Your Daily Phil: Survey: Nearly 40% of Jewish groups got new donors post-Oct. 7
Good Wednesday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews’ latest donation to United Hatzalah and the Chicago Jewish community’s frustration with the mayor’s omission of a shooting victim’s Jewish identity. We feature an opinion piece by Laura Herman and Deirdre Munley about how the chavruta study model can boost workplace relationships, and another by Chari Pere with Allison Tombros Korman in honor of Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month. Also in this newsletter: MacKenzie Scott, Tom Rosenberg and John (Five for Fighting) Ondrasik. We’ll start with a new study of Jewish philanthropy post-Oct. 7.
Nearly 40% of Jewish organizations have received donations from new sources since the Oct. 7 terror attacks, according to a recent survey by the CCS Fundraising consulting firm. This represents a significant opportunity to expand their donor pool — provided they are able to capitalize on it, one of the authors of the study told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
“I think we’re seeing large philanthropists across the country give more Jewishly because this has really hit home,” said Douglas London, managing director of the Chicago-based CCS Fundraising.
“We found that about 37% of organizations saw new donors since Oct. 7. So it was an opportunity for donor acquisition for organizations large and small. The challenge is that many of these organizations are not equipped to cultivate and steward donors at the level for which they received gifts,” he said.
The study, which was conducted between May 20 and June 10, surveyed 73 organizations across the United States, including synagogues, foundations, schools, federations, advocacy groups and campus organizations, with operating budgets ranging from less than $1 million to more than $500 million. Most of the respondents from the organizations were either the heads of fundraising or the top executive.
The study tracked giving patterns from Oct. 2023 to May 2024, looking at changes to “philanthropic income” during that period, as well as the types of donors and the mission of the receiving organization.
Unsurprisingly, most organizations — 56% — reported the greatest increase in donations in the three months immediately following the Oct. 7 attacks, followed by a dip in the beginning of 2024. Also perhaps expectedly, the early months of the war saw an increase in donations to organizations with a focus on Israel, the report found. Among Israel-focused groups, 57% reported an increase in support to their annual fund, compared to 19% of non-Israel-focused organizations that saw a rise in donations. Most non-Israel-focused groups — 52% — reported no change in their support.
In addition to the 37% of organizations that reported receiving gifts from new donors, 27% reported receiving greater donations from existing ones.
“Those gifts might just be a one-time gift because they wanted to do something to support Israel and they’re never going to give again… I would imagine that of the new donors, at least half of them are going to be one-time donors, and I think that’s pretty standard with crisis giving… I think that that will be the case for many. But there will be some that will be retained,” London said.
“[Organizations should be] thinking about how we build relationships with all of those donors to ensure that they’re converted into lifetime donors. There has to not just be a passion for Israel and the Jewish people, it needs to stem beyond that crisis moment.”
HELP ON THE WAY
IFCJ donates 25 new emergency vehicles to United Hatzalah to boost group’s capacity
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews provided 25 new emergency vehicles equipped with medical gear to United Hatzalah this week to boost the emergency response service’s operational capacity, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
Heals on wheels: The $2 million donation comprised 23 Kia Stonic subcompact SUVs, outfitted with resuscitation kits, defibrillators, ceramic vests, cameras and communications equipment, as well as two 4×4 vehicles that will be provided to volunteer physicians for more complicated emergency scenarios.“The new emergency vehicles will help our committed volunteers across the country reach emergencies more quickly and save many lives,” Eli Beer, the founder and president of United Hatzalah, said at the ceremony where the vehicles were handed over.
Reality requires: “The reality over the past year, where one emergency event follows another without pause, required us at the fellowship to adapt, identify and address the critical needs of the people of Israel,” Yael Eckstein, president of IFCJ, said in a statement. “It is such an honor for us, representing our over 700,000 donors around the world, to partner with United Hatzalah and to take part in the most important mission of all — saving lives. The fellowship will continue to support all of our emergency and rescue partners in the field and give them the tools needed to respond in real time.”
