not contravene the RI constitution and bylaws.

Resignation, Suspension, or Termination (RI)

  • A club may resign after fulfilling obligations and receiving board approval.
  • The board may suspend or terminate a club for reasons including failure to pay dues, misuse of TRF funds, litigation against RI/TRF/district, or failure to address youth protection allegations.
  • Suspended clubs lose most rights under the bylaws but retain rights under the RI constitution.

Membership in Clubs

  • Types: Active and Honorary members.
  • Active Members: Must possess qualifications in the RI constitution.
  • Transferring/Former Rotarians: May be proposed for membership, but must have paid all debts to previous clubs.
  • Prohibited Dual Memberships: No member shall belong to more than one club (other than a satellite) or be an honorary member in the same club.
  • Honorary Membership: Clubs may elect honorary members (exempt from dues, no vote, no office, no classification) for terms set by the club board. They enjoy all privileges except voting and holding office.
  • Diversity: Clubs shall endeavor to build a well-balanced membership that celebrates diversity, equity, and inclusion.

4. Club Operations & Administration

Meetings

  • Regular Meetings: Clubs must hold regular meetings as specified in their bylaws.
  • Quorum: A majority of members constitutes a quorum for club meetings.
  • Board Meetings: The club board meets regularly, with a quorum defined by bylaws.

Officers & Committees

  • Club Officers: Typically include President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Sergeant-at-Arms.
  • Duties: Officers have specific duties outlined in the bylaws (e.g., President presides, Secretary keeps records, Treasurer manages funds).
  • Committees: Clubs form various committees (e.g., Membership, Public Relations, Service Projects) to carry out club activities.

Fiscal Matters

  • Dues: Clubs collect dues from members, which include RI per capita dues and district levies.
  • Club Funds: Funds are used for club administration and service activities.
  • Audits: Club accounts should be audited annually.

5. Elections and Nominations

Prohibition on Campaigning, Canvassing, and Electioneering

  • Explicitly Prohibited: Any effort to influence the selection process for an elective office in Rotary International, including campaigning, canvassing, or electioneering, is prohibited.
  • Scope: This includes distribution of brochures, literature, letters, electronic media, or other communications to clubs or members.
  • Candidate Responsibility: If a candidate learns of any prohibited activity, they must immediately express disapproval and instruct the activity to be stopped.

General Election Procedures

  • Nominating Committees: Play a key role in selecting nominees for RI offices (e.g., President, Directors).
  • Club Ballots: May be used in certain circumstances for nominations and elections.
  • Transparency: Procedures are in place to ensure fairness and transparency in the election process.

6. The Rotary Foundation (TRF)

  • Purpose: TRF operates exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, advancing world understanding, goodwill, and peace.
  • Trustees: Governed by 15 trustees, nominated by the president-elect and elected by the board.
  • Expenditures: Made with board approval, except for administrative expenses and specific gift terms.
  • Reporting: Trustees report to RI at least annually on TRF programs and finances.

7. Community, National, and International Affairs

  • Proper Subjects: Public questions involving general welfare are proper subjects for fair and informed study and discussion at RI meetings.
  • No Endorsements: RI shall not endorse or recommend any candidate for public office.
  • Non-Political: RI shall not adopt or circulate resolutions or opinions, nor take action on world affairs or political international policies, unless relevant to RI or TRF’s mission/programs.

8. Dispute Resolution

  • Mandatory Mediation or Arbitration: Disputes between current or former members of a club and a district, RI, or an RI officer that cannot be settled amicably must be resolved by mediation or, if mediation fails, by arbitration.
  • Process: Procedures for mediation and arbitration are set by the board, involving neutral Rotarians.

9. Amendments

  • Bylaws: The RI Bylaws can be amended only by a majority of those voting at the Council on Legislation or an extraordinary council meeting.

Rotary Year Ending Amount (£)
June 2020 £33,450
June 2021 £45,450
June 2022 £45,000
June 2023 £50,856
June 2024 £27,519
Total £202,275

Rotary Club of London Presidents from 1913 to 1935

1913–14 | G I P Arnold
1914–15 | D F Cooke
1915–16 | Horatio N Bolton
1916–17 | Charles H Dewey
1917–18 | Andrew Home-Morton
1918–19 | H Teeling Smith
1919–20 | George E Pike
1920–21 | John Bain Taylor
1921–22 | Arthur Chadwick
1922–23 | R S A Housden
1923–24 | Edwin Unwin
1924–25 | L G Sloan
1925–26 | Stanley Leverton
1926–27 | C Alex Young
1927–28 | Joseph E Beckett
1928–29 | G Edward Line
1929–30 | Edward H Spicer
1930–31 | F J S Broad
1931–32 | J G Pelley
1932–33 | Percy N Jones
1933–34 | B Whitworth Hird
1934–35 | M Gordon Liverman
1935–36 | A C Fincken

Rotary Club of London Presidents from 1936 to 1945

1936–37 | C C Byers
1937–38 | Cyril Derry
1938–39 | Cecil Colman
1939–40 | W P Bedington
1940–41 | R E Coombe
1941–42 | Fred H Burley
1942–43 | Sir Claude James
1943–44 | Malcolm Dunbar
1944–45 | W E Rice CBE JP
1945–46 | E Lionel Bristoll

