The Expert's Expert

Meet Jim.

Jim is well informed about fundraising. For many years, he was head of a non-profit organization that provided programs and fundraising support to the community. One of his key practices was always seeking to find the intersection of a prospective donor’s interests and the institution’s needs.

Jim’s philanthropic interests and the Jewish community’s needs came together recently when he took advantage of a time-limited tax law in effect through December 2009 that made it possible for him to make a gift of IRA assets to the Jewish Community Endowment Fund. In keeping with his values, he chose to direct his gift to the unrestricted fund of the JCEF, which is a pool of assets that specifically exists to provide aid in times of emergency and to grant strategic funding for high-potential community opportunities.

“Giving an unrestricted gift to be used ‘where needed’ is simply the right thing to do,” Jim says. For his gift to the JCEF, he put the decision-making into the hands of the distinguished community members who oversee grantmaking for the Endowment. “They know the local area best and can allocate the funds where and when they are needed.”

Jim also knows about unanticipated — and unprecedented — community needs. Born in Nazi Germany, he was able to escape at the onset of the war, but not before he saw first-hand the enormous crisis around him and the dire, unanticipated critical needs that the war created.

Thus, part of the motivation for his IRA gift is to help illustrate to his family the importance of the Jewish Federation as a focal point for Jews through the ages. And it is his wish that the Federation continue to play this role, by bringing in new and younger people, then working with their issues and priorities as they evolve. “I can’t say where the needs will be in five years,” he observes, “that is a decision the Federation has to make.”

* Please note that names have been altered to protect the privacy of the donors.