Jewish Communal Fund was delighted to sponsor the Giving Circle Express session at the ACRONYM15: Leading the Jewish Alphabet conference this past Sunday. ACRONYM15, which lovingly pokes fun at all of the “acronyms” in the Jewish organizational world, aims to provide meaningful training and networking for young Jewish lay leaders. The conference was organized by the Council of Young Jewish Presidents (CYJP), an affiliate of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
The Giving Circle Express session provided participants with a taste of what it is like to participate in a giving circle. Tamar Snyder, Jewish Communal Fund‘s Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives, welcomed everyone on behalf of JCF. Felicia Herman, the Executive Director of Natan and Amplifier, framed the session, explaining that a Giving Circle is essentially a group of people who come together to pool their resources and make funding decisions that amplify their collective impact. Jenna Weinberg and Hilary Schumer of Slingshot told participants that in the next hour, they would collectively choose which organization from the Slingshot Guide should receive the $1,500 grant that Jewish Communal Fund graciously funded.
Participants explored their personal philanthropic values and discussed the underlying motivations behind why they give. They then focused on how they give — how often, to which demographics, and to which types of charities. Then, each table read through three profiles of innovative Jewish organizations profiled in the Slingshot Guide. Each table came to a consensus on one charity to promote to the rest of the group. A representative from each table made the pitch for their chosen charity and the group voted via text message.
And the winner of JCF’s $1,500 grant was…Moishe House! Plus, several people in the room offered to match Jewish Communal Fund’s grant — resulting in $4,000 for the charity.
The process of uncovering our Jewish values and discovering the “why” and “how” of giving proved even more powerful than the gift itself.