Jewish Dollars Drying Up
BUBIS, GERALD B.
Jewish Dollars Drying Up Statistics Shatter the Illusion ofJewish Generosity GERALD B. BUBIS Jewish philanthropy is in trouble. And the worst is yet to come. We're not so charitable as we're...
...Foundation distributions to the regular and special federation campaigns, however, have been maintained or enhanced as a result of the increase in foundation assets...
...We cannot, however, rely on the likes of Operation Exodus as a long-term solution to long-term trends...
...Only 69 percent of those age 18 to 24 report aity emotional attachment to Israel...
...The Jewish community and its leadership has at times been awesome in its ability to deal with change...
...The CRB [Charles R. Bronfman] Foundation Total assets, 1990: $100 million Canadian...
...Do these figures have any application to the Jewish community...
...has come from outside federation drives...
...But, as the population survey amply demonstrated, younger Jews are much less devoted to Israel tlian older Jews...
...The Council of Jewish Federations (CJF) 1990 Jewish population survey showed us a startling fact: American Jews are less generous in giving time and money to cbarity than other Americans...
...N.Y., 1991...
...1.4 billion was pledged—$828 million from the regular campaign and $587 million for Operation Exodus.* From the regular UJA campaign, $357 million or 47 percent went overseas...
...Compared to the mega-foundations that are devoted to Jewish causes or have earmarked a substantial part of their portfolios for Jewish causes, the amount in the federation foundations is small...
...Gerald Bubis...
...Communal Fundraising and us Relationship to Jewish Life in the Future...
...government assumes a family would have given for all gifts and contributions...
...To make matters worse, the next two decades will inevitably see the death of a large number of big givers who focused largely on Jewish causes...
...The Riklis Family Foundation Total assets, 1991: $3,513,295...
...Fees for these services have risen so fast over the past few decades that they are often beyond the reach of the majority of Jews...
...Before the savings and loan collapse, the plunge of the junk bond market and the foreclosures and bankruptcies of the recession-plagued real estate industry, Jews had scaled the economic heights...
...Most observers estimate these foundations spend about one-third of their expendable money on Jewish causes...
...Without Operation Exodus, even the unadjusted figures would have fallen...
...The very openness that enables Jews to acquire wealth on an historically unheard-of scale has provided options for life-styles and choices for disposing of time and treasure far beyond the scale and scope envisaged a few decades ago...
...The author thanks the Council of Jewish Federations for critiquing a draft of the article and for sharing material on endowments and special fund-raising patterns...
...As we learn from our tradition, 'The work of tzedakah shall be peace" (Isaiah 32:17...
...Foundation dollars are essentially controlled by the donor...
...The Chronicle of Philanthropy, July 14, 1992...
...The Koret Foundation Total assets, 1990: $172,527,000...
...More and more, the economically productive generation is called on to help its elders to a far greater degree and for a far longer period than was ever the case previously...
...If we turn from the super rich to the simply rich, the situation is not much better...
...In the for-profit world, 1.5 to 2 percent of budgets are allocated for research and development...
...Nevertheless, these federation foundations are a relatively bright light in an otherwise rather bleak picture...
...Federation agencies received an additional $90 million from the foundations...
...Operation Exodus, the special appeal to settle Soviet Jews, is an exception...
...Many thirst to be taught...
...Only 20 percent of that age group report being extremely or very attached to Israel—for baby boomers (ages 28-47) such attachment is about 25 percent—compared to 44 percent of the 55- to 64war-olds and 45 percent of the 65- to 74-year-olds...
...The income from these funds is often distributed at the donor's suggestion, which may be to non-federation charities...
...Parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents live far longer and in far greater numbers than ever before...
...Some more bad news: Even with Israel's needs as the core of their appeal, federation drives have been shrinking, when figures are adjusted for inflation (see graph, p.31...
...Towards the Twenty-First Century, ed...
...The almost universal—and inexorable-— result of tliis decline has been a cutback in allocations to Jewish agencies in most American cities...
...Jews are less and less likely to be self-employed businesspersons...
...Judaism is not a business...
...To count Jews in, however, to help them become mutually responsible and interdependent, is becoming more and more difficult...
...Another $50 million was allocated to special federation drives or projects...
...For the past five decades, Israel lias been the centerpiece of Jewish fund-raising...
...Non-Jewish charities are experiencing an exponential growth in support from Jewish patrons...
...Businesspersons, accountants and lawyers have classically been much likelier prospects as donors than doctors, physicists, engineers and academics...
