Chapter 2: The Rotary Ecosystem for CED¶

The 6-tier pyramid seen from the CED side¶

Rotary International is not a development agency. It is a global network of 1.4 million professionals organized in clubs, districts and zones, with a financial arm (The Rotary Foundation) and groups of specialized experts (the RAGs). When a club decides to carry a serious CED project, this network can mobilize up to USD 400,000 in funding and the technical expertise of several hundred volunteer advisers. Provided you know how it works.

The Rotary structure reads from the bottom up, from the field to the global level:

Tier 6    │  ROTARY INTERNATIONAL (RI), Evanston, Illinois
          │  Global policy, 7 Areas of Focus, annual conventions
          │
Tier 5    │  THE ROTARY FOUNDATION (TRF)
          │  Financial arm: Global Grants, DDF, Programs of Scale
          │
Tier 4    │  ROTARY ACTION GROUPS (RAGs)
          │  Cross-cutting expertise: RAGCED, WASH-RAG, ESRAG, RAGFP...
          │
Tier 3    │  ROTARY ZONE (~34 zones worldwide)
          │  Inter-district coordination, regional project fairs
          │
Tier 2    │  ROTARY DISTRICT (~530 districts)
          │  TRF qualification, DDF, District Grants, DRFC
          │
Tier 1    │  ROTARY CLUB (46,000+ clubs)  ◄── YOU
          │  Field diagnosis, project development, local stewardship

In CED, information flows up (area diagnosis, CNA, concept note, implementation reports) and resources flow down (funding, expertise, the international network). The club provides knowledge of the ground and the relationship with beneficiaries; the rest of the network provides the money, the method and the mandatory international partnership.

What each tier does for the club in CED¶

Tier	What it brings to CED	Typical lead time
District	Qualifies the club with TRF (MOU, GMS), allocates DDF to a CED Global Grant, awards a District Grant (typically USD 3,500 to 6,000), appoints a district CED chair where the position exists.	DDF reserved in 30 days, District Grant in 3 to 6 months, annual qualification
Zone	Organizes the project fairs where international partnerships are formed (West Africa Project Fair, Dakshinpatha), coordinates inter-district initiatives, supports RAGCED regional chapters (LATAM, South Asia).	Annual calendar
RAGs	Free technical expertise. RAGCED for CED stricto sensu; WASH-RAG, ESRAG, RAGFP, DNA-RAG and RAG Refugees for complementary components. Concept note review, Cadre of Technical Advisers, introductions to partners.	First response in 2 to 4 weeks
TRF	Funds through the Global Grant (USD 30,000 to 400,000 from the World Fund [to be verified]), Packaged Grants (Oikocredit for microfinance), Programs of Scale (USD 2 million a year) and the District Grant. Staff at grants@rotary.org review the applications.	Global Grant: 3 to 6 months of review after submission
RI	Defines the 7 Areas of Focus, of which CED is one, publishes the Areas of Focus Policy Statements, organizes the annual convention where RAGCED has a booth.	Annual cycle (Rotary year July 1 → June 30)

A club that ignores one of these tiers designs fragile projects. A club that knows how to activate all five doubles its chances of approval, and quadruples them when it goes through RAGCED before submitting.

Key people to know for CED¶

You do not want to be hunting for your district DRFC's name two days before the deadline. These contacts should be in the address book of the CED coordinator, the president and at least two other members of the CED committee.

At the district level¶

Position	Acronym	Role in CED	Why you need them
District Governor	DG	The district's authority for the year. Cosigns every TRF application. Appoints the district CED chair.	Without the governor's signature, no Global Grant or District Grant leaves the district.
District Rotary Foundation Committee Chair	DRFC	Cosigns the Global Grant with the DG. Authorizes the use of DDF (dual signature). Three-year term.	The central signatory of a CED Global Grant. Talk to the DRFC before writing the concept note, not after.
District Grants Subcommittee Chair	n/a	Reviews applications at the district level, checks club qualification, reads the draft before it goes up to TRF.	Knows the district's specific pitfalls and can flag a weak project before you spend writing time on it.
District CED Chair	n/a	Optional position, found in districts with mature CED practice. Coordinates the clubs carrying economic development projects.	Where the position exists, this is your best ally: someone who knows neighboring projects, local partners and co-funding opportunities.
Club International Service Chair	n/a	Leads the international partnership setup within the club.	Mobilizes a personal network and Rotary Showcase to find the mandatory international partner.

