Welcome
2025-2026 District Recognition and Awards Program
The District 5180 Recognition and Awards Program is designed to recognize the accomplishments of Rotary Clubs and their members in all that they do to serve others.
The Awards criteria is organized into four categories to align with Rotary International's Action Plan designed to Increase Our Impact, Expand Our Reach, Enhance Participant Engagement and Increase Our Ability to Adapt.
In addition to the District Awards, there are several District individual awards. Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation (TRF) club and individual awards are also available. A list along with the applications for each award will be distributed to Club Presidents at least 60 days before the submission deadline of April 1, 2026.
District Awards
- Club of the Year - Awarded to a Club in each size category (Large Club - 54+ members, Medium Club - 25-53 members, Small Club - 24 or fewer members as reflected by Rotary International on July 1, 2025)
- Bell Club – Awarded to the Club that most reflects the year’s vision of the District Governor of Educating, Serving and Inspiring our communities through Rotary.
- Category Awards – Awarded to Clubs who attain a certain percentage of points in any one of the following categories with a Bronze, Silver and Gold award for each category:
Impact - Let’s build the practices, infrastructure, and capacity needed to define, measure, track, and analyze data
from our service projects in a much more effective way.
Reach - Let’s share our values with new audiences, create new ways to bring people together to experience the power
of Rotary, and prove we are an organization that is inclusive, engaging, compassionate, and ambitious on behalf of the world.
Engagement - Let’s use every encounter as an opportunity to show people what Rotary can do for them as individuals
and as members of our communities.
Adapt - Let’s work to create a culture of research, innovation, and willingness to take risks in your club
to better serve your community.
Rotarian of the Year and Rookie of the Year
Rotarian of the Year and Rookie of the Year will be selected from nominations received from Clubs. Nomination forms will be distributed later this year.
District Hall of Fame
Inductees into the District Hall of Fame will be selected from nominations received from Clubs and are due by April 10, 2026.
Important Dates and Deadlines
The District Awards criteria begin July 1, 2025, but note that there may be a few criteria that have earlier dates (before the current Presidential year begins) but count towards the awards.
Completed and signed Awards packet shall be submitted to the Club's Assistant Governor for review before submitting the packet to the District Awards Chair, Rob Saxe. It is recommended that clubs work closely within their club and with their Assistant Governor to complete the Awards packet.
The deadline for completing the criteria items of the Awards packet is April 1, 2026, unless otherwise noted. Any items scheduled to be completed or implemented in part but not completed by the deadline should be discussed with the Club's Assistant Governor prior to the certification of the packet.
Deadline for the individual recognition awards: April 1, 2026, and submitted to District Awards Chair, Rob Saxe (click here)
Certification and Consideration
The information provided in the completed Awards packet will be tabulated and scored for each participating club according to a point system. Each criterion item that is checked will receive the number of points allocated for that item. Following tabulation and scoring, the data will be made available to the District Awards Committee for consideration and final determination of awards.
The 2025-2026 District Awards Committee consists of the District Governor, the Assistant Governors, and the District Awards Chair.
Announcement of Awards
All District Awards will be announced and presented at the District Conference, May 1-3, 2026, at Harvey's South Lake Tahoe.