The Portage la Prairie Rotary Club's working on their plans for the next five years. They unveiled a draft strategic plan at this week's luncheon, outling youth, finances, membership and international and community projects as their main focuses. They've been working on the plan since about June, when they met with two senior Rotary Members from the district to help get an idea of just what the plan should look like. Portage Rotary President Cathie McFarlane one of the goals of the plan will be to increase the focus of their fundraising initiatives.

"We're trying to do more focused projects in the community. When we do a fundraiser, say for example the veggie sale, we can then say 'Okay, the proceeds of the veggie sale are going to this fundraiser in the community'. That just resonates with people better."

She notes while they didn't outline just what they were raising funds for in the past, the money raised always went to worthy causes in Portage. However, McFarlane hopes by allowing residents to see just where the money is being used, they'll feel more of a connection to the cause.

That's not the only initiative they're discussing when it comes to the future of the projects Rotary undertakes. McFarlane says they're looking at the option of setting up reserves, which will see a portion of funds raised put aside for future projects. She says this would help when they're undertaking large projects in Portage, citing the PCU Centre as one example. She notes while they had managed to make a major contribution, they hope by implementing a reserve they'll be able to better coordinate how they'll fund major initiatives within the city.

"In the past we've done it over a longer term, but sometimes the need is more immediate than that. There are lots of big projects that could be coming to our community, so lets establish a reserve, and then when these big projects come along it's easier for us to say 'Hey, we're here with your playground equipment or your park, or whatever it is."

Overall McFarlane hopes to see this plan create a clear vision of where they want to club to be headed. They anticipate the final version of the plan will be passed at their last meeting of July.