At the RAG and TRF level¶

Contact	Organization	When to contact	How
Regional RAGCED representative	RAGCED (LATAM, Dakshinpatha, Africa in progress)	From the design stage, before the concept note	Form at `ragced.org/page/help-with-projects` or `president@ragced.org`
Cadre of Technical Advisers, CED	TRF Cadre (coordinated by Nilam Bedi on the RAGCED side)	As soon as the project exceeds USD 50,000 or calls for a technical methodology (microfinance, value chains, cooperatives)	Through the DRFC or through RAGCED
TRF Grants	The Rotary Foundation	Procedural questions, qualification, signatories	`grants@rotary.org`
Regional Grants Officer	TRF	Follow-up on an application under review	Contact details provided by the DRFC after submission

Contact sheet to fill in now¶

Take fifteen minutes. Fill in this sheet and hand it out to the members of the CED committee.

CED CONTACTS: Club of _________________________

District no.: ________
Rotary year: _______ / _______

District Governor (DG):
  Name: ________________________________
  Phone: _______________________________
  Email: _______________________________

District Rotary Foundation Chair (DRFC):
  Name: ________________________________
  Phone: _______________________________
  Email: _______________________________

District Grants Subcommittee Chair:
  Name: ________________________________
  Email: _______________________________

District CED Chair (if the position exists):
  Name: ________________________________
  Email: _______________________________

TRF Cadre representative, CED area:
  Name: ________________________________
  Email: _______________________________

Regional RAGCED contact:
  Name: ________________________________
  Email: _______________________________

Club International Service Chair:
  Name: ________________________________
  Phone: _______________________________

TRF Grants:
  Email: grants@rotary.org

RAGCED:
  Website: ragced.org
  General email: secretary@ragced.org

Mandatory update: every year on July 1: new Rotary year, new DG, possibly a new DRFC, a new district CED chair.

What is a RAG? What is RAGCED?¶

Rotary Action Groups are independent organizations, recognized by the RI Board of Directors, made up of Rotarians, Rotaractors and non-Rotarian professionals who share a common specialty. The mandatory statement that appears on their communications makes their status clear: "This Rotary Action Group operates in accordance with Rotary International policy but is not an agency of or controlled by Rotary International".

In practice, a RAG is a separate legal entity (most often a 501(c)(3) in the United States) that works across the whole organization. It sits in no district and no zone. It is available to every club in the world, whatever its location. RI currently recognizes more than twenty RAGs, covering the seven Areas of Focus and a few cross-cutting topics (gender, refugees, menstrual health, literacy).

The Rotary Action Group for Community Economic Development (RAGCED) is the RAG specialized in the CED area. It does not formally endorse projects (approving Global Grants remains the exclusive prerogative of TRF staff and districts), but it advises, connects, captures lessons and equips. Its official mission: "to be a source of knowledge and expertise that helps Rotarians plan, implement, and manage impactful and sustainable economic development projects and create lasting change in poor and underserved communities."

A few key facts. RAGCED has more than 400 members in 34 countries, organized in eight standing committees (Operations, Communications, Education, Partnerships, Membership, Finance, Fundraising, Administration) and three active regional chapters: LATAM (coordinated by Juliana Corredor González, covering Colombia, Mexico and Ecuador), Dakshinpatha for South Asia (India), and an African expansion that has been announced but is not yet organized as a dedicated chapter. The 2025-2027 presidency is held by Wally Gardiner, a member of the Rotary Club of High River (Alberta, Canada). Chapter 17 returns in detail to his background and to the group's governance.

The operational entry point is simple: the ragced.org website offers a membership form, a Project Assistance Request form, and the functional contacts (president@ragced.org, secretary@ragced.org, researcheducation@ragced.org). The monthly meetings (frequency and times [to be verified, contact membership@ragced.org]) are open to members.

One last useful point: RAGCED works hand in hand with the Economic Development & Empowerment Foundation, an affiliated 501(c)(3) foundation that channels tax-deductible donations in the United States and carries the investment in the Talanton Impact Fund, an impact investing vehicle active in East Africa (covered in Chapter 17).

The 7 Areas of Focus and the place of CED¶

Rotary International organizes its development projects around seven official Areas of Focus, introduced on July 1, 2013 (the first six) and then July 1, 2021 (the addition of the environment). Each area gives access to Foundation Global Grants.