EMPTY WORDS
Jewish community slams Chicago Mayor Johnson after shooting of Jewish man
Chicago’s Jewish Community Relations Council, Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee chapters slammed Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday for failing to “acknowledge the Jewish community” in a statement that he released three days after a Muslim man shot a Jewish man who was walking to synagogue on Saturday in West Rogers Park, home to one of the city’s largest Orthodox Jewish populations, reports Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
Feeling invisible: Sarah van Loon, regional director of AJC Chicago, condemned Johnson’s omission of the victim’s Jewish identity in an interview with JI. “I’m deeply troubled that Mayor Johnson can’t name that the victim was visibly Jewish and walking to synagogue on Shabbat,” van Loon said. “It just feels like one more opportunity that would have been so easy for him to recognize the Jewish community of Chicago that has been hurting so much this past year, and yet again our pain is invisible to him [even though] the Jewish community is super active in Chicago.”
No words or action: Chicago’s Jewish leaders have also expressed disappointment that the shooting has not yet been charged as a hate crime.
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
PAIRING OFF
Reimagining supervision through chavruta
“Much has been written about the power of chavruta, paired learning centered on Jewish texts. Chavruta is a form of dialogue, between the study partners and with the text itself. Its virtues have been extolled in commentary dating back to the Talmud. Many Jewish educational settings employ it as a pedagogic tool and while some, like the Jewish Learning Collaborative, have brought chavruta into Jewish communal workplaces, it is not yet the norm to use it as a tool to enhance workplace success,” write Laura Herman and Deirdre Munley of JPro in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Deepening relationships: “In our experience, using chavruta within our supervisor/direct report relationship has opened up new ways for us to relate to one another and engage with deep, complex topics. As professionals dedicated to supporting Jewish workplaces and their staff, we offer our experience to encourage others to explore whether this centuries-old tradition might similarly benefit your own relationships with your team members.”
New possibilities: “I see the supervisor/supervisee relationship as a partnership, centered, of course, on getting the work done. Using chavruta to enhance this relationship has the potential to create space for different types of conversations and interactions.”
WORDS AND DEEDS
As women’s reproductive choices diminish, our Jewish values demand we step up
“Ten years ago, at a routine prenatal checkup, I received devastating news: my much-wanted pregnancy was no longer viable. The doctor’s words still echo in my ears: If my body didn’t “take care of it,” I might have to make ‘decisions’… I was ‘lucky,’ if you can call it that. My body miscarried, sparing me from making that heart-wrenching decision. But the experience was still traumatic, painful and terrifying… This personal experience led me to create the ‘Unspoken’ cartoon series, giving voice to others’ reproductive health stories,” writes Chari Pere with Allison TombrosKorman, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy in honor of Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month.
Helping out: “Yet today, thousands if not millions of women are having this right stripped away, even when their lives or future reproductive capabilities are in danger… To address this crisis, organizations like the Red Tent Fund are stepping up. As a national abortion fund guided by Jewish values, the Red Tent funds abortion procedures for all people, no matter their religious or political affiliation, to ensure that economics don’t keep abortion access out of reach.”
Normalize the conversation: “But funding isn’t enough. We need to change the conversation. Unlike the doctor who nervously talked about ‘making decisions,’ we can’t be scared to discuss miscarriage and abortion openly. These are normal parts of healthcare, and hiding them away only increases stigma and isolation.”
Worthy Reads
Trust the Process: In Town & Country, Andrew Zucker examines billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s unique style of “trust-based” giving. “[The] 54-year-old Scott, an American Book Award–winning author, has doled out more than $17 billion to thousands of charitable organizations, oftentimes surprising them with the gifts. The scale of Scott’s no-strings-attached giving is unheard of even in the high-flying world of gazillionaires… While [Cecilia Conrad, whose organization, Lever for Change, which matches philanthropists with nonprofits, received a grant from Scott in 2021 and helped her dish out $640 million to charities in 2024,] doesn’t expect every Giving Pledge signer to adopt Scott’s ‘trust-based’ philanthropic style, which emphasizes each non-profit’s role in allocating a gift, she does believe megadonors are listening more to organizations’ needs. ‘There has been, in my mind, a slow movement—but it’s a movement—toward giving more freedom to organizations to define what the work will be,’ Conrad says. ‘I think there’s an openness to recognizing that the expertise resides with the organizations and not necessarily with the very smart person who made lots of money.’” [Town&Country]
