Good Tuesday morning!

Most Americans don’t know how charitable foundations and donor-advised funds (DAFs) work – but once informed, they think that the philanthropic system should be more regulated, says a survey by Ipsos published this month. 

Just 19% of respondents knew what a DAF was, but once informed about DAFs and private foundations, 81% of respondents said that wealthy donors shouldn’t get tax breaks to create foundations; 69% said foundations and DAFs should have a minimum 10% annual grant payout rate; and 72% support making DAFs give money within two to five years of receiving donations.

A potential side effect of regulation would be less philanthropy, said Andrés Spokoiny, CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, an umbrella group for private foundations. “If these policies get enacted, I think that the Jewish community will have a loss of giving,” he said. “Based on what we know from donors, any restriction has a chilling effect” on charitable giving.

The poll comes amid a debate over the benefits and costs of DAFs. Donors currently don’t have to give from their DAFs within any specific time frame, which has sparked accusations that wealthy Americans are hoarding money in the funds for tax benefits, rather than for charitable purposes.

In response, bills seeking to regulate DAFs were introduced in the House of Representatives and Senate over the past year to force DAFs to disburse funding within 15 or 50 years, depending on the type of fund, among other changes that aim to compel more giving.

“Charitable organizations are life-changing and lifesaving,” Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), who co-introduced the bill with Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), said in a statement. Pingree said DAFs “[give] the wealthy generous tax breaks for their charitable contributions but [are] not ensuring those funds help anyone in need. Our half-century old philanthropy laws must be reformed to correct this fundamental flaw in our current system.”

The Ipsos results should be taken “with a lot of salt,” Spokoiny said, noting the low percentage of respondents who were previously aware of DAFs. The survey had 1,005 respondents and a margin of error of 3.5%.

Spokoiny also feels critics overstate the problem, and pointed to a 2021 study from the National Philanthropic Trust, a public charity and philanthropy research organization, showing that DAFs had a payout rate of 23.8% in 2020 – more than double the mandatory payout rate that respondents told Ipsos they support. Meanwhile, private endowed foundations had an average payout rate of 7.3% that year, according to a survey by Candid.

DAFs hold roughly $160 billion in assets, compared to $1.1 trillion in private foundations, according to the National Philanthropic Trust report

“The truth is that most people using donor-advised funds are not billionaires,” Spokoiny said. “They’re folks for whom it’s too costly or too complicated to open their own foundation. They have an extra $5,000 and they want to do philanthropy with it.”

SHALOM, FRIENDS

Miriam Anzovin, TikTok Daf Yomi star, to join Moishe House

Courtesy of Miriam Anzovin

Miriam Anzovin, a writer, visual artist and creator of the wildly popular “Daf Reactions” series on TikTok, says she exists “at the intersection of Sefaria and Sephora” — the online library of Jewish texts and the cosmetics company, respectively. Now, she’ll be the new artist-in-residence at Moishe House, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Esther D. Kustanowitz.

Viral Talmud: Anzovin uses her own authentic, informal millennial sensibility — grounded in her eclectic Jewish journey from being a self-described “formerly Orthodox person” to a secular atheist — to analyze pages of Talmud in viral social media videos. She shared the Moishe House news in a video post with her community of more than 17,000 followers on TikTok who devour and react to her 21st-century approach to Daf Yomi, the practice of learning a two-sided page of Talmud daily. She started that announcement video, as she does all her videos, with her now-classic opening line, “Shalom, friends.”

Authentic reaction: “I don’t call myself a teacher of Talmud, by any means,” Anzovin told eJP on Monday. “I react to what I’m learning and I share those reactions. I can teach people how to do what I do: discover an authentic personal reaction and pull that out as they’re going through the learning. But it requires a great deal more learning and experience and knowledge than I currently possess to say that I’m a teacher of Talmud…I am shocked to discover I inspire people to learn. I’m happy to have them along on this journey. It’s a part of my learning journey. But this response is a form of art.”

Read the full story here.

GEN-Z CRISIS

Reaching the right audience

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“Ten years ago, we gathered on the blacktop outside our schools, or we hung out at the JCC or we spent time in Hebrew school surrounded by friends, parents and students older and younger than us. We absorbed every word amongst the chatter, every idea and value. This is how we learned. Little did we know how lucky we were to be influenced solely by the people around us — people we knew and trusted. Our community,” write Spencer Solomon, marketing and communications specialist, and Lenny Silberman CEO, of Lost Tribe, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

Influencer culture: “Today, with the ubiquity of social media and the rise of influencer culture, Jewish parents and teens do not have that comfort. Influencers on social media can have as much impact on teens as the people around them in their daily lives — maybe more.”

Anti-Israel rhetoric: “Many Jewish teens follow A-list influencers who routinely propagate anti-Israel rhetoric. When Jewish teens see these messages from personalities they look up to, it profoundly impacts their perception of Israel and, in turn, their connection to Judaism.” 

Time’s running out: “Let’s be clear: anti-Israel sentiment in social media and influencer culture is leading a generation of Jewish North American teens to turn their back on Israel. If the Jewish community does not adapt and combat this movement, the impact as Gen-Z moves into adulthood may be catastrophic.”

Read the full piece here.

Worthy Reads

Gen-Z Clout: “For nonprofits, there’s an exciting future event to prepare for. It’s an event that brings together all the most influential factors that speak particularly to nonprofits,” writes Chris Foster, in NonProfitPro. The event Foster refers to is the growing influence of Gen Z, the largest consumer group in the U.S., on philanthropy. “The sheer number of Gen Zers moving into positions of income and influence will send shockwaves across the entire economy. For nonprofits, this represents an unprecedented opportunity to tap into the natural behaviors, patterns and interests that are being revealed,” according to Foster. Pointing out that this generation is comfortable with monthly installments and payment apps, he posits that monthly recurring donations could be an easy sell. As a generation that leans into loyalty programs, they are willing to be engaged. “This generation is looking for a relationship beyond a transaction. They’re seeking more meaningful connections with the brands they choose, and that means the nonprofits, too. So keep in touch with regularity. Show them stories they can connect with throughout the weeks and months. And, when you’re able to link their involvement ($10/month) to a specific outcome you’re driving (20 meals for a food-insecure family of four) and show their loyalty is making a continued, positive difference, you’ll look and feel like their favorite brand’s loyalty program.”[NonProfitPRO]

Pic of the Day

Margarita Corporan Event Photography

Forty Holocaust survivors and their spouses – most of whom live below the poverty line in Brooklyn – traveled to the Catskills last week for their first vacation in years. The retreat, organized by The Blue Card, was the organization’s first Catskills retreat since the COVID-19 shutdown.