The Gift of Giving to Non-profits

As a development professional, I am passionate about my belief in the gift of giving to non-profit organizations. At this time of year, mailboxes are brimming with appeals from a variety of organizations, many groups who rely on fundraising dollars to support their worthwhile missions.

Aviv Centers for Living recently sent out an appeal that quoted the Talmud as saying, “One person’s candle is a light for many.” We took a walk down memory lane recalling that when the original founders of Aviv gathered in 1945, the world was a very different place. Gasoline cost about 15 cents a gallon. Elvis Presley debuted at age 10. Harry Truman was sworn in as the 33rd President of the United States as George and Barbara Bush wed and the United Nations was formed. While the darkness of World War II clouded the universe, a group of citizens gathered in Lynn to create light for seniors and founded the Jewish Convalescent Home, fondly called “the Home.”

Well over 66 years ago, while the world was a different place, the desire for good people to galvanize for grand purposes was just as important as it is today. As you prepare for the holidays, take a moment to look in your heart and make a donation to a non-profit organization. It may be the best gift you give this holiday season.

Focus on mission

My son has just been accepted to a program that sends roughly 100 high school sophomores and juniors from our area to Israel each summer. The Youth to Israel (Y2I) program was created by the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, whose mission is very simple: "Helping to keep our children Jewish." The program has been in existence for over 40 years, and provides a fully subsidized trip to these students with no means test. The only requirements are that they live in the foundation's service area - one of 23 cities and towns on Boston's North Shore - and the teen must be Jewish and consider him/herself Jewish and be raised exclusively in the Jewish faith.

Until last year Y2I was funded entirely by the Lappin Foundation. Unfortunately, Lappin was one of the victims of the Madoff Ponzi scheme, and the Foundation was essentially wiped out. In other hands this could have led to the end of the program. However, Mr. Lappin is clearly not an average philanthropist. He committed himself to find the funding to keep the program in existence, and last summer 95 kids went to Israel, only six months after the Madoff scandal broke. This summer, Mr. Lappin was able to raise enough money to send to Israel all 99 teens who applied. Gifts have come from the Goldhirsh Family Foundation, the Jewish Federation of the North Shore, Oranim Educational initiatives (the partner organization that provides the tour program in Israel), and an anonymous donor, in addition to the Lappin Foundation's own $100,000 contribution. The total cost of the program is just over $500,000.

Why is this important? Because a local philanthropist refused to throw in the towel and kept focus on his mission. He knew he couldn't provide all the funding right now, and was willing to make the calls necessary to find the funding to maintain a program he is passionate about, and that he feels is crucial to the mission of his foundation. He has said his "long-term plan is to restore his assets to a point that will sufficiently endow the Foundation to a level that the annual income will totally or near totally fund Y2I." Here is the foundation's statement on the future of Y2I.

Mr. Lappin has recently been recognized by the Boston Globe as one of their "Bostonians of the Year." Their reasons have nothing to do with his foundation or the trip to Israel, and everything to do with his handling of his employees' 401K plan, which was also wiped out by Madoff. In short, Mr. Lappin made the employees whole from his remaining personal assets. It is very sad that this action is seen as something unusual in our society. Wouldn't it be wonderful if every business owner and every philanthropist were as true to their missions. At PhilanthropyGlobal we work with organizations and philanthropists. Let us know if you would like help in focusing your mission this clearly!

Philanthropy

What is going on in the philanthropic community these days? An article in today's Boston Globe about potential downsizing in Jewish agencies in the Greater Boston area got me to thinking. Is this just a result of the economy and Madoff, or is it a result of something more serious. Are philanthropists still giving? If giving patterns have changed, is it a short term issue, or something bigger?

This is the beginning of my thinking about philanthropy, both in the U.S. and around the world (hence PhilanthropyGlobal.) I don't have a quick answer, but I do have a sense that giving patterns have been changing, and no one seems to know quite what to do about it. Over the past five years or so, several of the Jewish federations around the country have commissioned studies (or in some cases considered studies and decided not to do them.) Most of these studies have shown that Jews are today giving more money to non-Jewish causes than to Jewish causes. This appears to be a generational issue, at least to some extent.

In my home town, the Jewish Community Center finds itself in financial difficulty. Part of the reason is said to be the economy, and part of it the opening of a brand-new YMCA across town. But what about the fact that there is nothing particularly Jewish about the JCC beyond its name? It is a health club and day care center and camp operator. What's Jewish about that? Have the local Jewish Philanthropists lost interest because they haven't been engaged? That's my guess, and it mirrors what I see at many non-profit organizations. No one can understand why giving is down, but no one is doing anything to better engage volunteers, donors, and prospective donors so they will be willing to give and give more.

Philanthropy (literally the love of mankind) has always been based on the notion that people are generous, and want to do good works. But in bad times, we all need to focus on priorities, and the job of non-profit organizations is to better engage volunteers and donors so they make the non-profit a priority. Philanthropists want to be loved, too!

If you'd like to talk about ways to make your donors feel more loved, give me a call.