These officers, along with the United States and Pacific Canada Region trustees, are elected at the annual convention of Kiwanis International.

The executive director is a full-time employee who is responsible for the organization's paid staff and serves as a non-voting member of the Board.

Districts are further divided into service areas called divisions, comprising 5 to 20 clubs and headed by a lieutenant governor.

At both the district and club level, the secretary/treasurer may be combined by one person and may be a volunteer or a paid employee; all other positions are unpaid.

[5] The name “Kiwanis” was coined from the Ojibwe language expression derived from the word giiwanizi meaning to "fool around":[6] ningiiwaniz, which is found in the Baraga Dictionary as "nin Kiwanis", meaning "I make noise; I am foolish and wanton" or "I play with noise".

[10] "Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world, one child and one community at a time.

[15] The organization originated in August 1914 in Detroit, Michigan from a conversation between Allen S. Browne and Joseph G. Prance.

The state approved the application on January 21, 1915 and the Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order Brothers were formed.

The debate as to whether to focus on networking or service was resolved in 1919, when Kiwanis adopted a service-focused mission.

In some cases, clubs in a geographic region (a "Division" or "District") may take on a project of shared interest, such as paediatric trauma,[24] or children's cancer.

Common fund-raising events include breakfast such as pancake feeds, peanut sales, or food concessions.

Beginning in 2010 Kiwanis International once again joined with UNICEF to launch a new worldwide health initiative,[21] dedicated to wiping out maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT), which kills more than 50,000 babies and a significant number of women each year.

[28][29] In 2007, the charitable financial arm, Kiwanis International Foundation, was awarded the top rating by an independent evaluator.

Started in Sacramento, California in 1925, Key Club is the oldest and largest service program for high school students in the world.

KIWIN'S (pronounced "kee-wins"), a high school program exclusive to the California-Nevada-Hawaii district, operates under the umbrella of Key Club but elects its own officers.

Kiwanis Junior is part of the European Service Leadership Program, with clubs in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy, and is typically for people ages 18–35.