Washington Jewish Week • October 11, 2012 B1Charitable Giving

by Meredith JacobsManaging Editor

In the 1970s, a group of self-describedcounter culturalists created their own

way of giving — one that allowed them toincrease their impact on causes they be-lieved in. By combining gis, this “givingcircle” of friends gave voice to their beliefsin how organizations should be run andhow their money should be distributed.irty six years later, they and their ideasare part of the “establishment,” and their cir-cle keeps giving.

As a young man, Bruce Waxman, now 70and a semi-retired attorney in Fairfax, wasa member of the D.C. chavurah, Fabrangen.With a young demographic, Fabrangen,Waxman believes, “was the precursor toSixth & I.” Coming out of the protest move-ments of the 1960s, Fabrangen membersspoke in favor of a two-state solution andagainst the Vietnam war. Waxman, a Viet-nam veteran, was “accused of being a toolfor Hanoi.”

e group of approximately 20 membersdavened in the offices of the Religious Ac-tion Committee. is was a group dedicated

to Judaism, and the mitzvah of tzedakah(charity) was an integral part of their Jewishlives. “e idea of having a full Jewish life,you do things religious, you give tzedakah,”Waxman explains.

But they needed their own take ontzedekah. “We came out of that counter cul-ture. We didn’t feel UJA represented theJewish community. We thought they wereonly giving to organizations that towed theJewish line.” us was born the FabrangenTzedakah Collective, and by creating theirown giving circle, the group was able topress organizations about matters like thepercentage of women on their boards.

Judy Sofer, a founder along with Wax-man, has a slightly different take on the col-lective’s genesis. “A long time ago, in the 70s,there were retreats of people who weremembers of chavurot — from Boston, NewYork, D.C., maybe even Annapolis andPhiladelphia. We got together a few times atWeiss’ Farm in New Jersey. It was a placewhere Jewish groups would have meetings,nothing fancy. An idea that came out of oneof the Weiss’ Farm retreats was the idea of atzedekah collective. We were part of Fab-rangen, and we came home and started it.”

Of all the tzedakah collectives or givingcircles that were inspired by the retreat,Sofer believes the Fabrangen Tzedakah Col-lective is the only one still in existence. egroup recently made its 74th allocation andestimates its total giving at well over a mil-lion dollars. According to Eugene Sofer, thegroup’s coordinator and husband of Judy, inthe 2011 Chanukah allocation, 42 house-holds gave $52,000.

“We’re committed, we’re stubborn,” shesays. eir ability to evolve is a reason bothshe and Waxman give to credit theirlongevity.

In the beginning, they tried to come toconsensus about who to give to and howmuch to give. “We weren’t talking aboutamounts that were earth-shattering,” saysSofer, “but we spent a lot of time doing that.At the end of the day, we realized that didn’tmake much sense.” ey decided their timeand energy would be better spent learningabout and keeping up with the groups.

“is was before the Internet,” Waxmannotes of trying to find potential charities.

October 11, 2012 • Washington Jewish WeekB2 Charitable Giving

CharitableGiving

A history of giving

See GIVING, next page

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Washington Jewish Week • October 11, 2012 B3Charitable Giving

CharitableGiving

“We were all activists, we all knew groups.Max and Esther Ticktin had friends in Israelso along came New Israel Fund.” ose withconnections to a group would make a re-port, if no one was connected, someone wasassigned. ey would do research, report tothe group and the lists would be created.

Which gets to the heart of the benefit of agiving circle. “You maximize your ability.You get solicitations but you don’t knowwho they are or what they’re about,” he con-tinues. “If you have more people, you cando that research.”