...We may be returning to old-style entrepreneurial problem-solving...
...The excitement born of the historic -'opportunity to help Jews from Eastern Europe, Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union has enabled federations to avoid recognizing the degree to which giving has plummeted...
...Mandel Associated Foundations Total assets unavailable...
...We must find strategies to involve these people...
...According to the most recent figures from the Council of Jewish Federations, local community foundations control $2.3 billion in assets...
...The Zanvyl-Krieger Fund Total assets, 1990: $100 million...
...In short, 'Jewish intensive is Jewish expensive...
...In the arcane world of Jewish fund-raising, big givers are being more assiduously and consciously pursued than ever before...
...No business could long continue without constantly asking questions, studying the market and developing approaches to sell its products...
...As many as 16 of the 40 wealthiest people on the list were Jews...
...Our demographic research is now more sophisticated and the data is more reliable...
...Single gifts as high as $50 million have been reported—the gift by Walter Annenberg to the United Negro College Fund, for example...
...The Fortune 500 and the Forbes 400 profiled entrepreneurs—Wall Street gurus and successful land developers, to name just a few—who are noted, tracked and courted...
...Small groups of unfettered, unin-structed but engaged Jews from within those worlds might unlock the new and needed strategies for tomorrow's community campaigns and community building...
...While phrases like "long-range strategic planning" have long permeated the world of federations, the research and development funds needed to engage seriously in this process have not been forthcoming...
...The bulk of giving by Jews to either Jewish or non-Jewish charities comes from people older than 35...
...Jewish life as they understand it (or misunderstand it) may even repel them...
...The Cost of Living Jewisfily in Philadelphia...
...The Hasbro [Hassenfeld Family] Children's Foundation Total assets, 1990: $4,857,075...
...Only two age groups—70- to 74-year-olds and those over 80—have a higher percentage giving to Jewish charities than to non-Jewish charities...
...Following are the author's sources of information for this article: • National Jewish Population Survey...
...Moreover, the percentage of non-Jews who give to charity is around 70 percent, but nonjews are much more likely to give to and through churches than Jews are to give to and through synagogues...
...Big givers account for most Jewish charitable giving (see top graph, p. 32...
...pledged Exodus funds, which almost all go to Israel, are payable over three years...
...From the perspective of availability for community purposes, this figure is deceptive...
...550 million is in restricted funds, that is to say, for special purposes...
...This is true, as we have seen, of federation-based foundations and is of course also true of independent foundations...
...constructionist, January 1981...
...In 1982, 50 percent of the regular campaign went to local agencies...
...But they are rarely involved in or engaged in Jewish community problem-solving...
...They that turn the many to tzedakah [shall shine] as the stars" (Daniel 12:3...
...The voluntary nature of our lives is the American curse and the American blessing...
...American Jewish Committee, 1991...
...I'm talking about middle-aged baby boomers, too...
...and $120 million is in pipeline trusts, trusts that have not matured so their proceeds may not yet be used...
...The money they spend is not subject to federation planning and allocation processes...
...What about traditional "big givers...
...And they are changing radically when giving by age groups is analyzed...
...The economic slowdown is not the only cloud on the horizon of big giver donations...
...But this emphasis—the fire fighter response— leaves little time or energy among the most dedicated and creative federation lay and professional leaders foF facing underlying problems...
...Jewish fund-raising is, however, tottering on this inverted pyramid—with the thin sliver of the tip providing the base for the major fund-raising effort in Jewish life today...
...Unlike donors to the regular and special campaigns, donors of foundation assets often have great influence in the allocation of foundation funds...
...This list does not include all private Jewish foundations...
...It is certainly true that real growth in available dollars Foundation Executives Group Executives from these independent foundations meet regularly to discuss issues of common concern...
...Inflation increased 50 percent in this period, so the extent of growth is much less than it might at first look...
...New approaches to fund-raising, to raising Jews in a Jewish way, to finding out what Jews want and need as Jews and what concerns them most are but some of the concerns in need of serious exploration through research, experimental programs and ongoing evaluation...
...Despite the need for such an expenditure, federations allocate relatively little for this purpose...
...Rela Geffen Monson, Ruth Pinkenser Feldner...
...The Rich Foundation Total assets unavailable...
...Giving remains an opportunity to perform a great mitzvah...
...A comparable percentage would provide up to $35 million a year in Jewish life...
...For those who want to give their children a Jewish experience, the cost is higher than ever before—and climbing...
