The Foundation - A Glimpse At Our Past

 

 

 

Arch Klumph, a Cleveland Rotarian, planted the seed for the Rotary Foundation in 1917 with his idea of having an endowment fund dedicated to “doing good in the world.” In 1927, the RI Board approved the Foundation, but Mr. Klumph found himself shouldering most of the Foundation work. He maintained that if the Foundation were to succeed, every Rotarian from the RI President to individual club members should be responsible for spreading the word and raising financial support.

He wrote to District Governors around the globe telling them promoting the Foundation was the most important task they were asked to do. Yet, there was little evidence that other senior RI officials were as enthusiastic as he was.

The Foundation received a huge boost in 1945 when it received a tax-exempt status from the IRS. This freed the Foundation from paying federal income taxes and provided a tax deduction for contributors.

However, the tax exemption wasn’t the biggest boost to the Foundation. That opportunity came on January 27, 1945. On that day, Arch Klump’s dear friend Paul Harris died…and that will be then topic of the next Foundation Moment.