Minneapolis Rotary Club Foundation
A Force for Good for over 70 years
In the early 1950's, Minneapolis Rotarians established the Minneapolis Rotary Foundation to support their Club's service mission. Each year, the Minneapolis Rotary Club raises significant dollars for this Foundation from Minneapolis Rotarians and through honorariums and other gifts.
The annual contributions, together with earnings from the Foundation's endowments, are used to make grants available for:
- International organizations through the World Community Service committee;
- Youth development projects, including the Youth Exchange Program and the Franklin Gray Scholarships;
- Hosting Group Study Exchange teams; and
- The annual Service Above Self award.
The Endowments
The 21st Century Fund is the largest of the permanent endowment funds of the Foundation. The gifts and bequests to this fund are invested in perpetuity, and the Foundation's Board designates a portion of the investment return each year to support the Minneapolis Rotary Club's service programs.
By 2005, the 21st Century Fund had grown to about $700,000, in assets with another $1,100,000 in known bequests. The other endowments are the 75th Anniversary Fund that supports the Learning Center for Economics, the Franklin Gray Scholarship Fund, and the Baskerville Youth Development Endowment Fund. In total, the value of the Foundation's assets is approaching $5,000,000, which places it in the top twenty of large club Rotary foundations in the United States.
Growing the 21st Century Fund through the Legacy Society
We established the Legacy Society as a mechanism for Rotarians to contribute to our local endowment fund separately from their annual contributions to the Club's fundraising campaign and the fundraising campaign of Rotary International. Legacy Society members are those contributing $15,000 or more through their estate plan. If you have remembered the Minneapolis Rotary Community Service Foundation in your planning, we would appreciate it if you would notify the Rotary office by calling them or completing the Letter of Intent form.
Baskerville Philanthropy Award
This award is presented to a Minneapolis Rotarian who has made a significant difference in furthering the objectives of the Minneapolis Rotary Community Service Foundation or the Rotary International Foundation.
It is named after Marty Baskerville who first joined the Minneapolis Rotarian on May 2, 1947. Marty was instrumental in the growth of the Foundation by encouraging us to contribute through a Charter Membership. Several of his long time fellow Club members joined in with matching gifts. He then followed with a $400,000 gift to establish the Baskerville Youth Development Endowment Fund. Several members also made matching gifts to this fund including a planned bequest of $500,000 from one member of the Legacy Society.
As a result of this work, Marty was selected as the first recipient of the award in September 2005 and the award has been named after him.