Category: Jewish Philanthropy
Shaare Zedek Director Paid $100,000 for Fundraising
According to today’s edition of Haartez,
Prof. Jonathan Halevy, the director general of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, received close to $100,000 in 2004 from the American Committee for Shaare Zedek for his fund-raising activities. Such compensation would not be allowed at a state hospital, but Shaare Zedek is private.
Morris Talansky, who is a key witness in the latest investigation concerning Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, is best known for his fund-raising efforts for the hospital. Talansky was paid for his efforts, and it turns out he was not the only one. The American Committee for Shaare Zedek is responsible for raising contributions for the hospital in the U.S., and Talansky was its executive director at the end of the 1990s, and later served as a consultant to the committee. Halevy was also paid as a “consultant.”
Read the complete article here.
also see our previous post, The Trouble With Percentage Commissions
Apparently Not a Rumor
The blog-o-sphere has been carrying reports for several weeks now about the impending budget revision and upcoming staff cuts at the UJC. Apparently it became ’sort of official’ yesterday.
We’ll stay away from playing the “he said / she said” that will surely continue surrounding this financial crisis and staff upheaval. However, we find one new budget item of the UJC particularly interesting…
according to UJC Chair Joe Kanfer, “the UJC will add a $750,000 e-philanthropy initiative to the budget.”
Maybe, in part, it has to do with this opening, Senior Manager, Ephilanthropy, that the UJC has been trying to fill since before the GA. Among other position responsibilities: to develop, launch and help federations implement strong e-philanthropy initiatives that include data mining, defining target audiences, growing lists and scheduling.
Perhaps they’re on to something……….
Avi Chai Commits $3 Million to New Fellowship Program
The AVI CHAI Foundation has announced that it is allocating up to $1.15 million over the course of the next three years to four individuals and one team of two whom it has selected as the first recipients of The AVI CHAI Fellowship.
The program is unique and constitutes the largest cash award to emerging communal and educational leaders within the North American Jewish community. It has been approved for three award cycles with a financial commitment of approximately $3 million.
More than 40 nominations were submitted by twenty nominators (18 from the U.S. and 2 from Israel).
The AVI CHAI Fellowship was kept under wraps and the nominators and selections committee remained anonymous so the integrity of the nomination and selection process not be compromised. Only when the pool was winnowed down to seven nominees was their involvement solicited.
The AVI CHAI Foundation occupies a singular spot in North American Jewish life. Defining its goals as fostering high levels of Jewish literacy, deepening religious purposefulness and promoting Jewish Peoplehood along with deeper connections to the State of Israel.
AVI CHAI works toward achieving these goals via
- supporting programs in the Jewish day school and camping fields
- strengthening key institutions in these fields
- engaging partners and successors.
“Although the Foundation will cease making grants in 2020,” explains Arthur Fried, AVI CHAI’s Chairman, “its work will be far from completed, for the challenges that confront the Jewish communities where we work are perpetual. It is our desire that the work not end — rather that it be continued by others, who perhaps will be animated by what we have started, and by the standards we have tried to set.
The AVI CHAI Fellowship is intended to be a vehicle for investing in people with vision, creativity, courage, savvy and stamina to try new things, to think outside the conventional boxes or inside them in new ways, and to see opportunities where others see obstacles.”
Each of the AVI CHAI Fellows has demonstrated a track record of commitment towards these ends and although the award - $75K per fellow or team per year - will go towards their proposed activities, the purpose of The Fellowship is to advance and promote the individual winners as important forces in building a vital American Jewish future built upon these values.
We’ll keep you posted on the winners and their projects.
about: The AVI CHAI Foundation, endowed by Zalman C. Bernstein, z”l, is a private foundation operating in Israel, North America and the former Soviet Union. The Foundation is committed to the perpetuation of the Jewish people, Judaism and the centrality of the State of Israel to the Jewish people.
updated May 13th: meet the Fellowship winners here.
The Crisis of American Jewish Philanthropy
From the Jerusalem Post…
“Here is something of a reality check about American Jewish finances. They are not what they used to be. True, we have it easier here than in most places. But across the US, the relentless news is about economic woes, the collapse of the mortgage market and home foreclosures. When traditional news broadcasts offer “consumer segments” about saving on your household grocery bill, something is sad and scary in the US.
Shortly before the recent Wall Street and real estate woes sent jitters through philanthropic organizations in the New York area, some local Jewish federations quietly let it be known that they were short on funds and needs were great. For many who are routinely approached by federations, it sounded like the boy who cried wolf.
SHOULD AMERICAN Jews support the Jewish Agency? It is hard to make that case these days in the metro New York area. The main aliya agency seems to be Nefesh b’Nefesh. The free trips on Birthright Israel for college-age kids are due to the largesse of the mega-donors. And here in the New York area, the idea of Jewish education is less about the Sochnut’s offerings than the bank-breaking tuition at any day school.”
Read the complete article here.
updated May 5th: I do not remember the last time a non-political article from the Israeli papers has been picked up so far and wide. And on a Sunday, no less.
Transparency, or Lack of, in Israel
Transparency in Israeli philanthropy continues to be a big deal in the press as a result of the recent JFN Conference. According to the Forward:
“The Israeli government does not demand the same level of financial reporting of nonprofits as does the United States, and it does not publicly release the financial reports that it does receive, as has become increasingly common in the United States and Great Britain with services like the Web site GuideStar. The result is that transparency and public oversight are often lacking.”