Ditch the Jargon: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Jeff Raderstrong argues against relying on vague acronyms and technical terms in favor of clear, accurate phrasing. “Last month, while editing a grant report for a nonprofit client, the development director asked me to remove all mentions of ‘BIPOC.’ I should have been surprised since the organization works to improve racial equity, but I wasn’t. In recent months, I’ve seen similar language shifts from many clients who work on racial justice issues… This editing exercise also offered a lesson in the benefits of clear language beyond grant reports. Leaning on overused words, acronyms, and cliches obfuscates a nonprofit’s intentions both on and off the page, causing it to lose sight of its goals… Nonprofits too often use language as placeholders for concepts that have lost meaning. If they can’t speak directly about the work they’re doing or the problems at hand, how can they create programs to address them? Since this op-ed is about clarity, I’ll be clear: I’m not suggesting anyone stop supporting BIPOC organizations or individuals. Just the opposite. If we bring clarity of language to our work, we’ll accomplish more for the people who benefit from our actions.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Around the Web
The Claims Conference launched a new mixed-reality project, “Inside Kristallnacht,” to teach young people about the Nazi pogrom ahead of its 86th anniversary; the program was piloted at a high school in Germany and was then brought to the United States, beginning at the Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, N.Y.…
Tom Rosenberg is stepping down as CEO of the American Camp Association; Henry DeHart, the organization’s COO, will serve as interim CEO as its board of directors launches a search for Rosenberg’s successor…
The Chabad of Columbia University donated an ambulance to the Magen David Adom emergency service on behalf of the school’s Jewish community…
Non-Jewish singer-songwriter John Ondrasik released a new song about the hostages being held in Gaza, titled “Song for the Hostages”; Ondrasik also wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post about his reasons for writing the song…
The Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis appointed J. David Levy as the next board chair of the Michael and Barbara Newmark Institute for Human Relations…
The Washington Jewish Week spotlights a surge in Jewish engagement in Northern Virginia in recent months…
ILGA World, which advocates globally for LGBT rights, rejected Tel Aviv’s bid to host its 2026/2027 conference and apologized to its members for even considering the request, saying that doing so “would have been at odds with the unequivocal solidarity for the Palestinian people”; the organization also suspended The Aguda – The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel from its ranks…
Pic of the Day
Rabbi Avi Killip, executive vice president of the Manhattan-based Hadar Institute, celebrates both the arrival of a new Sefer Torah and the inauguration of Hadar’s new Upper West Side home at Congregation Shaare Zedek, 24 blocks from its previous location at West End Synagogue.
The egalitarian yeshiva, which is working to raise $1 million to renovate its new space and enhance its online learning offerings, celebrated the new location and new Torah scroll with speeches, as well as singing and dancing in the building and outside on the street.
The Torah scroll was donated by the Schiller family in memory of Martin Schiller, a Polish-born Holocaust survivor.
Birthdays
Former CEO and later executive chairman of Qualcomm, he is a co-owner of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, Paul E. Jacobs…
Winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for his biographies of Robert Moses and President Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert Caro… Former president of the University of Minnesota, chancellor of the University of Texas System and president of the University of California, Mark Yudof… Actor, best known for his portrayal of “The Fonz” in the “Happy Days” sitcom, Henry Winkler… NBC’s anchor and journalist, Andrea Mitchell… South African-born rabbi, now leading Kehillat Bnei Aharon in Raanana, Israel, David Lapin… Professor of physics at Syracuse University, Peter Reed Saulson… Former basketball player for five seasons with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, now a managing director at CBIZ, Joel Bruce Kramer… Israeli violinist, violist and conductor who appears in concerts around the world, Shlomo Mintz… Meat packing executive, sentenced to 27 years in prison in 2009 for fraud, his sentence was commuted by President Trump in 2017 after serving eight years, Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin… Partner in the DC office of Cadwalader, he previously served as the attorney general of Maryland, Douglas F. “Doug” Gansler… Partner and co-founder of the Irvine, California law firm of Wolfe & Wyman, Stuart B. Wolfe… Global head of public policy at Apollo Global Management, David Krone… White House correspondent for The New York Times and a political analyst for CNN, Maggie Haberman… Principal and managing consultant at Korn Ferry, Jeremy Seth Gold… Assistant secretary for investment security at the U.S. Treasury, Paul M. Rosen… Public information officer of the City and County of Denver, Joshua Eric Rosenblum… Ivanka ‘Yael’ Trump… Founding director at Tech Tribe and director of social media for Chabad, Mordechai Lightstone… Politico reporter covering races in the U.S. House of Representatives, Ally Mutnick… Managing director at DC-based Targeted Victory, Rebecca Schieber Brown…
