A Snapshot of Jewish Next Gen Donors

21/64 and the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy have released The Future of Jewish Giving.

from the introduction:

Jewish funders have, over many generations, built a Jewish nonprofit infrastructure that is considered a model across the United States and beyond. Will this infrastructure be sustained in the coming decades? Research has shown that Jews in the next generation are becoming less interested in formal religious practice and are distancing themselves from Israel. What does this mean for Jewish philanthropy?

Will the next generation, which is more interested in informal experiences of Jewishness, continue to fund Jewish life? How does coming of age in an American society largely free of barriers to inclusion influence interests and involvements? We know something of the priorities of established major Jewish philanthropists but very little about their children and grandchildren, or about those who have only recently created their own wealth.

We have written this report to better understand what kind of philanthropy we can expect from the rising generations of major Jewish donors in Generations X and Y. Do they care about Jewish causes, or are they disinterested in particularistic giving? Will they continue the giving legacies and strategies of their parents and grandparents, or do they want to go in new directions? Have they been welcomed into their families’ philanthropy to perpetuate family legacies, or left out of leadership roles as their parents and grandparents continue to make the majority of family giving decisions?

Based on new analysis of data we collected for a report published earlier this year, Next Gen Donors: Respecting Legacy, Revolutionizing Philanthropy, this report examines the ways in which these high-capacity, Jewish next gen donors think about and experience philanthropy. We hone in on the ways they learn about giving, are motivated to give, and want to approach their own philanthropy.

We have conducted this in-depth look at Jewish next gen donors to provide insight into an important cohort of donors that stands to affect major giving to the Jewish community and the larger society for decades to come.

The complete report, The Future of Jewish Giving, is available for download.