And with more people comes leverage.“You’re making a greater donation, so wecan ask things like ‘How come you don’thave women on your board?’ Or, if it’s not aJewish group, ‘What’s your relationship tothe Jewish community?’ But we never said‘If you don’t do something, we won’t giveyou money.’ ”

Both the Sofers and Waxman state thegroup focuses on two overarching cate-gories —Jewish and general, with subgroupsfor Jewish including local and national andU.S.-based organizations that focus on Is-rael issues and Israeli organizations. Gen-eral has three subgroups: housing, hunger,homelessness, employment and health (allD.C.-based or servicing metropolitan D.C.);services for children and families; and in-ternational assistance. Over the years, theyhave made donations to groups like DCScores, North American Conference forEthiopian Jewry, B’Tselem, JUFJ, AVO-DAH, and the Jewish Arab community cen-ter in Ramallah — to name only a few. eydescribe their giving to Jewish causes butequally important to causes where they be-lieve a Jewish presence is important.

“So, for example, improving lives forlower income people. We felt it importantfor there to be a Jewish presence on thefront lines of these issues,” explains GeneSofer.

“ese are not only Jewish causes, theseare causes in our community and ourworld,” says Alys Cohen, a public interest at-torney in Takoma Park, who at 46, is amongthe younger members of the collective.“Many of the places we give are placeswhere people from other communities needhelp. ese are progressive causes that sitwith our world view.”

Cohen feels privileged to be a part of agroup that has been around and is so

thoughtful and so committed aer all theseyears. Both she and the man who was to be-come her husband were members of thechavurah when they learned about the col-lective. “What we liked about it was the op-portunity to give as Jews and have the Jewishcommunity give money not only to Jewishcauses but social justice and tikkun olamcauses in the name of Jewish community.”

“e other big thing we wanted to doearly on is to give to groups that are startingout with good ideas and prospects but notyet in a place where they can raise a lot ofmoney, where they don’t yet have thatfundraising capacity,” explains Judy Sofer.“For example, we gave to House of Ruthwhen they were just starting out. It soundsironic that we sometimes will take a groupoff that becomes more established.”

ey also like to give to groups wheretheir relatively small donation will make abig impact or to needs, such as overhead, forwhich it’s hard to raise money.

en, as today, they have two allocationtimes — Chanukah and Shavuot. Lists areformed and distributed to the members.Each member then individually decides towhom to give and how much. ere is alsothe option of making a donation to theTzedakah Collective and let the group de-cide how to disburse the money. Donationsare made to the collective and then thetreasurer cuts the checks to the organiza-tions.

“We gave a percentage,” explains Waxmanof the collective’s beginning years. “If youdidn’t have a lot, you gave small. When youhad more, you gave more. It’s not a cook-book. is is what worked for us. No onesaid show us your tax return. If you said thisis what I make, that was it.”

Of being part of a giving circle, Waxmansays, “you have to have the right attitude —take tzedakah and giving seriously. If youdo, you benefit in many ways. You fulfill therequirement, the mitzvah of givingtzedakah. But you become more aware. Youcan’t help but have your consciousnessheightened when you talk to people in agroup about giving tzedakah.”

According to Judy Sofer, the oldest mem-ber of the group just turned 90. ey wereall in their 20s and early 30s when theyfounded the Fabrangen Tzedakah Collec-tive. But they celebrate their double chai an-niversary because, as she says, “e needsare still there. e importance of tzedakahis still there. We felt it was important fromthe minute we started doing this, so we keptdoing it.”

GIVING

from previous page

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October 11, 2012 • Washington Jewish WeekB4 Charitable Giving

CharitableGiving

by Cnaan LiphshizJTA News and Features

Wearing an elegant dress and a nametag, Dasha Fedoseeva flitted among

the tables during a recent Jewish communitydinner in Moscow just aer Rosh Hashanah.

Fedoseeva wasn’t just a guest. She was partof a team of young Jewish volunteers whosegoal was to mingle and charm older guestsinto increasing their donations to local Jew-ish charities.

Organized by the Russian Jewish Con-gress, the gala dinner and auction raised$85,000. In 2011, the Congress allocated$385,000 to a Jewish orphanage in Moscow— all the money was raised locally infundraising drives.

e raising of substantial funds locally isa sign of something that was almost un-thinkable just a few years ago in former So-viet bloc countries. For years, the Jewishcommunities there subsisted on Westernhelp for welfare and community building.