...For their 40-year history, UJA/federation drives have been predicated on elitist giving...
...indeed, without their income the future picture would be far more discouraging...
...At the least, we must find ways to induce more of the wealthy to care and to act on behalf of the Jewish community here, in Israel and throughout the world...
...To Save the Jewish Family...
...A few federations, such as Cleveland and Chicago, among others, are refreshing exceptions...
...They write and perform the plays and the music, create the plastic arts, design the clothes and houses, write the laws, teach our kids, heal the sick, invent the unthought of...
...Barry Kosmin, Sidney Goldstein, Joseph Waksberg, Nava Lerer, Ariella Keysar, Jeffrey Scheduler...
...This segment of society is on the cutting edge in shaping tomorrow's America...
...Moreover, many who gave to Operation Exodus did so at the expense of regular fund-raising drives...
...Just $10 million a year (1.25 percent of the $808 million raised last year) would fund serious research to find solutions to the increasing problems of Jewish living in an open society...
...At present, the young, the innovative, the creative, the intellectual, the Jews in government, the arts, the military, in the sciences and universities are underrepresented in and underutilized by federations...
...A significant number are wholly or partially dedicated to Jewish causes...
...Of the balance, the so-called unrestricted funds, a significant percentage is already committed to ongoing projects and therefore is not available for general allocations...
...Allocations to local agencies from the regular campaign have dropped since the advent of Operation Exodus in 1990...
...Let us forge an alliance between super-rich Jews (who are usually super-creative in the world of business) and super-successful Jews in the arts, government, science and academia (who are super-creative in their worlds...
...A more mature American Jewry is emerging...
...Of this $2.3 billion, $770 million is in family-controlled philanthropic funds...
...Ronald Kronish, Ktav, 1988...
...in 1991 it was about 42 percent...
...Of the Jewish households giving to non-Jewish charities, one in four are younger than 35...
...Many wait to be touched...
...American Jewish Committee, 1992...
...Jewish nursery schools, day schools, summer camps, trips to Israel, community center membership and synagogue membership cost more and more...
...My study for the Los Angeles Jewish community more than a decade ago demonstrated that a family then had to earn more than $50,000 per year to afford intensive Jewish experiences—and even at $50,000, a family could afford this only if parents and grandparents needed no help...
...Israel is clearly not the center of Jewish life for most American Jews, yet it remains the focus for Jewish communal fund-raising...
...Increasingly, Jews are found in professional settings that were once closed to them...
...Charles H. Revson Foundation Total assets, 1991: $101 million...
...Most Jews today, however, do not have discretionary income—and the number of those who do is falling...
...Many federations have worked assiduously to expand their foundation activities...
...Twenty years ago only half of Jews gave to non-Jewish causes...
...Only half of all Jews give to Jewish charities at all, while two-thirds give to non-Jewish charities...
...Sophisticated computer projections calculate with considerable exactitude goods and services owned by Jews...
...But this exceptional group is older and less assimilated...
...About $80 million was allocated by foundations to local, national and international Jewish and non-Jewish organizations...
...The old 80/20 formula holds: 80 percent of the money comes from 20 percent of the donors...
...But the apex of the giving triangle is .much thinner for Jews and represents more dollars comparably than secular charities...
...Enormous gifts are being given by Jews to universities, symphonies, operas, art museums and other non-Jewish charities...
...seats in a synagogue and belonged to a Jewish community center would exceed the percentage of income the U.S...
...Jews, like other Americans, make charitable donations from discretionary income...
...In 1990...
...The Kahanoff Foundation Total assets, 1990: $350400 million...
...These federation foundations provide funds over and above the regular and special UJA/federation campaigns...
...Moreover, increased opportunities to work in a wide variety of settings after an extended period in an open university society has contributed not only to an increased rate of interfaith marriage but also to a lessening of Jewish involvement generally, another significant factor in predicting an individual's likely support for Jewish charities...
...Gerald Bubis...
...Their fund-raising drives are expected to produce more each year to respond to growing needs...
...Then, too, as the rationale for federation drives wanes, individual local Jewish charities are increasingly mounting their own fund-raising campaigns...
...One of the most significant factors in predicting who will give is occupation (the others are age, income and Jewish involvement...
...Giving USA, Summer 1992...
...The increasing proportion of the latter thus has serious implications for communal fund-raising...
...But occupational patterns among Jews are changing...
...To some extent this is true of many charity campaigns...