#	Area of Focus	Official French title	Major projects
1	Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention	Paix et prévention des conflits	Rotary Peace Centers, mediation, post-conflict reintegration
2	Disease Prevention and Treatment	Prévention et traitement des maladies	PolioPlus, vaccination, training of health workers
3	Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)	Eau, assainissement, hygiène	Boreholes, latrines, menstrual hygiene, school WASH
4	Maternal and Child Health	Santé de la mère et de l'enfant	Maternity units, nutrition, child vaccination
5	Basic Education and Literacy	Alphabétisation et éducation de base	Schools, adult literacy, teacher training
6	Community Economic Development	Développement économique communautaire	Microfinance, vocational training, value chains, entrepreneurship
7	Supporting the Environment	Protection de l'environnement	Regenerative agriculture, renewable energy, biodiversity

CED is area 6. In public-facing communication, it appears under the title Growing Local Economies. In the Areas of Focus Policy Statements (August 2021 version), it appears as Community Economic Development. The former name, Economic and Community Development, still circulates in documentation from before 2022.

The Rotary Foundation devotes about USD 9.2 million a year to it [to be verified against the current version of TRF reports]. That is one of the smallest budgets among the seven areas, which means, for a club, that competition for a CED Global Grant is less intense than for a health or WASH Global Grant, for an application of equal quality.

Natural links between CED and the other areas¶

The Foundation explicitly encourages multi-area projects as long as the coherence is substantial. Four combinations are documented as especially productive:

CED + WASH. Access to safe drinking water frees up time: women and girls who walked several hours a day to carry water can take up an economic activity again. Market gardening, small livestock farming and food processing become possible. Example cited: El Salvador's Safe Drinking Water program across 25 rural communities.
CED + Health (maternal and child health or prevention). A community health center stabilizes the workforce and reduces absenteeism. Conversely, a health center with no operating business model collapses when Rotary leaves, hence the value of adding a CED component (health cooperative, mutual health insurance, services paid on a sliding scale).
CED + Education. Functional adult literacy combined with vocational training. Financial education in schools. Without reading and numeracy, there is no lasting microcredit.
CED + Environment. Regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, sustainable timber value chains, responsible fishing, productive renewable energy.

Practical rule: a multi-area project must name one primary area in the Global Grant application form, with the others listed as secondary areas of focus. Each area chosen must generate its own measurable objectives and its own indicators. A "catch-all" project that piles up components without coherence is rejected.

The 5 Rotary funding mechanisms useful for CED¶

The Rotary Foundation has several instruments. From a CED club's point of view, five are relevant, each with very distinct uses.

#	Mechanism	Amount	Lead time	Who initiates	Typical CED use
1	District Grant	USD 3,500 to 6,000 per club (typical district allocations)	3 to 6 months	Club → District	Area diagnosis, funding an in-depth CNA, a training seminar for CED committee members, small equipment for a local training center. No mandatory international partner.
2	Global Grant	Min. USD 30,000 · World Fund ceiling USD 400,000 [to be verified]	5 to 10 months from draft to approval	Club + international partner → TRF	The centerpiece of Rotary CED. Structured microfinance through an MFI, a full vocational training center, an agrifood value chain, cooperative development.
3	DDF (District Designated Fund)	Variable: up to 50% of the district's DDF per year for Global Grants	Reservation in 30 days	District → TRF	Mandatory co-funding of a Global Grant. The World Fund matches DDF at 100% [to be verified: some sources say 80%], which automatically doubles the stake.
4	Packaged Grant: Oikocredit	Standardized structure, club co-funding	Shorter lead times	Club + Oikocredit	Microfinance projects through a prequalified partner microfinance institution. A strategic tool for CED, with a lighter methodology because the CNA and partnership terms are pre-structured.
5	Programs of Scale	USD 2 million a year (1 grant a year), 3 to 5 years	9 to 11 months, competitive two-stage selection	Club + outside partner (e.g., WFP) → TRF	A large-scale CED project, already proven through a pilot Global Grant. Requires USD 500,000 in outside co-funding. Use: scaling up a validated model (regional microfinance, national sustainable agriculture).

Two mechanisms are missing from this table because they belong to other contexts: the Disaster Response Grant (USD 25,000 per affected district, used in the emergency phase, covered in the twin book, the disaster guide) and TRF's central Rotary Disaster Response Fund. Post-disaster CED projects use these tools together with DNA-RAG (see Chapter 18).

Match ratios and what they mean in practice¶

The World Fund matches 100% of DDF and 50% of club cash [to be verified: ratios published by TRF, some district sources mention recent variations]. The practical consequence for structuring: mobilize DDF first, club cash second. An example from district tutorials: on a USD 70,000 grant, the club cash required drops from USD 20,000 (a balanced DDF/cash structure) to USD 12,727 when the DDF share is pushed to 2:1, a 37% saving for the club.

A DDF reservation is valid for three years from the filing of the draft. After that, the reservation expires and must be resubmitted. This is a real constraint for complex CED projects whose design takes more than 18 months.