But as these communities grow up, they arebecoming increasingly self-reliant — some-thing that’s evident both in the growing cul-ture of local volunteerism and homegrownphilanthropy.

“Over the past few years, we see more vol-unteering by young Jews and more dona-tions, which are aspects of the same trend ofgiving,” said Matvey Chlenov, deputy direc-tor of the Russian Jewish Congress.

“In the 1990s there was a feeling we werestruggling to survive in the post-communistupheaval,” he said. “Now in Russia we havemore time and money, and some people arelooking for a way to do positive things forthe community.”

Chlenov says this applies not only to Jewsbut to Russian society in general.

In Ukraine, a $70 million Jewish commu-nity center in Dnepropetrovsk due to bededicated this month was funded entirely bylocal philanthropists. Elsewhere in Ukraine,JCCs are encouraging activism and philan-thropy among young Jews while accustom-ing older members to paying fees.

In Poland, the Ameri-can Jewish Joint Distribu-tion Committee recentlyreceived its first signifi-cant donation from a localphilanthropist.

Promoters of Jewish lifein Eastern Europe say thatgetting people to donatetime and money is diffi-cult in the former Sovietbloc, where bitter memo-ries of “forced volunteer-ing” remain, and there isdeep-rooted skepticism inthe idea of sacrificing forthe common good.

“Former Soviet coun-tries have little culture ofgiving or volunteering,and I know exactly why,” said KarinaSokolowska, director of the Poland officeof the JDC. “Growing up in communistPoland, I remember attending ‘compul-sory-voluntary action’ every month. We

would go somewhere and do what theytold us. It profoundly affects your attitude

In Eastern Europe, giving andvolunteerism is taking root

See ROOT, next page

Dasha Fedoseeva, standing, was among the volunteers at the RoshHashanah auction and gala fundraiser at Moscow's RadissonRoyal Hotel last month. e money went to benefit a Jewish or-phanage.

Photos by Ilya Dolgopolsky

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Washington Jewish Week • October 11, 2012 B5Charitable Giving

CharitableGiving

to community work.”Mariya Zarud, 22, of

Odessa, encounteredthis barrier to commu-nity work at home.

Zarud, the regionalcoordinator for theJDC-funded Metzudaprogram for developingJewish leadership, saidshe had to plead withher parents to convincethem that her unpaidrole in the Jewish com-munity was a goodthing.

“Initially it was prettytough. I had to makethem see I wasn’t wast-ing my time,” Zarudsaid of her teen years,when she first becameinvolved with JDC pro-grams. Like many peo-ple who grew up undercommunism, her parents were wary of or-ganizational activism, she said.

While her parents’ generation looksaskance at volunteering, young Jews recog-nize that it is up to them — not just interna-tional Jewish aid groups — to build theircommunities, she says.

In Odessa, the Beit Grand Jewish Com-munity Center, which was dedicated in 2010thanks to American Jewish donations, col-lects fees for all cultural activities, accordingto Ira Zborovskaya of the local JDC office.

“Even if it’s only symbolic, everyone has tochip in and pay something for services,”Zborovskaya said.

In Soviet times, “charging fees for cul-tural activities was unthinkable — it was allfree,” said Kira Verkhovskaya, director ofOdessa’s other JCC, Migdal. Fees are alsocollected as a matter of policy there, butmost of the budget comes from subsidiesfrom Jews in the West.

“Some older people are not happy whenthey are asked to pay,” she said.

Both Migdal and Beit Grand have pro-grams that encourage young Jews to con-tribute time and effort to the community.

Beit Grand also operates a luxury Jewishkindergarten for 40 children whose well-offparents pay a monthly fee of $500 — approx-imately double the average national monthlysalary. e kindergarten is so popular that ithas a long waiting list. e annual income of

$240,000 from fees helps cover other pro-grams, including charitable activities.

