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4-7-8-17Global Success Program

Design projects that are true, fair, and built to last.

The 4-7-8-17 Global Success Program helps Rotary clubs, schools, and community partners test every project against four layers, from Rotary's ethics to the world's shared goals.

97 days to the 2027 Rose Parade

Today's featured project: Experiencia Ambientalia, Argentina See its Report Card

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Enter your project once. Our team reviews it, builds its 4-7-8-17 Report Card, and contacts you before it is featured.

  • January 1 to December 31, 2027

    2027 4-7-8-17 Global Success Projects

    In 2027 we showcase 365 projects, one every day, from more than 200 countries and geographical areas where Rotary is at work. Each project gets its own public page and 4-7-8-17 Report Card.

    Enter for this program
  • The founders of the Rotary Club of Hamburg at their charter celebration in 1927

    Rotary Club Hamburg charter celebration, 1927

    October 7, 2026 to October 7, 2027

    German Projects

    Brückenbauer seit 1927: 100 years of Rotary in Germany. 365 projects in 365 days: one project with German roots is featured every day, and each carries the “German Roots” seal.

    Also asks for a short German Heritage form.

    Enter for this program brueckenbauer1927.de
  • The smiling 2027 Rose Parade Tortoise in a flower lei, with the Rotary float behind it

    The 2027 Rose Parade Tortoise

    September 23 to December 31, 2026

    Rose Parade Countdown Projects

    One project is featured every day in the countdown to the Rotary float at the 2027 Rose Parade on January 1.

    Enter for this program 100projects100countries.org

The 4-7-8-17 framework at a glance

The Rotary Four-Way Test, Rotary's 7 Areas of Focus, the 8 Pillars of Positive Peace, and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, together in one picture.

The 4-7-8-17 framework: the 4 questions of the Four-Way Test, Rotary's 7 Areas of Focus, the 8 Pillars of Positive Peace, and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Featured projects

Each project gets a public page and its own 4-7-8-17 Report Card. Open one for ideas your club can use.

See every project

Latest from our Facebook page

Daily countdown posts, new projects and news from partners around the world. This feed updates on its own every time we post.

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Partner websites

46 partner projects and organizations working on oceans, climate, Rotary service and community health. Visit any of them.

See all 46 partner websites

One project, four layers of questions

Work through the layers in order. Each one narrows the idea and makes its impact easier to explain to partners, donors, and the people it serves.

The Four-Way Test

Every project starts here. If an idea cannot pass these four questions, it does not move forward.

  1. Is it the truth?Honest about needs, costs, and results.
  2. Is it fair to all concerned?Designed with the people it serves, not just for them.
  3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?Leaves partners closer than when it began.
  4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?Creates value that lasts after the volunteers leave.

Rotary Areas of Focus

Each project aligns with at least one of the seven causes Rotary members commit to worldwide.

  1. Promoting peacePreventing conflict and building understanding.
  2. Fighting diseasePrevention, treatment, and stronger local care.
  3. Providing clean water, sanitation and hygieneSafe water and sanitation people can maintain.
  4. Saving mothers and childrenHealthier births and early childhoods.
  5. Supporting educationLiteracy, teachers, and schools that work.
  6. Growing local economiesDecent work and local entrepreneurs.
  7. Supporting the environmentProtecting the land and sea communities depend on.

Pillars of Positive Peace

Positive Peace is the set of conditions that keep societies stable. Strong projects strengthen at least one pillar.

  1. Well functioning governmentInstitutions that deliver and are trusted.
  2. Sound business environmentConditions where enterprise can grow.
  3. Equitable distribution of resourcesFair access to health, education, and income.
  4. Acceptance of the rights of othersTolerance and respect for every group.
  5. Good relations with neighborsCooperation between communities and nations.
  6. Free flow of informationOpen, accurate information people can act on.
  7. High levels of human capitalSkills, health, and education that build a future.
  8. Low levels of corruptionResources reach the people they are meant for.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Mapping each project to the Global Goals shows its impact in a language the whole world shares.

  1. 1No poverty
  2. 2Zero hunger
  3. 3Good health and well being
  4. 4Quality education
  5. 5Gender equality
  6. 6Clean water and sanitation
  7. 7Affordable and clean energy
  8. 8Decent work and economic growth
  9. 9Industry, innovation and infrastructure
  10. 10Reduced inequalities
  11. 11Sustainable cities and communities
  12. 12Responsible consumption and production
  13. 13Climate action
  14. 14Life below water
  15. 15Life on land
  16. 16Peace, justice and strong institutions
  17. 17Partnerships for the goals

In right there is might.

Herbert J. Taylor, 1932

Where the Four-Way Test came from

In 1932, businessman and Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor took over a cookware company on the edge of bankruptcy. He rebuilt it around four short questions that every decision had to pass, from products to advertising to relationships. The company recovered, and the questions became the Rotary Four-Way Test, one of the best known statements of business ethics in the world.

Rotarians like Steve Bender use the test far beyond business, as a daily guide for partnerships built on trust, fairness, goodwill, and mutual benefit. The 4-7-8-17 program puts it at the start of every project.

The history of 4-7-8-17, since 2012 As featured on Vision of Humanity (PDF) Read the full story of the Four-Way Test

Rotary reef restoration structure for The Panama Project

The Panama Project, our first living showcase

In Bocas del Toro, The Panama Project is the first complete 4-7-8-17 living laboratory. Built as part of the 7 Seas Initiative, it shows how one integrated model can deliver environmental, educational, health, and economic benefits for a coastal community at the same time.

  • Coral and mangrove reforestation
  • Turtle protection and marine conservation
  • Solar innovation and clean energy pilots
  • Education and health programs for local families
  • Local business and community development
Sponsor a reef Visit ThePanamaProject.org

Rate your project in three steps

The AI Navigator gives you a fast first read. Your team's judgment and the Four-Way Test make the final call.

  1. Describe your idea

    Tell the Navigator what the project does, who it serves, and where.

  2. See which boxes light up

    It maps the idea to the Four-Way Test, the Areas of Focus, the Pillars of Peace, and the Global Goals.

  3. Refine it together

    Look for easy upgrades that connect the project to more areas and goals, then test the result with your club.

Open the 4-7-8-17 AI Navigator Submit your project to 47817.org

Democracy in a Box

Conversations for peace and sustainability. Democracy in a Box uses Rotarian principles and the 4-7-8-17 framework to help people of all ages talk across divides about democracy, justice, peace, and sustainable development.

Learn about the program Visit DemocracyinaBox.us

Get involved

  • Invite your leadership team to rate current projects with 4-7-8-17.
  • Find easy upgrades that align with more Areas of Focus and Global Goals.
  • Plan a visit or virtual exchange with The Panama Project or Democracy in a Box.
  • Enter your project for the 2027 Global Success Projects, the German Projects, or the Rose Parade Countdown.
Submit your project

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