The Point West Rotary Foundation is an auxiliary organization of the Rotary Club of Point West, a club founded in Sacramento in 1985. With more than 160 members, the club is the second largest club in Rotary International's District 5180.

In 1998, the club created the Foundation to enable federal tax write-offs for charitable donations and create a tax-exempt trust fund. Beneficiaries of the fund generally fall into three categories: 1) organizations that benefit children, 2) programs that celebrate or promote community service and 3) service activities of Rotary International and other Rotary clubs.

The majority of grants go to charities that benefit children, which is defined as “any organization whose primary function is to benefit the health, education, welfare and safety of children.” A grant must finance a specific benevolent activity; requests for support of general operations (operating expenses) are not considered.

Grants promoting community service go to club programs such as Teacher of Year, Police Officer of Year, Firefighter of the Year and Rotarian of the Year. In the past, grants to other Rotary clubs have been one-time-only, such as a donation to the Rotary Club of Abbeville, Louisiana, to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina; or periodic, such as donations to Encina High School and Jonas Salk High-Tech Academy (formerly Jonas Salk Middle School).

Point West’s grant process often involves the interaction of the Foundation, the club’s Board of Directors and the club’s Benevolent Giving Committee. The Benevolent Giving Committee is charged with reviewing grant applications, authorizing grants for sums up to $2,000 and recommending larger grants to the club’s Board of Directors. The role of the Foundation is to generate donations and otherwise grow capital of a perpetual trust fund that supports the grants. The Foundation accepts contributions of cash, stock, securities and real property. All donations are tax deductible.