The Rotary Club of Carrollton Farmers Branch 2011 - 12 Community Campaign for Hearts, Hands and Hard Cash

Dear Fellow Rotarian,

Our Club belongs to all the members. Our members are many past, present and future leaders of our community who recognize the importance of leading the way for others. That is why one Mission of our club is to support area non-profits through financial contributions so no one in our community is left behind.

The past few years we have done this by raising money through our Gala. This has been a fairly successful strategy but involves lots of time volunteered by many of our members. Some, like Regina and Allison have given an inordinate amount of time each year and we thank them for that.

This year the Board decided to take a break from the Gala and will raise the money for our area non-profits by direct donations from our Club members. As President Raul put it, we will be appealing to your kind and generous hearts.

Our Goal is to raise $15,000 from our Club members between now and June 1, 2012 for our area non-profits. Also attached is a Pledge Form you can fill out and send back if you’re not ready to make your contribution now. This form is due by September 15, 2011.

To reach our Goal we need 100% participation by club members. That means all of us need to contribute. Because we all have different resources, some of us will have to write bigger checks than others. We are not going to tell who contributed or how much each person donated to the Club. As the campaign progresses, we will only report the total participation and total amount donated towards our goal.

There are several Advantages to this type of campaign – . It will require only the time involved for each of you will be the time to write a check . All the money you contribute will go to the non-profits. There are virtually no expenses. . You’ll only have to give one time – no second collections . No purchasing auction items you don’t need, no pressuring friends and associates to attend . No new outfit to buy for your wife to wear to the event . You’ll feel really good when we hand out the grants to the non-profits next June.

We are offering some incentives to encourage you to give: For the first time - your contribution will be fully tax deductible. All the contributions will go directly to our Club’s fund at the Dallas Foundation which is a charitable organization.

Second You may pay in a lump sum or make a pledge and pay in installments.

Finally To encourage 100% participation, I personally will donate $15 for every member who contributes to our goal. We have 55 members. We need all of you to contribute what ever amount you feel you are able to make our community a better to live. We are not going to tell who contributed or how much - just keep track of the total participation. We’re letting your Rotary conscience be your guide.

We have already received a Leadership Pledge from the Board. So far several of your Club’s Board members have pledged a total of over $4,000 to kick start this campaign.

As President Raul said at his inauguration, “All our hearts and hands will work together to write the history of our Club’s next 50 years.” But we will need your hard cash too. I have every confidence that we can meet this goal by uniting around Rotary’s mission “Service Above Self” and lead our community by the example we set.

Please contact me at [email protected] or 972-241-1202 for more information or if you have any questions.

Yours in Rotary,

Carol Dingman Fundraising Chairperson