Tell me honestly: Are you anticipating your Passover seder with excitement or dread? Do you really want to meet all your long-lost relatives, or would you rather have seder with only the three people you like best? In the amusement-to-annoyance scale, where are the obnoxious comments of Uncle Mort going to land? What’s your patience level for those that say the seder is “too long” or the classic “can we eat already?”

If you find yourself less inclined to deploy the patience needed to deal with other people, you are not alone. In fact, you are part of society-wide decline in the ability, opportunity – and desire – to connect with others. Let’s face it: We do miss physical proximity, but we also understand, more keenly than ever, what Jean-Paul Sartre meant in his famous phrase “hell is other people.”

From The Circuit (April 11, 2022)

Speaking to JI on the sidelines of the recent Jewish Funders Network Conference in Palm Beach, Fla., Ghobash, 50, who is a well-known diplomat, businessman and author in his own country, will soon be at the forefront of interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance in the Vatican as his country leads a historic process in the Arab world to encourage peaceful relations with the world’s only Jewish state.

Ghobash explained that because the UAE is a “leadership organized society,” everyone looks to the royals for guidance, and his fellow countrymen have chosen to embrace the historic steps taken over the past two years by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, better known by his initials, MBZ.

Read the full article by Ruth Eglash in The Circuit

JFN's Grantmaking Professionals Exchange is pleased to offer a second cycle of "From Findings to Funding: Using Research Evidence in Philanthropic Decisionmaking," a three-part Zoom course for grantmaking professionals at JFN member organizations. The first round was offered in the fall of 2021. Learn more below and download more information here. The course is offered free of charge, and applications are due by April 22.

More than 500 people joined us from all over the world from March 27-29, 2022 for our first in-person conference since 2019. We launched a special campaign for Jews of Ukraine, introduced a new guide to participatory grantmaking, and raised the discourse on a variety of timely topics. The packed schedule included workshops, plenaries, speakers, receptions, and dinners on a wide range of issues — and many opportunities to reconnect with old friends, meet new ones, and plan funding partnerships.

Scroll through our curated collection of the best photographs. If there is a specific thing you are looking for, email JFN Communications Director Julie Wiener, who can search the full archive for you.

In the coming weeks, we'll be sharing additional content, including videos.

If you attended, be sure to fill out the evaluation. If you live in Texas, any of the states to the west of it, or the Canadian West, there's still time to sign up for our next gathering: Be the Story. And save the date for next year's conference March 19-21, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.

From Inside Philanthropy (April 6, 2022)

Jewish voters care deeply about climate change. In 2020, prior to the United States presidential elections, 80% of Jewish voters told pollsters that climate change was a major concern. In fact, climate change was Jewish voters’ No. 2 issue, just below the coronavirus pandemic. Since vaccines have become available, climate change has replaced COVID-19 as the issue that matters most to them.

That level of concern shows up in Jewish philanthropy, as well. There is a large and growing ecosystem of Jewish donors prioritizing climate change, motivated by a combination of care for their communities, concerns over inequality and suffering, and any number of other core Jewish values. And those involved see it as a critical cause that others should be taking up, one in which Jewish voices have a unique role to play.

This article mentions JFN's Green Funders Forum, quotes JFN Israel Executive Director Sigal Yaniv Feller, and quotes JFN members Marla Stein and Stephen Bronfman.

Read the full article by Simone Ellin in Inside Philanthropy. JFN members get a 25 percent discount on Inside Philanthropy subscriptions. Learn more and get your discount code here.

From Jewish Insider (April 4, 2022)

“The Middle East is like a picture, with Israel and other countries, the Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco and Jordanian in the frame, but the picture is not complete without the Palestinians,” said [Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation Esawi] Frej, who was in West Palm Beach, Fla., last week to attend the Jewish Funders Network Conference.

Read the full article by Ruth Eglash in Jewish Insider.

More than 500 people joined us from all over the world. We launched a special campaign for Jews of Ukraine, introduced a new guide to participatory grantmaking, and raised the discourse on a variety of timely topics, including antisemitism, global threats to democracy, the Abraham Accords, and the war in Ukraine. The packed schedule included workshops, plenaries, speakers, receptions, and dinners  — and many opportunities to reconnect with old friends, meet new ones, and plan funding partnerships. In the coming weeks, we'll be sharing photos, videos, and other content from the conference.

If you attended, be sure to fill out the evaluation. If you live in Texas, any of the states to the west of it, or the Canadian West, there's still time to sign up for our next gathering: Be the Story. And save the date for next year's conference March 19-21, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.

From Jewish Telegraphic Agency (April 3, 2022)

In a good year, the annual conference of the Jewish Funders Network functions like a Jewish Aspen Institute: The Jewish fundraising elite, from private and family foundations that represent about $6 billion in annual philanthropy, gather to discuss the Next Big Ideas in Jewish life and who is going to pay for them.

And if this was hardly a good year, it was the first time in three years that the members were able to gather in person, from Sunday through Tuesday in Palm Beach, Florida. Some 540 people took part; according to JFN’s president and CEO Andrés Spokoiny, about 60% were funders themselves, and 40% professionals representing foundations and other Jewish philanthropies.

Read the full article by Andrew Silow-Carroll on the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

From eJewish Philanthropy (March 30, 2022)

Most attendees at the Jewish Funders Network International Conference, which wrapped up yesterday afternoon in Palm Beach, Fla., appeared to agree on one thing: It was nice to be back in person — to meet at the hotel bar, to have spontaneous brainstorming sessions with colleagues, to see people, as several attendees said, “in three dimensions” — not on Zoom.

Beyond that, attendees told eJewishPhilanthropy that a few trends emerged from the three-day gathering, the organization’s first in-person conference since 2019: Everyone is eager to keep aiding Ukrainian refugees. People also said they want to see more collaboration between foundations and grantees — though it’s unclear how many funders will take up JFN’s call for “participatory grant making,” which would let grantees in on funding decisions.

Read the full article by Ben Sales on eJewish Philanthropy.

From the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle (March 29, 2022)

For the 500 attendees of the first in-person Jewish Funders Network conference since the pandemic, philanthropy is much more than just writing a check.

It’s collaborative, strategic and data-driven.

Read the full article by Toby Tabachnik in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle