Innovative Matching Grants Initiative Yields New Dollars for Camper Incentives

The Jewish Funders Network/Foundation for Jewish Camping Matching Grants Initiative for New Camper Incentives closed on November 28. 28 donors, who pledged grants of $25,000-$50,000 totaling over a million dollars to 19 overnight summer camps and Jewish agencies were awarded $1:$1 matching funds for a total of $2.013,000 that will go to provide new camper incentives for more than 2000 new campers.

This initiative offers 1:1 matching funds for donors who are making their first ever gift of $25,000-$50,000 for a camper incentive program that will provide non-need based financial incentives (typically of $1000 or more) to encourage Jewish kids to attend a non-profit overnight summer camp for the first time or to return for a second year. Eligible programs must be designed as outreach tools to attract Jewish children who are not currently engaged in intensive daily Jewish education.

Only a handful of such programs currently exist. Many of the donors making grants also helped create the funds at the camps, federations, and local communal agencies they chose to support, resulting in active involvement between donors and the programs that benefit from them.

This is the third successful year for Jewish Funders Network’s matching grants initiatives, a unique project of JFN. By combining a capital investment from a donor or group of donors to match grants in a particular field of interest, this initiative has inspired hundreds of JFN members (new and old) to support nonprofits in the U.S. and Israel, infusing tens of millions of new dollars into the field.

The Jewish Camper Incentive Programs offers donors an innovative and effective strategy to engage Jewish families in Jewish life. Incentive grants have proven to be successful ways to increase enrollment in Jewish camps. Communities with tuition inducements show marked improvement in camp attendance, and children receiving grants will return to camp long after they are ineligible for the grant. The Foundation for Jewish Camping estimates that participation in this program and others like it will mean that at least 10,000 new campers will attend Jewish summer camp for the first time.

About the Foundation for Jewish Camping

The Foundation for Jewish Camping, a public foundation, is the only national organization dedicated to nonprofit Jewish resident camps, advancing program and leadership excellence in camps and access to vibrant Jewish experiences for campers. The Foundation helps raise awareness and support for Jewish summer camps, highlighting their successful track record for building powerful Jewish commitment in young Jews, ensuring future Jewish continuity. FJC works with more than 150 camps, 65,000 campers, and 12,000 counselors across North America to further its mission.

About Jewish Funders Network

Jewish Funders Network is an international organization of family foundations, public philanthropies, and individual funders dedicated to advancing the quality and growth of philanthropy rooted in Jewish values. JFN members are leaders in both philanthropy and business and exert a significant level of influence on society at-large. Through JFN, they explore various issues, including personal and family relations, the responsibilities of business and philanthropy, as well as the transition of assets, tradition, values and priorities between generations. Founded 16 years ago, the Jewish Funders Network exemplifies the global trend in philanthropy where increasingly, philanthropy and grantmaking are done through family foundations and by individual donors.

if you are interested in Jewish camping, also check out, $8.4 Million Grant to Launch Specialty Camps and Summer Camp 2.0