In trying to assist those displaced by Hurricane Sandy, Dave Weinberg of Silver Spring, M.D. organized his community to bus in and host families from Far Rockaway and Bergen County at his synagogue. This effort raised $14,000 in two days to buy relief supplies and send them back on the buses to Far Rockaway on…
Wealthy individuals often have the bulk of their net worth tied up in highly-appreciated, illiquid assets such as real estate or privately-held businesses. This lack of liquidity can make charitable planning quite challenging, as few charities are adequately prepared to accept donations of such illiquid assets directly, and if the donor chooses to sell the…
Note: This blog post originally appeared on Kveller.com. Women rarely refer to themselves as philanthropists. We tend to think that the term refers only to the uber-wealthy–to people like Bill Gates, Michael Steinhardt, and the Bronfmans (all men!). But that’s not the case. In fact, a growing body of research on men, women, and charitable…
Even with the Presidential election now over, there remains nothing but uncertainty in the area of individual income tax planning. Will the top marginal income tax rate for individuals rise from 35% to 39.6% next year? Will the top tax rate for long-term capital gains rise from 15% to 20% (plus an additional 3.8% with…
In the Jewish philanthropic world, we often confuse two types of innovation: Innovation in mission and innovation in best practices. We praise the upstart for its innovative mission (despite its unsustainable model). At the same time, we declare that a legacy organization’s struggle to raise the necessary funds to accomplish its mission is a direct…