With the Mediterranean Sea as a backdrop, a full week of bright, sunny skies, and high energy, the Jewish Funders Network (JFN) gathered in Tel Aviv last week for their annual conference, the first in Israel since 2008. With 455 registered participants (including 234 from Israel) this was the largest conference ever for the organization. The attendees came from four continents and represented all parts of the philanthropic world - from the largest foundations, to the smaller - and important - individual donors. They included a President, a Dame, a Scholar-in-Residence, a bevy of academics and entrepreneurs and numerous foundation professionals - those responsible for executing thousands of programs around the world. The three-day official program was varied, from keynote presentations on … Continue Reading
Networks and the Future of Jewish Philanthropy
[eJP note: During last week's Jewish Funders Network Conference in Tel Aviv, Andres Spokoiny, the organizations' president and CEO, laid out his vision for the future of Jewish Philanthropy and the Jewish Funders Network. Following, with minor omissions, are his remarks; his call to action.] A person is walking in the street and passes by a dance hall. The windows of the dance hall are very thick and soundproof, so he can’t hear the music. He only sees people making all sort of strange movements. He walks away, thinking he just saw a bunch of totally crazy people, maybe a mental asylum of some sort. If somebody would walk by our conference, she would probably also think that we are crazy. Here, we have 400 people spending three days trying to see how to give money away! If we were discussing … Continue Reading
Fisher FLIGHT Turns High-Net People into High Powered Givers
by Abigail Pickus Six years ago, the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation of Detroit put their heads together. What was the best way to reach young, high-net individuals who were not necessarily focused on Jewish philanthropic giving? The answer was Fisher FLIGHT, a nine-month initiative that brings together people between the ages of 40 to 55 with a net worth of over $10 million. Likened to a Jewish “YPO” (Young Presidents’ Organization), which connects young chief executives from across the globe, Fisher FLIGHT brings together young, successful couples from across North America for two domestic seminars and one overseas mission - Israel is always included in the equation - to really “hone in on their philanthropic message and who … Continue Reading
Teen Philanthropy as A Catalyst for Change
by Sue Schwartzman The January 25 Huffington Post article titled, “Philanthropy: College Students Get $100,000 To Give Away to Charity” lauds universities starting philanthropy courses that offer students practical philanthropy experience, such as giving them up to$ 100K to give away to worthy nonprofits. While I applaud Universities for recognizing the importance philanthropy, it is essential to point out that young people involved in philanthropy is not a new endeavor, nor is it something that is ideally saved for college level studies. As a philanthropic educator, I have helped launch three high powered youth philanthropy programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, and seen the abilities of grant-makers as young as thirteen. This generation of computer savvy youth is exposed to local and … Continue Reading
The Best of Both Worlds: Back to the Future of Philanthropy
by Sandy Cardin Ask anyone to name the greatest philanthropists of all time - Jewish or otherwise - and they will invariably identify people known for giving away huge sums of money. From Rockefeller to Rothschild, from Buffet to Blaustein, from Morgan to Montefiore, most of us have come to equate philanthropy with the charitable contributions of people of immense wealth. And justifiably so; quite recently, much attention has been directed to the nearly 70 high net worth individuals and families in America who have signed the Giving Pledge, publicly declaring their intent to spend hundreds of millions, even billions, of dollars during their lifetime in an effort to help redress the most vexing and complex societal challenges of our day. The impact of this kind of giving cannot be … Continue Reading
Reinvigorating Jewish Peoplehood: The Philanthropic Perspective
In cooperation with the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education, eJewish Philanthropy is pleased to once again bring our readers the latest version of The Peoplehood Papers: Reinvigorating Jewish Peoplehood: The Philanthropic Perspective. from Shlomi Ravid, the publications editor: "We dedicated this issue to the role philanthropy plays, and can play, in reinvigorating Jewish Peoplehood. The authors of the articles in this edition of the Peoplehood Papers represent a sample of the largest and most active funders and organizations in the area of Jewish community, education and welfare in Canada, Europe, Israel and the United States. We bring you their articles posted in alphabetical order except for the collection’s introductory article written by my colleague Ezra Kopelowitz and … Continue Reading
Towards a Community of Purpose
This essay is from The Peoplehood Papers, volume 7 – Reinvigorating Jewish Peoplehood: The Philanthropic Perspective; published by the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education. by Andres Spokoiny In our post-modern times, the traditional concepts of belonging, identity and community are collapsing under the weight of social-media, ideological skepticism and the paradigm of ‘user-defined’ content. Multi-hyphenated identities are the norm in a world of coexisting pluralities. At the same time, the raise of fundamentalisms and the polarization of the Jewish world are a symptom of a deep ‘cultural malaise’ that leaves most Jews perplexed, in the search for meaning and a redefined sense of community. The last financial crash and the ravages of hyper-consumerism destroyed the belief that, … Continue Reading
Hebrew and Peoplehood
This essay is from The Peoplehood Papers, volume 7 – Reinvigorating Jewish Peoplehood: The Philanthropic Perspective; published by the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education. by Rabbi David Gedzelman For a disaffected American Jewish young adult, who may have recently warmed to the idea of Jewish connection through a Birthright Israel trip or some spiritual experience, our musings as to how philanthropy might build and strengthen Jewish Peoplehood risk ringing hollow. We use Mordecai Kaplan’s original term, Peoplehood, in the affective sense that all Jews are connected and responsible for one another, without defining what the Jewish People is or why one should want to belong. We argue for connection and commitment without first helping Jews, wherever they may be, articulate and … Continue Reading
Jewish Peoplehood – A Philanthropic Focus
This essay is from The Peoplehood Papers, volume 7 – Reinvigorating Jewish Peoplehood: The Philanthropic Perspective; published by the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education. by David Mallach and Sanford Antignas “One cannot be Jewish without being a part of the Jewish People” For the first time in more than 2,000 years, Jews live in a world where they may choose their primary collective identity, sense of group identity. Increasingly, Jews are not choosing the global Jewish People as their primary, or even co-equal, collective identity. For some, this is true even though they may identify as Jewish Israelis or pursue an individual spiritual Jewish journey wherever they live. Only in the last few years has there been recognition of this challenge and the opportunities it may bring. … Continue Reading
Natan’s Jewish Peoplehood Grants
This essay is from The Peoplehood Papers, volume 7 – Reinvigorating Jewish Peoplehood: The Philanthropic Perspective; published by the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education. by Felicia Herman The Natan Fund is a grantmaking foundation funded by young philanthropists who pool their philanthropic resources and make grants together to emerging Israeli and Jewish nonprofits and social entrepreneurs around the world. Since a small group of young professionals founded Natan in late 2002, the foundation has granted $7.77 million to 129 organizations and individuals in Israel and around the Jewish world. Natan is a giving collaborative, and thus its grantmaking reflects the aggregate philanthropic interests of its members (primarily young professionals in New York). Natan’s particular focus … Continue Reading
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