Bret Stephens: Fostering Jewish Conversations
Episode 31Â of What Gives? the Jewish philanthropy podcast from Jewish Funders Network.
New York Times columnist and Sapir Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens talks with JFN President and CEO Andrés Spokoiny about the importance and limits of civil debate and making room for a diversity of opinions in a time of polarization and echo chambers.
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Read moreImpacting Investing Goes More Mainstream as ESG Strategies Change
From eJewish Philanthropy (August 15, 2022)
Impact investing eludes a precise definition, as different donors can feel they are making a positive impact with different kinds of investments.
“For some [private] foundations, investing in Israel will be considered impact because it helps Israel,” said Andres Spokoiny, CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, an umbrella group for Jewish private foundations. “Others are going to tell you no, just investing in say, Waze or Mobileye is not really impact…there’s not any tradeoff between profit and philanthropic impact.”
Largely, Jewish community foundations have settled on offering impact investment programs that make donors feel they are making an immediate impact, rather than gaining long-term financial returns from financial markets. Donors aren’t losing money, however, as impact investments are often in the form of recyclable loans.
Read the full article by Lev Gringauz in eJewish Philanthropy.
Read JFN's "Guide to Jewish Impact Investing"
Learn about JFN offerings for impact investors.
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Mourn the Past, But Build a Better Future (Tisha B'Av 5782)
I thought about Tisha B’Av recently, as I stood in Jerusalem’s Davidson Archeological Park (thank you, William Davidson Foundation!). There, you can walk on the very street that Jews used, 2,000 years ago, to ascend to the Temple of Jerusalem. You can see the remnants of the stairs that led to the Temple entrance though Robinson’s Arch, the oldest overpass in the world, and most poignantly, you can see the stones from the Temple compound that Roman soldiers threw onto the street below as they destroyed the holy site. As if one needed proof, one of those stones is inscribed with the words “lebeit hatoke’a,” meaning, the place from which the shofar was sound in the Temple’s esplanade.
Read moreYour Daily Phil: New Study on DAF Attitudes
From eJewish Philanthropy (July 19, 2022)
In an article reporting on a new poll finding that most Americans don’t know how charitable foundations and donor-advised funds (DAFs) work but that, one informed, they favor more regulations on them, eJP sought perspective from JFN President and CEO Andres Spokoiny. Â
The Ipsos results should be taken “with a lot of salt,” Spokoiny said, noting the low percentage of respondents who were previously aware of DAFs. The survey had 1,005 respondents and a margin of error of 3.5%.
Spokoiny also feels critics overstate the problem, and pointed to a 2021 study from the National Philanthropic Trust, a public charity and philanthropy research organization, showing that DAFs had a payout rate of 23.8% in 2020 – more than double the mandatory payout rate that respondents told Ipsos they support. Meanwhile, private endowed foundations had an average payout rate of 7.3% that year, according to a survey by Candid.
- Read the full article in eJewish Philanthropy
- Read "Americans’ Understanding of and Opinions about Charitable Foundations and Donor-Advised Funds" (by Ipsos and Institute for Policy Studies)
- Learn about Israel's first-ever donor-advised fund Keshet-DAF which JFN helped establish.