The CED Global Grant in two pages¶

The Global Grant is the centerpiece of Rotary CED. Here is what the club absolutely must keep in mind even before reading Chapter 16, which covers the full cycle in detail.

The financial parameters¶

Minimum budget: USD 30,000 (World Fund floor: USD 15,000).
World Fund ceiling: USD 400,000 [to be verified against the current version of the Terms and Conditions].
Match ratios: 100% on committed DDF · 50% on club cash [to be verified]. No match on in-kind contributions or on directed gifts.
Spending caps: grant-related administrative costs capped at 3% of the budget; contingencies capped at 10%. Salaries, overhead and buildings are ineligible.
A line-by-line itemized budget is mandatory.

The partnership structure¶

A qualified Host Club (or District) in the country where the project takes place.
A qualified International Partner Club (or District) in another country.
Both must be TRF-qualified for the entire Rotary year of the project, and stay that way. A loss of qualification freezes the grant.
A committee of at least three Rotarians on both the host and sponsor sides, with signatories separate from the financial decision-makers.
A partnership MOU between the two clubs setting out roles, finances, bank signatories and the internal reporting schedule.

The Community Needs Assessment¶

Mandatory since July 1, 2018 for every humanitarian Global Grant.
Conducted by the Host Club, ideally over 4 weeks.
Six methodologies recognized by TRF, to be combined: community meeting, asset inventory, survey, interview, focus group, community mapping.
Deliverable: an assessment report attached to the application, on the standard TRF form Global Grants Community Assessment Results.

Real lead times (not the advertised ones)¶

The official guides speak of 3 to 6 months between submission and approval. In the reality of CED projects, the timescale is:

Identifying and building the partnership: 2 to 4 months.
A rigorously conducted CNA: 1 to 3 months.
Design, budget, M&E plan, MOU: 2 to 4 months.
TRF review after submission: 3 to 6 months, sometimes 8 to 10 months if a Cadre adviser is brought in or if clarification requests pile up.

A prudent club allows 12 to 18 months between the decision to put together a CED Global Grant and the first disbursement. Clubs that plan on 6 months come to grief.

The three stewardship reports¶

A progress report at 12 months from the first disbursement, then every 12 months while the project is active.
A final report due within 2 months of the end of activities.
[To be verified] some district sources mention a preliminary report at 6 months; the documented TRF standard is "12 months, then every 12 months".

A missed report blocks subsequent disbursements. Repeat offenses → grants frozen → in serious cases, loss of the district's qualification, which strips every club in the district of the ability to submit. One careless club penalizes its whole district.

Sustainability¶

TRF defines sustainability as the ability to maintain results over time so as to serve a community's continuing need once the funds are exhausted. In practice, TRF staff expect: a self-supporting business model at 24 months, handover to a viable local institution (MFI, cooperative, established NGO), training of trainers, an ex post evaluation plan. "The community will take over" with no concrete mechanism is the most frequent reason for rejection.

RAGCED as an expert partner: an overview¶

RAGCED is not a hierarchical authority. It does not command clubs, districts or TRF staff. It does something else, and that is exactly what a club needs in CED.

The four functions¶

Function	What it means in practice
Advise	A free critical review of a CED concept note before submission to the Grant Center. Access to experts from the TRF Cadre of Technical Advisers, coordinated by Nilam Bedi. Support with the diagnosis, narrative writing, the M&E plan and impact measurement.
Connect	Introductions to a qualified international partner through the regional chapters (LATAM, Dakshinpatha). A RAGCED booth at the annual RI Convention. Participation in project fairs (West Africa Project Fair, Dakshinpatha meetings).
Capture lessons	Collection and sharing of lessons learned from past projects: Honduras HECD, Talanton East Africa, Dakshinpatha, LATAM in Action. Your final reports feed this knowledge base.
Equip	Guides (Guidebook for Building Sustainable Microfinance Programs), webinars, training. The Talanton impact investing fund through the Economic Development & Empowerment Foundation.

How to contact it¶

Project Assistance Request form: ragced.org/page/help-with-projects.
General email: secretary@ragced.org.
President's email: president@ragced.org.
Education and research email: researcheducation@ragced.org.
Membership sign-up: ragced.org/form/ragced-signup.
Monthly meetings [schedule to be verified with membership@ragced.org].

When to contact RAGCED¶

Practical rule: as soon as your project has a budget above USD 50,000, as soon as it involves a country where your club has no direct roots, or as soon as it calls for a demanding technical methodology (microfinance, complex value chains, OHADA cooperatives). Sooner rather than later. RAGCED would rather review a three-page concept note than a complete sixty-page application already blocked by TRF.

