Five days into Israel’s conflict with Iran, scenes of destruction from direct ballistic missile hits in Tel Aviv and other metropolitan centers, and a climbing number of civilian casualties have sent shockwaves through the Israeli and Jewish communities. 

As Diaspora funders look for ways to provide support, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim spoke with Andrés Spokoiny, president and CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, about crisis funding “do”s and “don’t”s, the best channels through which to direct giving and takeaways from the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terror attacks.

The interview has been edited for clarity.

Nira Dayanim: What are you hearing from the philanthropy field? 

Andres Spokoiny: As always, when there’s a crisis in Israel, people are asking how they can help. The truth is that this is an evolving crisis, and the ways to help are still being figured out. We are trying to guide them as best as we can, in coordination with the ideas from the Home Front Command and the relevant authorities and the civil society and the like. So far, I can tell you about the needs that are slowly emerging, knowing that this can change tomorrow. 

In a crisis like this, we recommend that funders pace themselves. We don’t know if the crisis is going to last for a week or for a year. 

ND: What are some of the funding needs that are already coming up? What are some “do”s and “don’t”s when responding to a crisis like this?

AS: There are a number of very punctual needs. For example, there are people stranded in Israel and outside of Israel, like participants on Birthright trips and volunteers, and Israelis who can’t go back home. These people will need assistance. But those are immediate issues.

Secondly, this crisis comes after the cumulative effect of years of enormous stress and disruption. So it’s not just this crisis, it’s compounded with what we’ve been living through in the last couple of years. So when we talk about mental health, for example, this is yet another layer of trauma and stress that piles onto the existing trauma. 

Another thing that we tell people is that in moments of crisis, you need to look at the most vulnerable in society, because they generally suffer the most. Sometimes it’s because of social and economic issues. Sometimes it’s because of physical issues. If you’re elderly and frail, you’re gonna have trouble running to the shelter, and you need special assistance. If you are sick either physical or psychologically, you’re gonna experience stress in a very difficult, different way. So all this to say that we recommend folks to be extra alert to the needs of those segments of the population. 

It is important to check on your grantees, to offer them support, to tell them that you’re there for them. First of all, they are suffering the cumulative effect of two years of high stress, and they have to continue their work under very difficult personal circumstances. For instance, my Israel director, for example — her husband is currently out of the country. One of her children has been fighting in Gaza for two years now. She doesn’t have a shelter at home, so she has to actually run to the shelter every time there’s an alarm. And she continues working. Many people have a similar story. It’s important for funders to check with them, and to offer assistance. 

One particular issue that we’re looking at is that many communities, especially in the Arab sector, don’t have appropriate shelters. They were considered low risk, and for all sorts of historical reasons, they don’t have the infrastructure. It’s important to make sure that those populations have adequate shelter. During the last couple of years, when we were receiving rockets from Hezbollah and Hamas, the solution was to create mobile shelters. But those are not adequate against, you know, ballistic missiles. So, folks are scrambling to provide that. 

And eventually the question will become how long the crisis lasts and how much destruction and disruption is there to rebuild and reconstruct? 

ND: What channels do you recommend for those looking to provide immediate support, and to what degree is that still a developing situation?

AS: It’s still developing as always. I would suggest for others to be… not suspicious, but cautious when it comes to pop-up initiatives. Generally, it’s much better when in the acute phase of a crisis to default to well established organizations that have a presence on the ground, that have an infrastructure, and paid staff and the like.

There is always a mushrooming of grassroots initiative, and that’s great, but for overseas funders those are very hard to parse out, and in many cases, they’re run by people with the best of intentions, but aren’t necessarily effective without infrastructure.

We’re only a few days into this. So what most funders need to do now is to stay tuned. Keep talking to their grantees and listening to folks who are unbiased. Providers of information, all the local federations and classic agencies like the [American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee] that can provide objective information.Then look at what the long-term needs are.

Sometimes people want to act because doing something reduces anxiety. But it’s also important  to wait and see the best use of your resources. 

ND: We’re at this unique moment where we have another intense crisis in recent memory — we’re still in the aftermath of Oct. 7. Then here comes this massive second wave. In your perspective, are there any lessons and takeaways from Oct. 7 that can be applied to this situation?

AS: The one that first comes to mind is the mechanisms of communication and coordination that were honed after Oct. 7. They’re very effective, and they help a lot. So, for example, funders talk amongst ourselves much more than we used to, and we coordinate much more. I would encourage folks to do that both among funders and among nonprofits. Many of the mechanisms that were created right in the aftermath of October 7 were rapidly brought back over the last couple of days. 

For example, at JFN, we’re part of a group that brings together major civil society organizations, the Home Front Command, the relevant government ministries, and even the business sector of Israel for a round table. We brought it back together very fast, and that’s been a source of coordination. 

So those things are important. Also, as I was saying before in every crisis there are different phases.One of the things that we learned on Oct. 7 is that there’s that funders need to think long term, respond to the emergency, but also be aware that there’s going to be need for reconstruction later.

The magnitude was different. After Oct. 7, we were talking about hundreds of thousands of people who were displaced. But now we’ve learned, for example, what are the needs of people who get displaced? We’re talking about hundreds of displaced people. Maybe it’s going to get to a few thousand, hopefully not more than that. But some of the lessons are very important. For example, if you put 500 displaced people into a hotel, you don’t only need to give them food and toiletries. You need to buy something for the children, and you need to provide psychological support and things like that. So those are lessons that can be deployed now. Needless to say, what the government has learned is a different story. The rescue services, the Magen David Adom, all these people have their own lessons.