Nevertheless, the culture of giving is stillfar less widespread than it is in the West, ex-perts say.

Russia has a Jewish population of 265,000,according to a 2010 official census, and theWorld Jewish Congress says it estimates thenumber is at least 330,000. Despite the com-munity's size, local philanthropy comesmostly from a thin layer of “oligarchs orsuper-rich Jews,” Chlenov said.

“What we are missing is a trusted brandfor small donations from middle-classdonors, like what the Jewish federation sys-tem does in the U.S.,” he said.

Attempts to raise donations from that sec-tor yielded some results, according toChlenov, but never beyond a total of$150,000 per fundraising campaign.

In Ukraine, Eduard Dolinsky, director ofthe Ukrainian Jewish Committee, says theJewish middle class still isn't opening itswallet.

“Since the mid- 1990s, we are seeing thesame 10 to 15 very rich Jews funding char-ity,” he said. e donor pool is “sadly not ex-panding.”

is means that with a Jewish populationof 360,000 to 400,000 and many thousandsof welfare cases, Ukrainian Jewry would“face a humanitarian disaster” if it weren’tfor American money, Dolinsky added.

ROOT

from previous page

Among the volunteers at the Rosh Hashanah auction and galafundraiser at Moscow's Radisson Royal Hotel were Natan Shuminov,le, and Kirill Samokhvalov. e money went to benefit a Jewish or-phanage.

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Charitable GivingB6 October 11, 2012 • Washington Jewish Week

CharitableGiving

by Meredith JacobsManaging Editor

Family foundations are no longer only forthe extraordinarily wealthy. Interest in thisphilanthropic vehicle is spreading to thosefamilies looking to create a more significantgiving impact to causes usually with a specificfocus.

Take, for example, Rabbi Bruce A of Con-gregation Adat Reyim in Springfield and hiswife Susan. ey wanted to do something, togive back to the Greater Washington Jewishcommunity that they had been a part of for18 years. Part of their motivation was therabbi’s “getting through cancer” but part was“seeing significant need in the community forcertain things that weren’t happening.”

Creating the Rabbi Bruce and Sue A ChaiFoundation was a way they could give moremeaningful gis and grant more funds. eAs focused on funding programs that reachout to young people and projects that createinterfaith dialogue.

“Projects that bring people together, thatget people working together,” explains therabbi. He talks about one of their first grantrecipients, an interfaith seder at GeorgeMason University. It was a Jewish seder heldat the campus Catholic center. Both Jewishand Christian students prepared the food,and the rabbi led the seder. It is set to becomean annual tradition.

Could the As simply have made a dona-tion? Yes, but the creation of the foundationand the subsequent call for grant requestsserved as catalyst for the seder. “ere havebeen interfaith students on campus,” notesthe rabbi. “ey didn’t have a seder.”

Additionally, by creating a foundation, theAs provide a vehicle for others interested increating programs for young people andbuilding bridges between religions to con-tribute to. “Why should I give to you as op-posed to Moishe House [one of the Agrantees] directly?” Rabbi A asks and thenexplains that donors come to trust the deci-sions of the foundation and, rather than tak-ing the time to research various organizationsand causes, think “if they [A Chai] chosethis as important, it’s important.”

He admits that having a foundation is a bitmore involved than they initially thought.But it was important for them that they hadsome sort of control on where the moneywould go and how it would be used. “We’vegiven to four places and it’s meant a lot.”

ey didn’t go it alone. An attorney helpedwith the paperwork to obtain a 501c3 statusand an accountant helped with the financialpart. ey recruited a board, defined their

mission and developed by-laws.“It is a good idea to talk to people who have

some experience with foundations,” suggestsSue A. “I spoke to a woman who is a pro-fessional grant writer with a lot of experiencewith foundations. I also spoke to an acquain-tance who has a family foundation to get heradvice and suggestions. Both these peoplesuggested we narrow our focus, and both saidit is important to raise a significant amountof money before giving grants. is was aquandary. How do we show donors what weare all about if we do not award any grants,but how can we award grants if we haven'traised funds? So we raised a modest sum, hadtwo rounds of grant proposals, and will nowfocus on raising more money before accept-ing more grant proposals.”

