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The Rotary Year
The Rotary year is a fiscal and administrative period that
follows a 12-month period other than the standard calendar
year.
Rotary’s
fiscal year began in 1910 for the period 18 August 1910 (the day
after the first Rotary convention in
Chicago ended) to 21 August 1911 (the first
day of the 1911 convention in
Portland,
OR, USA).
The 1911-12 fiscal year was 21 August 1911 to 9 August 1912 and
similarly corresponded to convention dates.[1]
At its
August 1912 meeting in
Duluth, the
Board of Directors ordered an audit of the International
Association’s finances be conducted. In the March 1913 report
from the auditors, it was recommended that the Association end
its fiscal year 30 June. This would give the secretary and
treasurer time to prepare a financial statement for the
convention and Board of Directors. It would also give the
secretary time to report on membership statistics for
accrediting the proper number of clubs’ delegates to the
convention.[2] At the time, the
convention was usually held in July or August.
This change
was made effective by the Executive Committee’s meeting in April
1913, making the 1912-13 fiscal year, and subsequent fiscal
years, end 30 June.[3] The
Association’s constitution and bylaws were changed accordingly.
The change in fiscal year facilitated changes to the reporting
schedule of club membership and payments. Even
The Rotarian changed
its volume numbering to correspond to the fiscal year (beginning
with Vol. 5, July 1914).[4]
While the
fiscal year had changed, Rotary still continued to hold its
annual convention in July or August. The 1916 convention in
Cincinnati,
OH, USA,
approved Resolution No. 15, changing the convention date to June
instead of July.[5] What was
the reason? July was hot, and in those days air conditioning was
more of a novelty than a standard.
Now that the
approximate date of the convention conveniently corresponded
with the newly instituted fiscal year, it made sense continue to
use an existing term—Rotary year, to refer to the fiscal year
and related administrative period and programs.
The earliest
use of the term Rotary year identified thus far is in the July
1913 issue of The Rotarian:
“the Rotary year that is rapidly drawing to a close has been…”
Other early examples are found in the
July and September 1915 issues, respectively: “…and also
a new year, for the International Rotary year ends June 30th”and
“But, of course, the golden opportunity of our Rotary year comes
at the annual convention.”
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