Rotary Principles

Rotary Principles

Guiding Principles of Rotary

What is Rotary

What would it take to change the world? Rotary’s 1.2 million members believe it starts with a commitment to Service Above Self.

In more than 34,000 clubs worldwide, you’ll find members volunteering in communities at home and abroad to support education and job training, provide clean water, combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, and eradicate polio.

Mission

The mission of Rotary International is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders

Diversity and Rotary

Rotary International recognises the value of diversity within individual clubs. Rotary encourages clubs to assess those in their communities who are eligible for membership, under existing membership guidelines, and to endeavour to include the appropriate range of individuals in their clubs. A club that reflects its community with regard to professional and business classification, gender, age, religion, and ethnicity is a club with the key to its future.

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:
• FIRST. The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
• SECOND. High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
• THIRD. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
• FOURTH. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

The Four-Way Test

The test, which has been translated into more than 100 languages, asks the following questions:
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?

Avenues of Service

For years, Rotary’s commitment to Service Above Self has been channelled through the Avenues of Service, which form the foundation of club activity.

  • Vocational Service encourages Rotarians to serve others through their vocations and to practice high ethical standards. Observed each October, Vocational Service Month spotlights Rotary club projects related to this avenue, offering opportunity for clubs and districts to use their professional skills in service projects.
  • Community Service covers the projects and activities the club undertakes to improve life in its community.
  • International Service encompasses actions taken to expand Rotary’s humanitarian reach around the globe and to promote world understanding and peace. Rotarians can support International Service by sponsoring a project in another country, seeking international project partners to support projects in their own communities, or by personally volunteering at an international project site.
  • Youth Service recognises the positive change implemented by youth and young adults through leadership development activities as RYLA , Rotaract and Interact, service projects, and creating international understanding with Rotary Youth Exchange.