One of several worth reading pieces on the fallout from the Madoff fiasco.

from Haaretz:

Madoff scandal sews fundraiser fears, but others see opportunity for change

Professionals in the Jewish philanthropy world are divided over the fallout from the brewing Madoff scandal. While some fear Israel will bear the brunt of the dwindling pie of donations, others see an opportunity to revamp an inefficient fundraising system..

“The newspapers focus only on the names and numbers of those who lost money, but they are all miss one of the most important element of this crisis,” said an Anglo fundraiser who works for some of Israel’s leading not-for-profit organizations but asked not to be identified. “The American Jews are going to suck the money out of the pipeline because they need it in order to keep the American system from collapsing. In other words,” he says unequivocally, “the Israeli organizations will have to suffer”…

So what is to be done? Instead of merely bewailing the shrinking pie, the Jewish philanthropy world should be reformed, said (Avraham) Infeld. “This is an opportunity to rebuild the whole non-profit organization system,” he said. “Philanthropists are going to be much more wary of where they’re giving money. In order to survive this totally new environment, all non-profits should begin to ask themselves: how do we rebuild ourselves? How do we merge? How do we create less competition? How can we cooperate?”