Thursday, February 18, 2016
UJA-Federation Noted in 'Why Metrics Matter In Jewish Philanthropy'
My grandfather, may his memory be for a blessing, used to receive hundreds of envelopes from charities. Every month, he would work through the stacks of solicitations and joyfully write out checks for $5, $10 or $18. Though he was a retired butcher and not a wealthy man, he knew what it was like to experience hunger from his teen years spent suffering in various concentration camps. After the Holocaust, he came to America with nothing but the charitable largesse of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. That he was able to build a family and a business and be in the position to give back to those in need motivated his check-writing habit.
There’s something beautiful about my grandfather’s generosity. Yet as his generation peters out, this way of giving is becoming a relic of simpler days. Donors have gotten savvier. Before they open their wallets, they’re far more likely to research a charity on GuideStar or Charity Navigator, visit the charity’s website, and even review lengthy 990 tax forms, which provide the salaries of the highest-ranking staffers, a list of the board of directors, and detailed information about how the charity spends the precious dollars it raises. . .