For those looking to create their own foun-dation, the rabbi suggests asking, “LikePassover, ‘What makes this night different?’Ask, ‘What makes this different?’ ”

is focus helps attract both donors andpotential grantees while also shaping thework of the foundation. “We originallythought about doing a bullying seminar andsomeone said that would be too big,” explainsA. He then realized they wanted to fundprojects that really got people involved, thatbrought people together. While they havefunded interfaith programs and others suchas Moishe house, and provided an intern forJews United for Justice, they hope to fund amultigenerational program like the seder atGeorge Mason. “We’re waiting for a group toapply for that,” he notes.

He also notes it is important to get peopleon the board who bring a wide variety of pro-fessional expertise, involvement in the com-munity, and perhaps diverse viewpoints.  

A foundation needs at least a two-yearstrategic plan with interim goals, especiallyfor fundraising and marketing, adds his wife,who suggests checking out resources like theCouncil on Foundations (cof.org) and theCommunity Foundation for the NationalCapital Region (cfncr.org).

e As have four grown children, allstarting out in various careers. While hedoesn’t want to speak for his children, therabbi does note that he hopes that if the foun-dation grows to where he and Sue hope itwill, that their children will continue theirwork.

Ultimately, he says, “Find an area wheresomething is not happening, stop complain-ing and find a way to make it happen.”

e A Chai Foundation is looking to de-velop board members. ose interested shouldcall 703-866-5531. For more information, goto achai.org.

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Washington Jewish Week • October 11, 2012 B7Charitable Giving

CharitableGiving

by Diana BurmistrovichJNS.org

You’re walking home from an extrashift you picked up to cover this

month’s rent and pass a homeless personburrowed into a tarnished blanket. It’s thesame person you’ve seen occupying theblock for the last few months. Out of habit,you throw $5 into the person’s cup —knowing you’ll have one less item for din-ner and hoping the person will have onemore thing to eat. Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah describes

tzedakah as a personal duty in which wegive 5-10 percent of our income to sustainour community and to help those in need.Meaning “righteousness” in Hebrew,tzedakah is neither a charge nor charity.It’s a mitzvah, or commandment, that allJews are obliged to follow. Even the poorare required to give tzedakah, according totheir means. That being said, tzedakah isn’t meant to

be burdensome or run your personal fi-nances into the ground. Here are some

tzedakah options that are both good by thebook and good for the checkbook:• Fund or start a kosher food pantry in

your city. Many people seek to upholdtheir religious principles during tryingtimes, so why not make that a little easierfor them?• Get in touch with a local Hillel organ-

ization and help fund a scholastic trip forJewish college students. The best place tocheck would be large state schools.• Donate to an organization in Israel.

Consider groups like Migdal Ohr, whichprovides education and social guidance tochildren from underprivileged and roughhomes in northern Israel, with issues in-cluding overcrowded apartments, one-par-ent families, drug problems, poverty andcrime within the family. Table to Table har-vests excess fresh food from caterers, cafe-terias, manufacturers, grocers and farmersto feed Israel’s hungry. Paamonim helps Is-raeli families in financial distress regaintheir footing.• Start two tzedakah boxes for your fam-

ily: one for loose change and one for col-

lecting names of organizations to donateto. At the end of every month, draw a namefrom the second box and donate all themoney from the change box to it.