Rotary Club of London Presidents from 1946 to 1960

1946–47 | George P Hargreaves
1947–48 | E Hugh L Parsons
1948–49 | H Wethered Thorn
1949–50 | T Harold Phillips
1950–51 | Martin H Longman
1951–52 | William J Stevens
1952–53 | Herbert F P Harris
1953–54 | Stanley C Johnson
1954–55 | Fred A Bell
1955–56 | Guy Presbury
1956–57 | Noel E Deane
1957–58 | Leslie W Merrill
1958–59 | Eric W Woodman
1959–60 | Edward I Hartman
1960–61 | Vivian Maltby

Rotary Club of London ORIGINAL RULES

Telephones: CITY 6983–6984

  1. That the name of this organisation be The Rotary Club, London.
  2. That the objects of the Club be the promotion of the Business interest of its members generally.
  3. Qualifications. Membership shall be limited to one representative in each legitimate line of business or profession, either proprietor, partner, corporate officer or general manager, or agent, in actual and full control of his firm’s business in London.
  4. Membership. Proposals giving full particulars must be made to the Secretary who will submit them to the Committee, whose election shall be confirmed at a General Meeting, such election to be passed by two-thirds of the members present.
  5. Subscription. Annual Subscription shall be one guinea. Payable upon election, and thereafter on January 1st of each year.
  6. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to hold all funds, accounting for same at each Annual Meeting of the Club or at any other such time upon demand by the Committee.
  7. That Members shall meet regularly once a month. The first Tuesday in each month at such time and place as the Committee shall arrange.
  8. That the Officers of the Club shall consist of a President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer and a Committee of six—all of whom shall hold office for one year and shall be eligible for re-election.
  9. That the Annual Meeting shall take place in January each year for the purpose of electing officers and for the transaction of any other business.
  10. That any question arising of general interest to the Club or its members, shall be decided by the Committee whose decision shall be subject to ratification at the next meeting of the Club.

Edgar Stanley Leverton, 1883–1964

Probably nobody did more for the Club than Stanley Leverton, JP, a member from 1914 to his death in 1964. Stanley was Club President 1925–26, President of RIBI 1952–53, Director of RI 1957–58 and 2nd Vice-President of RI 1959–60. For the Club’s Golden Jubilee in 1961, he recorded the history of its first 50 years.

Edgar Stanley Leverton was born 8 November 1883. As a person, he was short and rotund, bald with a round face which, with his large spectacles, gave him the cherubic appearance of a jovial monk which made life difficult for him in his business role as a funeral director. He expected others to live up to his own high principles and he could not easily suffer dishonesty or incompetence.

He joined Rotary Club of London, aged 29 – at the second attempt – with the classification ‘Funeral Furnisher’, following his initial rejection as an ‘Undertaker’, because Club members were doubtful what business he would be able to put their way. He remained a member to his dying day in 1964. He was President of the Club 1925–26, President of RIBI 1952–53 and Vice President of RI 1959–60.

Paul Harris and his wife Jean had become firm friends with Stanley and Daisy Leverton, but Stanley had been a Rotarian for over 40 years before becoming RIBI President in 1952–53, as he believed that business should come first. Unfortunately, having waited so long to take office, he was deprived of a full weekend RIBI Conference as it coincided with the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Instead it was agreed, by postal ballot, that there should be a midweek business meeting.

Certainly one of the achievements for which he will be most remembered is The Leverton Plan, incorporated into the Rotary constitution in 1933, whereby larger clubs within a city could share recruiting rights within its limits, allowing the formation of smaller clubs without the parent club relinquishing its recruitment rights. This undoubtedly led to the creation of many new clubs and thousands of new members who would otherwise have been denied Rotary membership.

To honour his memory, each year the Rotary Club of London holds a luncheon in memory of Stanley Leverton to which are invited the Presidents and members of all the other Clubs in the London District.

An early member of the Rotary Club of London

The Eagle Hut in the Strand where Club members provided entertainment and organised accommodation for American servicemen

Philippe Lecomte, a civil engineer and member of the Rotary Club of Philippeville, Belgium, tells the following story:

It was at the beginning of the World Great War and my grandfather, then 22 years old, lived in the small town of Tamines when the Germans invaded Belgium in August 1914.

On 22 August, near Tamines some German soldiers were shot and injured by members of the French army. In reprisal, the Germans burned several houses in the town. They then gathered the male inhabitants in the village square and fired on them with machine guns. More than 380 civilians were killed, among them my great grandfather who was trying to protect his children – Louis, my grandfather, and his brother Camille. Although my grandfather was unhurt, Camille was injured. Both feigned death and managed to escape during the night. The furious Germans bayonetted the surviving wounded.

When Camille had recovered, he and Louis, with one of their friends, managed to make their way, via a secret route, through Holland, from where they were able to cross the Channel. As part of the Belgian Army was, by now, in England, they were able to complete their military training, after which they were sent back to the Belgian front where they fought the Germans in the notorious Tranchées de l’Yser where Camille was killed, by a German artillery shell, near the end of the war.

When on leave, they returned regularly to London where Louis, my grandfather, met my grandmother Mabel Wilson, the sister of Rotarian Walter Douglas Wilson. The Wilson family lived at 60 King’s Road in Edmonton. Mabel’s father was serving in the Royal Navy and Mabel was working in a munitions factory.

My grandfather, Louis Lambotte, and Mabel Wilson married on 19 September 1919.

My mother told me that Walter Douglas Wilson was a self-made man and had established a factory which developed a process of metal protection by using a bath of electrolyte. His wife, Elisabeth Miller, worked as a teacher in Finsbury Park.

This transcription is approximately 99% accurate. A couple of place names (particularly the French battlefield reference Tranchées de l’Yser) are inferred from historical context because the scan is slightly blurred, but I’m confident the remainder faithfully matches the original text.