Why Join Guilford Rotary?          

What would it take to change the world?  Rotary’s 1.4 million members believe it starts with a commitment to Service Above Self.  In more than 35,000 clubs worldwide, you’ll find members volunteering in communities at home and abroad supporting education and job training, providing clean water, combating hunger, improving health and sanitation, and eradicating polio among other important causes. 

Our Guilford Rotary Club, chartered in 1984, consists of over 40 business people and professionals, whose focus is on service. We actively volunteer our time and contribute financially to support our programs.  We are very proud of our service record and programs.  Our key activities include:
⦁    Our club provides 24 -$1500 scholarships annually to veterans currently enrolled at UNCG.  Since 2015 we have awarded 172 scholarships with a total value of $170,500.

⦁    2025 was our final year of a four-year, $197,400 Rotary Global Grant, which is improving the health care system in Moldova. This grant established a successful BS Nursing program followed by a MS in Nursing which began in Sept. ‘24. Additionally, we have provided a full catalogue of on-line health care training courses for current health care providers.

⦁    In 2023-24 we sponsored a family from Moldova to enable the father to complete a Masters in Nutrition at UNCG.  In addition to a $30,000 Rotary Global Grant, we provided education costs, air transportation, living expenses, a car, and other support for the successful program. The father returned to Moldova and is teaching nutrition as a professor in their medical university.

⦁    We execute a Flags for Heroes event as the primary fund raiser for the club.  This event involves erecting 200 American flags at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market over Veterans Day weekend. They honor veterans, current service members, police, fire fighters and EMS personnel.  The funds raised ($30,000 per year) are used to support the various club’s charitable projects.

⦁    Our club provides services, volunteer support and lunch events for the Greensboro Servant Center.  This center empowers the homeless and disabled, particularly veterans, to become independent, contributing members of our community through housing, healthcare and restorative services. We also support veterans through the Triad Honor Flight.

⦁    Our club provides financial and volunteer support for Back Pack Beginnings, an organization with a mission to connect children and their families to resources needed to thrive. BP Beginnings serves over 23,000 children annually. In 2023-24 our club completed a $10,000 district grant partnering with the Greensboro Rotary Club.
                                                                
⦁    We sponsor two Interact Clubs for local schools – Western Guilford HS & Ferndale MS. As the sponsor we play an active role by supporting Interact Club Members in developing leadership
skills, build connections in the community, serving others and become part of the Rotary’s family.
What Is Rotary?
Our mission
We provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.

Purposes
Rotary’s purposes are: 
⦁    The development of acquaintances as an opportunity for service; 
⦁    High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignification of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society; 
⦁    The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business and community life; and,
⦁    The advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace through the world of fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.



What Causes Does Rotary Support?
Through Rotary International
Rotary members believe that we have a shared responsibility to take action on 7 of our world’s most persistent issues:
⦁    Promote peace
⦁    Fight disease
⦁    Provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
⦁    Save mothers and children
⦁    Support education
⦁    Grow local economies
⦁    Protect the environment

Through Our Club
In addition to supporting Rotary International’s causes, Guilford Rotary also addresses service causes within our community. Some of these causes derive directly from RI missions; others are club-based projects which are adopted at the suggestion of a member who champions that particular cause. Our key activities demonstrates this support. 




How Do I Become A Member?
Becoming A Member
An individual becomes a member by first being “sponsored” by a current member. The sponsor is usually a friend of the applicant, and has encouraged the applicant to consider joining Rotary. Applicants generally attend several weekly meetings as the guest of their sponsor to help introduce them to what Rotary is all about, and decide if they would like to join.

Membership Types
Guilford Rotary currently offers three types of membership – Active, Service Choice, and Rule of 85.  An Active member pays for weekly meals and socials as a part of their quarterly financial obligation. A Service Choice member pays for meals and socials they attend on an individual basis; therefore, their financial obligation is reduced. Rotary International’s Rule of 85 also provides for reduced costs for any member whose Rotary tenure plus her age equals or exceeds 85.

It is important to note that all types of membership offer the same authority, responsibility, rights and obligations; no type is deemed to be subservient, greater, or “better” than the other. 

Weekly Meetings
We meet weekly on Tuesdays, from 12:30-1:30 pm at the Weir-Jordan House at 223 N. Edgeworth Street in Greensboro. Our meetings include club fellowship, a catered meal, and a program on an interesting topic from our city, state, nation or world.


What Is Expected of Me As A Member?
Weekly Attendance
Guilford Rotary recognizes that individuals join Rotary because they believe in Rotary’s mission, and that members understand that regular attendance at regular weekly meetings is essential for the club to function.

Join a Club Committee
Each club member is expected to join one of the club’s committees. 

Support Club Activities and Programs
Over the course of a year, the club will have a number of service projects that further the mission of Rotary. Each member is expected to assist with these activities to the greatest degree possible.

Recruit New Members
Every member is expected to make a conscious effort to discover potential new members from among their friends, colleagues, and community. 

What Are My Financial Obligations?
Guilford Rotary members are billed for their dues and other obligations on a quarterly basis.

Active Members
Active Members are billed $287 quarterly, which includes district & national dues, club operating expenses, the monthly Rotarian magazine, and all meals and socials.  

Service Choice and Rule of 85 Members
Service Choice and Rule of 85 Members are billed $67 quarterly, which includes district & national dues, club operating expenses, and the monthly Rotarian magazine. If a Service Choice member elects to partake of a meal or attend a social event, they are charged $18 for each meal and their pro-rata share of social costs.

Paul Harris Fellow
Each quarter, every member is assessed $25 as a contribution to the Rotary Foundation, which is earmarked towards the member’s Paul Harris status. Paul Harris donations are tax deductible.

Guilford Rotary Program Budget
In addition to the above, each member provides $200 in support of the club’s program budget. This support may be through direct donation, fund raising, or gifts-in-kind towards the program budget.



We hope you will consider joining us in Guilford Rotary. 
We believe that it will prove to be a very worthwhile experience 
for both you and our club!

What’s Next?