Chapter 17 covers in detail how RAGCED works, its committees, its regional chapters, its services, and the five documented flagship projects.

Other RAGs useful for CED¶

A CED project rarely draws on only one area. The complementary RAGs bring technical expertise on the cross-cutting components.

Type of CED project	DNA-RAG	WASH-RAG	ESRAG	RAGFP	RAG Refugees
Rural microfinance (women, farmers)		●
Urban microfinance
Standard vocational training
Vocational training in a refugee camp		●		●	●
Agricultural value chain		●	●
Agricultural cooperative (agroforestry, organic)			●
Covered market / community market hall		●
Productive renewable energy			●
Post-disaster CED (livelihood recovery)	●	●
Post-conflict CED (economic reconstruction)		●		●	●
Entrepreneurship among displaced people		●		●	●
Digitization / mobile money

How to read it: a ● means the RAG offers expertise that can be put to direct use on this type of CED project. The absence of a ● does not mean the RAG is irrelevant altogether: it means it is not a priority partner. RAGCED is always relevant; it does not appear in the matrix because it is the default entry point.

WASH-RAG (wash-rag.org): water and sanitation as an economic prerequisite. Specific Global Grant support.
ESRAG (esrag.org): environmental sustainability, regenerative agriculture, renewable energy.
RAGFP (rotaryactiongroupforpeace.org): economic development as a lever for peacebuilding.
DNA-RAG (dna-rag.com): post-disaster economic recovery, the bridge to the disaster guide.
RAG for Refugees, Forced Displacement and Migration (ragforrefugees.org): CED for displaced populations.

Three other RAGs are worth knowing: the RAG on Girls Empowerment (girls' economic empowerment), BELRAG (adult literacy, a prerequisite for microfinance), and the RAG on Menstrual Health and Hygiene (impact on school attendance and therefore on women's economic activity).

Your district: six questions to ask¶

Before you start, find out where your district stands. Make an appointment with your DG and your DRFC (45 minutes is enough) and ask them the following six questions. Their answers will tell you whether your district is ready to carry a CED Global Grant with you.

Is the district TRF-qualified for the current Rotary year? (District-TRF MOU signed, DG/DRFC training completed, reporting on previous grants up to date.)
Have the Foundation chair and the grants chair attended the Grant Management Seminar this year? If not, the club will not be able to submit until they have.
How much DDF does the district have available for CED projects this year? This question is rarely asked, and the answer shapes the whole financial structure.
Is there a district CED chair? If there is, ask for their contact details right away. If not, propose creating the position.
How many CED Global Grants has the district submitted in the last three Rotary years? Zero, one, five? That tells you whether you will be a pioneer or a follower in the district.
Of those CED Global Grants, how many were approved the first time, how many needed clarification requests, how many were turned down? Recurring clarification requests point to a district weakness: a budget too vague, a CNA too light, M&E too weak. Knowing this keeps you from repeating the same weakness.

If the answer to several of these questions is "I don't know," you have a role to play: not by criticizing, but by proposing. A structured club pulls a district's CED upward.

Essential contacts: quick reference¶

Organization	Contact	Use
Rotary International	+1-866-976-8279 · `contact.center@rotary.org`	General questions
The Rotary Foundation, Grants	`grants@rotary.org`	Global Grants, District Grants, qualification, MOU
TRF, Grant Center	`grants.rotary.org`	Filing and tracking grants
RAGCED	`ragced.org` · `secretary@ragced.org`	CED expertise, partnerships, concept note review
RAGCED, president	`president@ragced.org`	Strategic requests
RAGCED, education	`researcheducation@ragced.org`	Training, documentary resources
Economic Dev. & Empowerment Fdn	`info@empowermentfdn.org`	US tax-deductible gifts, Talanton Fund
WASH-RAG	`wash-rag.org`	Water and hygiene component of a CED project
ESRAG	`esrag.org`	Environmental component of a CED project
RAGFP	`rotaryactiongroupforpeace.org`	Post-conflict CED
DNA-RAG	`dna-rag.com`	Post-disaster CED
Oikocredit	Through the TRF Packaged Grant	Structured microfinance partnership

Closing¶

You now know the Rotary pyramid for CED, the key people in your district and at TRF, the funding mechanisms available, and the role of RAGCED as an expert partner. That is the institutional ecosystem. There remains the local economic ecosystem: the one your CED project will fit into.

The next step: pinpoint the economic needs of your area. That is the subject of Chapter 3.