The Charlotte Jewish News - June-July 2012 - Page 10
San Diego Provides Model for Creating Lasting Jewish Legacies
In the May 2012 issue o/The
Charlotte Jewish News we intro
duced you to the Foundation of
the Jewish Community’s Create
Your Jewish Legacy program.
Established by the Jewish
Community Foundation of San
Diego, the Create A Jewish
Legacy model has been introduced
successfully to Jewish communi
ties throughout our country. We
thank our colleagues in San Diego
for allowing us to share this arti
cle with you to illustrate how their
efforts have mobilized their own
Jewish community and helped to
create cultures of legacy giving
from coast to coast.
By Gail G. Littman and Marjory
Kaplan
As seniors gathered at a loeal
Jewish organization to hear about
leaving bequests for the eommuni-
ty, one eager woman raised her
hand. “What took you so long?”
she asked with a grin. “My alma
mater has asked me for a bequest.
My hospital has asked me for a
bequest. And now, finally, you are
here asking me for a bequest for
my Jewish eommunity. That’s the
most important bequest of all.”
This seene eould have taken
plaee almost anywhere.
While the North Ameriean
Jewish eommunity ean legitimate
ly be proud of its reeord for eur-
rent giving—annual, emergeney
and eapital eampaigns—^planned
giving efforts have been generally
weak.
In most eases, eommunity
organizations are insuffieiently
foeused or are not foeused at all on
planned giving and bequests, and
eertainly not on legaey gifts for
Israel or national programs sueh
as Birthright Israel. With the
reeession, fundraising staffs have
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been redueed, so the prospeets of
even establishing planned giving
resourees are remote.
Mobilizing The Community
Reeession or not, an enormous
transfer of wealth is happening
before our eyes. Through a Create
A Jewish Legaey initiative, eom-
munities ean embraee this unique
opportunity to help people of all
ages ereate legaeies for the organ
izations that have shaped their
lives. These future endowments
ean free organizations from rely
ing solely on eurrent fundraising
efforts, the all-too-typieal hand-to-
mouth approaeh that threatens to
topple organizations during tough
times.
National data tells us that ehar-
itable bequests usually grow in a
reeession. However, a reeent arti-
ele in The Chronicle of
Philanthropy stated, “For those
who think the generational trans
fer will automatieally flood their
organizations with resourees, it’s
time to think again. Without put
ting in the hard work of generating
these planned gifts, 90 pereent of
donor mortality will simply result
in lost eurrent giving.” (April 11,
2009)
The Jewish Community
Foundation of San Diego is pre
pared to put in the hard work to
help others imagine what it would
be like for Jewish organizations of
the future to reeeive inereasing
endowment ineome to enrieh their
annual budgets
The San Diego Model
What has happened in San
Diego over the past six years? In
2004, the Jewish Community
Foundation implemented the
Endowment Legaey Initiative
(ELI) with twenty Jewish organi
zations, synagogues, and day
sehools. To date, almost 900 peo
ple have made arrangements for
bequests and other planned gifts
approximating $200 million. In
addition, $31 million has been
realized as a result of this initia
tive.
San Diego donors report that
they are being thanked and appre-
eiated more regularly and in more
meaningful ways. There is an
overall positive impaet on annual
and eapital eampaigns. In faet,
researeh shows that legaey donors
will give twiee as mueh annually
as those who do not have a legaey
gift in their wills (E. Krauser,
Bequest Giving Study for
Campbell & Company, Center on
Philanthropy at Indiana
University, Mareh 2007).
What’s more, the eulture
around legaeies has ehanged. “If
you’re Jewish and aetive in the
_'Foundaiior
die
yV a rlinnr Jewish
— —\Comiminjry
San Diego Jewish eommunity
then a legaey plan is the next nat
ural and joyous step,” says Jane
Seher, founding ELI ehair in San
Diego.
The San Diego model shows
that legaey building departs from
traditional fundraising terminolo
gy. People aren’t eards. No one
needs to be rushed. The emphasis
should be on eonversations, not
solieitations. These eonversations
are not with prospeets but with
loyal and trusted friends of our
organizations. These friends need
to be eonsistently and earingly
eonneeted to our organizations
over time and over generations. ^
Gail Littman directs the Create
a Jewish Legacy program, the
Endowment Leadership Institute
(ELI) and the Governance
Leadership Institute (GLI) at the
Jewish Community Foundation of
San Diego. Since 1994 Marjory
Kaplan has served as chief profes
sional of the Jewish Community
Foundation of San Diego, where
she holds the Miriam and Jerome
Katzin Presidential Chair
Members of Girl Scout Troop 1240
Support the Levine Children’s Hospital
The members of Girl
Seoul Troop 1240, support
ed by the Levine JCC,
donated her hair to Loeks
of Love, an organization
that makes wigs for ehil-
dren who lose their hair due
to medieal eomplieations.
The troop also eolleeted
money to purehase new
books for The Levine
Children’s Hospital ER
Waiting Room.
Maeli Zhiss, age 6,
donated 10” of hair and
inspired other girls in her troop to
eontinue growing their hair for
donation in the fall. She is pie-
tured supported by her grand-
Maeli Zhiss sacrifices her hair for a cause.
Aly Lemer offered her time and
expertise to help inspire young
girls to eonsider hair donation as a
way to help others even when you
are little.
Aly, a former girl seout herself,
is a lieensed eosmetologist and a
eertified eranial prosthetie spe-
eialist. Her passion is to empower
people. She ehoose to take her
eareer to help women and girls
that lose their hair due to medieal
treatments. The name of her eom-
pany is Allurial. In the fall, Aly
will be leading a support group for
the Ameriean eaneer soeiety
ealled “Look Good Feel Better”
program as a volunteer. ^
luicu uy iici giaiiu- rw^ J
mother, Geri Zhiss, who is also a J V_/V_/ 1 TlOlltCS
eaneer survivor.
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