Can Jewish philanthropy be transformed? Among other things, the answer depends on the ability of the ‘heavy hitters’ of Diaspora Jewish philanthropy in Israel to join together in order to improve their standing in Israeli society and agree on a number of guiding principles for their operation. Success in doing so will be important for them, as well as for Israel and the Jewish world. A large portion of Diaspora Jewish philanthropic giving in Israel is from a small group of large givers. They are institutions, most prominently the large Federations who give directly or through the Jewish Agency, other organizations such as Keren HaYesod, a few foundations and individual donors predominantly from the USA but also from Russia, the UK, France, Australia, Canada, or Germany. They are the 'heavy … Continue Reading

Standardizing expectations from grantees should be high on the agenda of the heavy hitters of Jewish philanthropy in Israel. At present, each grantor has a particular set of expectations for proposals, as well as for reporting. This reality leads to a huge waste of resources of time and money. A few simple agreed guidelines could make a big difference here. A couple of years ago, the Reut Institute that I founded and head submitted a request for a grant in the sum of few tens of thousands of dollars from a very prominent West Coast foundation. Our area of work generally fit their area of giving and a couple of initial personal interactions led us to believe that we have a good chance of receiving a grant. So we decided to apply. A few months and more than a hundred written, formatted and … Continue Reading

Small nonprofits represent one of the toughest challenges of efficiency for philanthropy in Israel. Such nonprofits need to merge into bigger enterprises or scale in order to effectuate meaningful social change and generate significant value. This is not only a challenge of efficiency but also a matter of broader socioeconomic context. Naturally, there should be a space in our society for small nonprofits. They represent a vital platform for social experimentation. Almost all of the most important nonprofits started as small initiative that grew over time. However, Israel's nonprofit world suffers from a malady. Too many organizations are very small in size, operation and budget. They are neither scaleable nor do they provide a unique remedy to a social problem. In other words, they are doomed … Continue Reading

This post deals with the basic dilemmas of Jewish philanthropy in Israel. It expands on the questions that every organization, foundation or individuals should consider in order to create their own philanthropic ethos. My assumption here is that a more focused philanthropy is a more effective one. A philanthropic ethos is an outcome of an in-depth exploration of vision, mission, values and strategies. It should take the shape of a set of principles and guidelines for spending the philanthropic fortune. … Continue Reading

What is more important: funding of efficient projects or of building effective capacities and institutions? Farsighted Diaspora Jewish philanthropy that seeks to play a central role in Israeli society should shift its focus from the former to the latter. This represents a profound transformation of patterns of conduct of both philanthropists and nonprofits. 'Institutions' represent a unique type of 'organization'. The latter are designed to address a specific challenge often in a specific context, for a limited period of time and by particular people, usually the founders. An 'institution' is designed to effectively and efficiently meet an array of challenges in a variety of contexts over a long period of time and independent of any specific individual. The straightforward logic of this point … Continue Reading

The philanthropy of Diaspora Jewry in Israel needs to undergo a qualitative leap in its impact on Israeli society. One of the elements of this leap would be to focus on government and market failures and avoiding being ‘diverted’ and ‘seduced’ to do otherwise. The logic has been laid out in previous posts of this series. Jewish philanthropy in Israel is facing a double-challenge of expanding options and diminishing marginal impact (see posts 3-6), which requires a qualitative response (see post 7). One of the elements of this response is better focus. In this post I argue that the most important secret for Diaspora Jewish philanthropy to redeem its center stage role in Israeli society by providing unique and substantial value is to focus on areas that are subject to market, as well as … Continue Reading

Too often we tend to immediately associate the concept of philanthropy with leadership. But we should not. Some philanthropic activities truly amount to leadership. Others do not, and may actually be leadership-neutral or even be counterproductive in terms of leadership. Furthermore, sometimes an act of leadership by a philanthropic requires withholding funds, a public statement or a political action. For the heavy hitters of Jewish philanthropic giving in Israel, it is important to be able to identify leadership and to pursue it. … Continue Reading