• Incorporate tzedakah into your Shab-bat meals. Declare one meal a month a“potluck” where guests bring canned goodsand nonperishables to be donated to thelocal food pantry or soup kitchen. • The recipient of your tzedakah does

not necessarily have to know who you are.Donate to a larger organization that bene-fits the hungry like Bread for the World,USA or Mazon. • Go through old clothes and see what

you don’t need. Take all of what you findand bring it to the shelter in your city thathas the highest demand. Shelters oftenhave wish lists on their websites.• Give a homeless person you pass on the

street a few more dollars than you wouldregularly. • Do you spend too much time working

on a menial project at work or at home?Put up a temp job ad. Hiring someone forthat position will both help you finish theproject and give work experience to some-one who needs it.• Give a donation in honor of a friend or

family member. Works best for those whoseem to “have it all,” making it difficult tocome with original gift ideas for them. In-stead of giving them another material ob-ject that’s likely to gather dust, help themcontribute to a meaningful cause.

Tzedakah that’s by the bookand easy on the checkbook

is year, find more ways to help those in need. Photo by Apanuta.

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by Masha RifkinJNS.org

Julie Shane is a serial entrepreneur, evenreferring to her family as her “mostcherished entrepreneurial experience.”A true business maven during the past

20 years, Shane’s latest venture, Causes In-ternational, promises notonly a significant modelfor fundraising, but forprotecting the environ-ment as well.With her first venture

— an asset managementcompany in the real estate market — com-ing at age 26, Shane would continue tofound two more successful organizationsbefore leaving the business world to raiseher three children. After a 15-year hiatus (during which she

founded her fourth company) Shane re-turned to the business world in 2010 withher fifth venture, Causes International. “I wanted to make a difference. I re-

searched for two years before founding thecompany. We are a green cause marketing

company that focuses on sustain-able creative giving,” Shane ex-plains. Causes International partners

with a variety of clients to helpthem expand into being environ-mentally responsible while simulta-neously fundraising for their

favorite cause. It’s called “upcy-cling”: participants are encouragedto collect their unused consumerelectronics (old iPods, laptops,Gameboys, etc.). Then, dependingon the state of the item, Shane’scompany will either dispose of it re-sponsibly, sell it, or refurbish it andthen sell it. Ideally of course, mostof the items should be sellable.“What people do not understand is that

something obsolete to them may havegreat value to someone else. Our goal is toraise revenue while protecting the planet,”Shane says.And raise revenue they do; when mar-

keted properly, campaigns have the poten-tial to create tens of thousand of dollarsfor a cause. Organizations are particularly inclined

to work with Causes due to the minimaleffort required on their part. “We take careof it all — all they do is drop the items inthe bucket,” Shane says, “So, we give thema new avenue to support the causes theydesire — and no one has to write a check!”Shane insists that from Causes’ side,

each campaign is about far more thandropping used iPods into a box. “We takeinto consideration each client’s mission,

heart and purpose and put together cam-paigns that honor all the elements,” shesays. Shane recently opened an “It’s a Mitz-

vah” division for bar/bat mitzvah students.She fully provides them with the toolsnecessary to run upcycling campaignswithin their communities to raise fundsfor their favorite charities. The studentneeds only to spread the word, and collectthe items. “We turn [those items] into revenue,

and they donate it to whatever cause theylike.” Shane says, “We’re launching it na-tionwide, it really has a life of its own.”While barely a year old, Causes Interna-

October 11, 2012 • Washington Jewish WeekB8 Charitable Giving

CharitableGiving

Fundraising without the checks

It is noted that on average, Americans have 34 gadgetsnot in active use per household. Julie Shane's venture —Causes International — “upcycles” unused gadgets asan avenue for fundraising.

Photo by Curtis Palmer

See FUNDRAISING, next page

Please remember JFGH...

For more information:240-283-6000 or visit www.jfgh.org

When making your charitable gifts this year

Washington Jewish Week • October 11, 2012 B9Charitable Giving

CharitableGiving

tional already has representativesthroughout the country and can boast animpressive client base, including variouslearning institutions, members of thehealth industry, the Juvenile Diabetes Re-search Foundation, the Institute for En-ergy and Sustainability, the HealthworksFoundation and Hadassah among others.Shane’s goal is to break 70 campaigns bythe end of this quarter, and reach a thou-sand campaigns, with a million electronicscollected. According to Shane, who lives in the

Boston area, the values she holds as a Jew-ish woman have framed the way she hasdone business during the past 20 years.Each venture was founded to help thosearound her. Shane was inspired to found Causes, in

part, from the realization that 400 millionitems a year were being disposed of, 82percent in Asia, India, Africa, due to theirlax environmental regulations. “Tikkun olam has been a way of life for

me,” she says, “I found a way … to honorthe nurturing side in me with the entre-preneurship.”