...Only one-third of all Jews in America feel extremely or very attached to Israel...
...Could Jews Be Giving More...
...Federation foundations have grown...
...A recent issue of Giving USA, an industry newsletter, reports that between 1980 and 1989, the number of American taxpayers reporting incomes of $1 million or more jumped from 4,300 to over 60,000, but giving by millionaires fell 60 percent...
...This declining attachment to Israel means it «ill be more and more difficult to rely on Israel as the basis of Jewish philanthropy's appeal in the future...
...The Dorot Foundation Total assets, 1990: $23,633,935...
...Their value in 1976 was about $223 million and now exceeds $2.25 billion...
...The Wexner Foundation Total assets, 1990: $79,710,163...
...I cannot prove it, but given all the ^demographic data documenting the increasing trend toward assimilation of American Jews, there is probably no significant difference in this pattern for Jews—except for the small group of super-generous Jews without whom Jewish philanthropy would really be in disastrous straits...
...In a 1985 study, J. A. Winter and L. I. Levin showed that the donations of a family earning $40,000 annually who gave $100 to the federation, bought High Holiday * The outpouring of heroic gifts—$587 million—at Operation Exodus's inception in 1990 seems unlikely to be repeated...
...nevertheless, the amorphous nature of a voluntary community demands more sophisticated approaches in order to maintain itself in an open society...
...Aryeh Meir, Lisa Hostein, The High Cost of Jewish Living...
...The Nathan Cummings Foundation Total assets, 1990: $270 million...
...Foundations have grown over tenfold from the early 1970s to the present...
...Nearly $115 million was distributed in 1990-91 to the federation campaign from these foundations...
...The S. H. & Helen R. Scheuer Family Foundation Total assets, 1989: $27,799,665...
...According to this report, most wealthy people are "downright stingy...
...Operation Exodus is producing a remarkably small percentage of the $30 to $40 billion Israel needs in the next half decade to absorb its immigrants successfully...
...To count Jews is becoming easier and easier...
...The Arie & Ida Crown Memorial Foundation Total assets, 1990: $77,900,185...
...Funding priorities are changing even among those for whom Jewish life remains important...
...Federations are trapped in another dilemma...
...Only a minority of American Jews responded to what was felt by Jewish leaders to be the greatest opportunity for the rescue of Jews since the early 1950s...
...If we cannot marshal the thinking of the best of us, I fear there may well be a massive retrenchment of services when they are needed as never before...
...But, in constant dollars the assets grew a little over fourfold rather than the tenfold increase the dollars seem to represent...
...The Jewish rich and super-rich may be beginning to distance themselves from traditional premises of Jewish communal fund-raising...
...Perhaps the only good news in the Jewish charitable world is the small but growing number of mega-foundations set up by a growing number of socially responsible mega-rich Jews...
...Foundation assets have grown from around $675 million in 1981 to $2.3 billion in 1991...
...Collectively, the 12 largest mega-foundations probably have more assets than all the federation foundations combined (see box, right...
...And I am not talking jusl about kick...
...Charitable giving by wealthy Americans is down across the board...
...The Avi Chai Philanthropic Foundation Total assets, 1991: $30,995,257...
...Federations also have foundations set up by individual donors...
...Younger Jewish households are more likely to give to non-Jewish causes than to Jewish causes (see bottom graph, p. 32...
...The past century is, of course, replete with Rothschilds, Baron de Ginz-burgs, Baron de Hirsches and others acting on their philanthropic impulses, but today's mega-foundations represent in the aggregate a far greater amount of wealth...
...Put aside families making more than $60,000 a year—they're special cases—and look at the #est of us...
...The classic justification for federations—bringing discipline into the raising and distribution of Jewish charitable money—may be under attack...
...Of total households giving to Jewish charity, only one in five come from households of those younger than 35...
...A significant number of these Jewish patrons of non Jewish charities also support Jewish causes, but an astonishing proportion of them do not...
...The result is a drastic decline in discretionary income...
...At the same time, other trends can be seen among Jews ages 30 to 50: First, an increasingly higher percentage do not feel their children need Jewish experiences...
...Approximately 0.5 percent of Jewish households account for 50 percent of the money federations raise...
...We're not so charitable as we're cracked up to be...
...There are many more danger signs...
...So does campaigning...
...We don't "give till it hurts...
...In 1986 at least one quarter of the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans—each worth at least $180 million—were Jews...
Vol. 17 • December 1992 • No. 6
