Rotary is an international membership organization made up of people who share a passion for and commitment to enhancing communities and improving lives across the world. Rotary clubs exist in almost every country.

Our members change lives locally and connect with other clubs to work on international projects that address today’s most pressing challenges. Being a member is an opportunity to take action and make a difference, and it brings personal rewards and lifelong friendships in the process.

We channel our commitment to service through five Avenues of Service, which are the foundation of club activity.
• Club Service focuses on making clubs strong. A thriving club is anchored by strong relationships and an active membership development plan.
• Vocational Service calls on all Rotarians to work with integrity and contribute their expertise to the problems and needs of society.
• Community Service encourages every Rotarian to find ways to improve the quality of life of people in their communities and to serve the public interest.
• International Service exemplifies our global reach in promoting peace and understanding. We support this avenue by sponsoring or volunteering on international projects, using local member expertise to build long-term partnerships for sustainable projects, seeking service partners abroad, and more.
• Youth Service recognizes the importance of empowering youth and young professionals through leadership development programs such as Rotaract, Interact, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, and Rotary Youth Exchange.

Early Rotary members emphasized the importance of acting responsibly and ethically and using our professions as an opportunity to serve. Honoring our commitments, however bold, is an ideal characteristic of a Rotarian. In 1932, The Four-Way Test was developed by Herbert Taylor, a Rotary Club of Chicago member and 1954-55 RI president, to guide his attempt to save a faltering aluminum company. Rotary later adopted it, and it underscores Rotary’s value of integrity. The Four-Way Test has long served as an ethical guide for members to live by in their personal and professional relationships.


OF THE THINGS WE THINK, SAY OR DO:
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

In Rotary’s first decade, members set out guiding principles that evolved into what is now known as the Object of Rotary.
They added the advancement of peace in 1921 and made the language more
gender-neutral in 1989 and 1995.
The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;


SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;


THIRD: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;


FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.