FUNDRAISING

from previous page

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ACT NOW in order to lock in high CGA rates.These rates are calculated based on a single-life. Visit www.afhu.org/CGA for more information or contact Maggie Auerbach Bolstad at 202.363.4600 or mbolstad@afhu.org

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October 11, 2012 • Washington Jewish WeekB10 Charitable Giving

CharitableGiving

Want to check out the work of a charitywithout buying a plane ticket? Try

YouTube — it’s not just for videos of talkingdogs and cute kids.

Rockville-based Friends of Yemin Ordehas launched a new video with heartbreakingpersonal stories of the at-risk immigrant chil-dren at Yemin Orde Youth Village, whoseformerly traumatized lives are transformedthrough compassionate guidance, supportand quality education.

e video showcases the stunning beautyof Yemin Orde, located in the Carmel Forestregion of northern Israel, and details howthis serene environment offers a restorativesetting to help its youth develop into Israel’snext generation of leaders. Discover YeminOrde: A Home. A Family. Forever. is foundat yeminorde.org or on YouTube. Friends ofYemin Orde is the U.S. based fundraisingarm of Yemin Orde Youth Village and YeminOrde Educational Initiatives (YOEI).

e new video is the product of a yearlongeffort by Friends of Yemin Orde to modern-ize its marketing strategies as well as tostrengthen its connection to donors and ad-vocates through the many social media plat-forms available today. e video wasproduced by Righteous Pictures, a NewYork-based production company that spe-

cializes in sociallydriven documentaryfilms, and underwrit-ten by a group of gener-ous supporters ofFriends of Yemin Orde.

Video productionhas become a populartool for charitable or-ganizations as a way topersonally involve andreach more con-stituents at one timethan ever before. “Ourbiggest challenge inmaking this video wastelling the Yemin Ordestory in only sevenminutes,” said KarenSallerson, executive director, Friends ofYemin Orde. “It’s the next best thing to visit-ing the village and meeting our amazing chil-dren and staff in person!”

Friends of Yemin Orde launched its newvideo just four weeks ago and has already re-ceived almost 700 views on the popularvideo-sharing website, YouTube.

“We see today that more charitable organ-izations are using videos to build causeawareness that will assist in fundraising ef-

forts, open new marketing opportunitiesand support name recognition,” said Bar-bara Sherbill, the organization’s communi-cations consultant. “It is also an efficientway to research a charity and get a sense ofits mission.”

Today, there are an estimated 360,000 chil-dren at-risk in Israel: at risk of dropping out,of homelessness, of severe poverty and of be-coming victims of violence. e youth whograduate Yemin Orde Youth Village’s excel-

lent high school become community leaders,military leaders, lawyers, health care profes-sionals, educators and more. Yemin Orde Youth Village is a home, safe

haven and school to hundreds of Israel’s trau-matized children from all over the world;YOEI provides the blueprint to expand the cir-cle of care to thousands more children in otheryouth villages and schools throughout Israel.For more information, email info@yemi-norde.org or call 202-237-0296.

Charities go viral

A screen shot of the video produced by Friends of Yemin Orde.

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Washington Jewish Week • October 11, 2012 B11Charitable Giving

CharitableGiving

by William TregerStaff Writer

Agi card will let you go out and buystuff, but the Good Card, distributed

by the Washington, D.C.-based Networkfor Good, let’s you give.

e Good Card is a gi for you — or afamily member or friend — that then goestowards a charity of your choice. A certaindollar value is stored on the card, and inorder to “redeem” the value of the card, youselect a charity or charities to accept yourdonation.