A must read article: As Ranks of Israeli Wealthy Swell, Philanthropic Sector Plays Catch-Up
image source: The Reut Institute
We apologize to the JNF; this was originally posted as the recent JNF Conference; it was the recent JFN Conference that has elicited the various articles.
Around Our Jewish World
Jewish Agency plans large-scale cutbacks
Daphna Berman in Haaretz
“The Jewish Agency will soon be initiating a large-scale cutback in a move that would significantly reduce staff size, chairman Zeev Bielski warned this week. Though he would not specify the number of intended job losses at the organization, he said the cutbacks in the coming weeks would “touch every department in the Jewish Agency.” But he rejected claims the Jewish Agency is on the decline and insisted it remains as relevant as in the years after the establishment of the State, saying the “reduction in manpower” is simply the result of the dollar’s decline.”
click here for the complete story
Israel at 60 logo a no-go for some
Shelly Paz in the JPost
“Want to use Israel’s 60th birthday logo to help spread the celebration? Not so fast. A request by The Jerusalem Post to use it on its Web site revealed this week that specific approval is required for such requests, requiring first navigating a bureaucratic path that may take some of the cheer out of the process.”
click here for more
Pay It Forward; Birthright Style
In an article in this morning’s Jerusalem Post, McGill professor Gil Troy, writes about the Birthright 2.0 challenge:
“The best way to say “thank you” for the Birthright gift is to “pay it forward,” giving something of yourself to other Jews. Charles Bronfman and Michael Steinhardt started this visionary festival of philanthropy which the latest gifts continue. Each of us, whether connected to Birthright or not, should imitate these guerrilla philanthropists. Rather than waiting for permission from the Jewish establishment to lead, they pushed the Jewish establishment to follow.
They and their partners have invested their time, money, passion, and souls into this program. In the process, they not only transformed the Jewish world, but — added bonus — they made the world a better place by triggering a new generation’s idealism and altruism.”
Read the complete JPost article here.
Young Innovators from 12 Countries Receive Support
The Center for Leadership Initiatives announced that 35 young Jewish innovators would receive seed funding for their projects to support the realization of innovative Jewish ideas worldwide. The funds, alongside general support of the overall ROI program, were provided by philanthropist Lynn Shusterman.
Selected projects range from web initiatives to music, art and film, and from community activism and education to environmental projects. Grant recipients are in their twenties or early thirties, and hail from Europe, South America, North America, the FSU, South Africa, and Israel.
According to Yonaton Gordis, Executive Director of the Center for Leadership Initiatives, “The ROI Grants were created to serve as seed funds that will enable ROI members to kick-start their creative projects with minimal paperwork and bureaucracy. Our experience shows that small, very targeted grants can make the difference between an idea and its implementation on the ground. The recognition of these innovators and this fiscal support is often critical to keeping their energies focused on Jewish community.”
The 35 grants were selected from nearly 60 applicants. Special consideration was given to projects that were international collaborations between ROI members. Submitted projects were evaluated for their innovation, their ability to impact audiences beyond the project’s managers, and their potential for future expansion and replication.
Gordis concludes, “These grants demonstrate that there is creative thinking out there that is rooted in strong values. In the hands of these young innovators, the future of the global Jewish community looks very bright.”
Yad Vashem Launches YouTube Channels
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust remembrance and education center in Jerusalem, has launched two YouTube channels in advance of today’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. The channels, in English and Arabic, went live Tuesday. The English channel contains testimonies from Holocaust survivors, including archival footage, historians’ lectures on key issues related to the Holocaust, footage from visits to Yad Vashem, including those of President George W. Bush in January 2008, and Pope John Paul II in March 2000, as well as human interest stories, such as family reunions.
The Arabic channel has testimonies and archival footage about the Holocaust, with Arabic subtitles.
“We know that YouTube is one of the most popular websites today. This is equally true in the United States and Europe as it is in Arabic speaking countries. Unfortunately, there is a plethora of misinformation and deliberate lies available on the Internet. The Yad Vashem channel will counter this material, and make reliable information widely available to anyone who seeks to know more about this terrible chapter in human history,” said Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem.
“By meeting the survivors through their testimonies, and viewing the foremost experts in the field address difficult questions, viewers will be able to connect on yet another level to this pivotal, and defining event.”
Chol HaMoed in Review
We hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable Pesach.
Judging from both our Web traffic counts, and “out-of-office” automated replies, we know many of you took some time off last week. Here, hopefully in easy to read form, is a summary of the various posts added during Chol HaMoed. As you will notice, not much happened in our Jewish world, but a couple of significant studies were released in the broader American philanthropic community you might want to check out.
In Our Global Jewish World:
A New Capacity Building Grant for Birthright Israel
The Birthright Israel Foundation will be the recipient of the largest grant ever provided by the Jim Joseph Foundation. The $17.5 million gift, to be distributed over the next five years, will provide $5 million in trip support, and an additional $12.5 million as a matching grant for building community initiatives among young adults after the trip.
Major Israeli Philanthropist Speaks Out
Oudi Recanati speaks to the Jerusalem Post about a change in mentality among Israeli philanthropists. He believes, Israeli philanthropists should take the lead in Jewish philanthropy in order to inspire overseas Jews to do the same. “If Jews don’t give to their own, no one else will.”
PresenTense and New Voices publish new editions.
A new image and marketing campaign, timed for Israel’s 60th, for the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute.
Just for Fun:
High above Tel Aviv…