Say you receive a Good Card and want todonate to a specific Jewish charity. Simplygo to the Network for Good website and doa keyword search or search for the charityby name. One may also search by zip code,city, or state for national, local or smallerentities.

Network for Good is bigger than theGood Card business, too. e organizationchannels online donations to 1.2 millioncharities across the globe and has dis-pensed $150 million in donations in 2012alone.

“We are all about unleashing generosity,”says Stacie Mann Kronthal, Network forGood’s vice president of partnerships. “Hu-mans are inherently generous, and we wantto work with them to put ways to give atpeople’s fingertips.

“e Good Card is a merchandising de-vice. Gi cards are at the end of everycheck-out line, but this is a gi card thatmakes you feel good about doing good.”

When individuals or groups help otherpeople or give to an organization withcauses they believe in, this generates what’scalled a “helper’s high,” an actual chemicaland physiological reaction, like a runner’shigh for donors, says Kronthal.

Network for Good has been around forover 10 years. ey also help nonprofits andcompanies execute charitable giving pro-

grams, both internally and externally.Network for Good was founded by a

partnership between mega-technologycompanies AOL, Yahoo, and Cisco, who allsaw the need to make it as easy to give tocharity as it is to shop online. AOL, Cisco,and Yahoo created Network for Good touse technology and the internet as a forcefor social good.

With the Good Card, says Kronthal, “Wewanted to merchandise the uniqueness ofbeing able to give a gi to any charity youwant, and what we’re seeing, from a trendperspective, is that people are really donat-ing to really unique charities, charities thatare hyperlocal, like PTAs, animal shelters,libraries. Really, at the end of the day peo-ple are interested in different things.”

Good Cards can be redeemed at any ofthe 1.2 million charities. Online, you cancreate an email version or a print at home

version. Or you can have a print one sentin the mail.

“ey’re great for bar and bat mitzvahs,”says Kronthal, “and they’re tremendouslypopular at the holidays or at special events— graduation, Mother’s Day, times whenyou want to give something really specialbut you just can’t find the right gi, andwhen you want to do something that’smeaningful. It’s very nice to say I’ve madea donation in your honor, but it’s really niceto say I’ve made a donation, and you canpick whatever cause you want to support.”

“A lot of companies are using GoodCards to provide rewards to different indi-viduals as well, so we’ve had a lot of part-nerships where they’ll all incorporate a giof charity. is is so much better than anecktie, or a pin or a piece of jewelry.”

A lot of parents are purchasing GoodCards, too, Kronthal says, when they wantto instruct or instill in their children thatdoing good really is good for the soul.

“is is … technology and philanthropycoming into one,” Kronthal says.

e gi of giving

“We are all about unleashing generosity.Humans are inherently generous, and wewant to work with them to put ways to

give at people’s fingertips.”— Stacie Mann Kronthal, Network for Good’s vice president of partnerships

641,000 of our neighbors in the Washington metro area suffer from hunger.1 in 5 are children.

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United Way #8052 CFC #30794

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Supports hundreds of frail Holocaust survivors who without JSSA would not receive critical safety net services

Provides hot meals, baths, homecare and counseling for thousands of seniors

Reduces JSSA’s wait list for child and family services in Maryland and Northern Virginia

Funds charitable care and emergency financial aid for thousands in need

Make A Difference. Please Donate Generously.

Thank you for visiting www.jssa.org/donatenow

Think JSSAYour gift helps nearly 37,000 individuals and families annually.

YOUR MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION:

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October 11, 2012 • Washington Jewish WeekB12 Charitable Giving

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But they can all count on Top Banana.

Help change the lives of proud people who have limited mobility and few options.

HELP NOURISH THE INDEPENDENCE OF OUR AREA’S ELDERLY.

An old-fashioned idea, in this modern time.• Easy ordering by phone to serve those that don’t use the computer.• Friendly delivery to the kitchen; help to put away the groceries,

loosen jar lids and more.• Brand name products, fresh produce, meats, home, personal and

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