Jewish Funders Network provides members with many ways to meet other funders, leverage giving, and learn from experts. This enables members to build community and ensure their philanthropy has a greater impact.

One way JFN facilitates that is through peer networks. Joining one can increase sharing and learning in a particular funding area, and provide regular opportunities to get to know other philanthropists with a shared passion.

JFN also convenes funder collaboratives that bring together funders and other stakeholders interested in joint funding in a specific issue area.

Interested in starting a peer network?
Peer networks are created based on collective interest and are initiated when sufficient interest is demonstrated by funders. If you are interested in starting a peer network, please contact Beth Cooper Benjamin at bethcb@jfunders.org.

JFN Peer Networks & Funding Collaboratives

Arts and Culture Forum

The Forum was established in 2020 as an operative platform for joint and tailored philanthropic learning and action. The Forum includes donors and philanthropic foundations who are invested in supporting arts and culture in Israel and see great importance in strengthening infrastructures, organizations and activity in these fields and developing them as social growth engines.

The Forum convenes about seven times a year and meets with artists, cultural bodies, researchers, government and local government officials, with the aim of initiating and supporting collaborations and strategic processes, as well as expanding philanthropic resources and partnering with additional funding.

The Forum’s activities led to the establishment of the first joint venture with the Ministry of Culture to promote cultural management in local authorities.

For more information, please contact Adi Goldner, interest group project manager, at adi.goldner@gmail.com.

CANVAS

CANVAS is a Jewish Funders Network-powered funding collaborative that seeks to encourage, support, and promote a 21st- century Jewish cultural renaissance. The CANVAS Mission: To elevate the ecosystem of Jewish arts & culture in North America through strategic and coordinated giving, education, and cross-sector exposure (between funders and artists, Jewish creatives and secular distribution networks/media, and more).

Contact Tzivia Schwartz Getzug at tzivia@bycanvas.org for more information.

Canadian Funders

A group for Jewish philanthropists and foundation professionals in Canada. The group meets regularly to learn from experts, discuss issues of national significance, and foster community within the broader JFN membership. 

Contact Beth Cooper Benjamin at bethcb@jfunders.org  for more information.

Education in Mind

The funders’ interest group on education in Israel is a network of donors and foundation representatives who are active in the field of education or interested in learning about it. This group works to gain a deeper and joint understanding in the fields of education and philanthropy in Israel, sharing work methods and experience, exposure to different models of activity, enhancing networking, support, assistance and mutual connections between the philanthropic actors in the field, and sharing opportunities for collaboration.

For more information, please contact Maya Foner at mfoner@jfunders.org.

Gender Lens Philanthropy

Giving to support women and girls has never equaled as much as 2% of overall philanthropic funding.  Funding through a gender lens means moving that needle, but it also means understanding how the broad range of philanthropic funding priorities interact with gender, and how attending to gender dynamics and demographics can make funding more effective and impactful across the board.  JFN’s North American Gender Lens Philanthropy Peer Network launched in July 2024 and will meet monthly beginning in September. This group shifts its focus regularly between North America and Israel and partners regularly with JFN Israel’s Gender Giving Forum on programs that focus on gender lens philanthropy in Israel.

Contact Beth Cooper Benjamin at bethcb@jfunders.org for more information. Contact Sharon Dwek at sharon@jfunders.org for more information about Israel's Gender Giving Forum. 

Grantmaking Professionals Exchange

Managed in partnership with our colleagues at Third Plateau, this group aims to strengthen relationships and enhance strategic, technical, and Jewish learning among professionals across the field of Jewish community philanthropy. There are now multiple groups of grantmaking professionals convening on a regular basis for peer learning and support:

• Grantmaking Professionals Monthly Online Convening
• Small-Staffed Foundations
• Location-Based Funders
• New to Philanthropy

Contact Sarah Horowitz at shorowitz@jfunders.org for more information.

Green Funders Forum

Inspired by the impactful work done by JFN Israel's Green Funders Forum (GFF), JFN's North American peer network is designed to support and mobilize the Jewish philanthropic community in facing one of the biggest challenges of our time: climate change. The GFF provides knowledge, tools, inspiration, and opportunities to act strategically and collaboratively around issues effecting the climate.

Contact Gil Yaacov at gil@jfunders.org for information about the GFF in Israel. Contact Beth Cooper Benjamin at bethcb@jfunders.org for more information. 

Impact Investing Roundtable

Monthly roundtable series and other programs for JFN members interested in investing in ventures that aim to be financially profitable while also achieving specific social or environmental goals.

Contact Ari Rudolph at ari@jfunders.org for more information.

Jewish Grantmaking Professionals of Los Angeles (JGPLA)

The Jewish Grantmaking Professionals of Los Angeles is a peer network of Jewish professionals working in grantmaking organizations based in Los Angeles. Some members are exclusively funding Jewish organizations and some are funding outside the Jewish community. JGPLA meets 4-6 times a year (half in person and half virtually) to share best practices, workshop challenges, and learn from one another (and from outside experts) on issues that are both timely and relevant to the ongoing work of the members.

Contact Tzivia Schwartz Getzug at tzivia@jfunders.org for more information.

Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund of Los Angeles (JVPF)

Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund of Los Angeles, a funding collaborative, is a group of individuals who have pooled their financial resources and business planning skills to fund and support innovative programs, consistent with Jewish values. It provides a special emphasis on incorporating business principles in, and ensuring scalability and sustainability of, the organizations it funds. It seeks to support the Jewish community in Los Angeles, North America, and Israel by searching out and supporting those unique ideas that are backed with a passion and a plan whose main goal is to strengthen and positively impact the Jewish community.

Contact Tzivia Schwartz Getzug at jvpfexec@gmail.com for more information.

Marketing & Communications

The JFN Marketing and Communications Peer Network brings together communications professionals from staffed Jewish foundations to share strategies, explore challenges, and learn from one another. Through bi-monthly conversations, the group tackles issues such as thought leadership, media engagement, and team structure, offering members a trusted space to exchange ideas and strengthen their work.

Contact Brad Garoon at brad@jfunders.org for more information.

Mental Resilience, Social Resilience, and Philanthropic Responses

This group brings together funders and grantmaking professionals who are dedicated to promoting mental health and social resilience in Israel. The group provides a platform for learning, shared consultation, and collaboration, with a focus on developing innovative philanthropic models to address mental health challenges. The group's efforts address the ongoing psychological and community disruptions caused by recent conflicts, including the October 7th attacks. The network aims to support populations affected by trauma, foster long-term social rehabilitation, and build civic resilience. In Israel, this network meets regularly both virtually and in person, and is open to members and non-members.

Contact Reut Stoller at reut@jfunders.org for more information.

Rising Gen Cohort

While not a peer network per se, the Rising Generation movement is a cohort-based community, tailored especially for philanthropists who are poised to take the reins of (or a decision-making position in) their family foundations. 

Cohorts meet regularly over a set number of sessions with a facilitator, who will help them build strategies to guide their giving into the future, while managing the balance between tradition and change, family legacy and personal values.

Contact Hannah Bloom-Hirschberg at hannah@jfunders.org for more information.

Social Venture Fund for Jewish-Arab Equality and Shared Society (SVF)

The Social Venture Fund for Jewish-Arab Equality and Shared Society is a philanthropic collaborative that brings together individuals, foundations, and federations who support an equal and inclusive shared society in Israel for the benefit of all of its citizens. It focuses on funding organizations working to support the Arab citizens of Israel in the education and economic development areas, as well as in other “emerging issue” areas.  It operates as both a peer network and a giving circle.

Contact Tzivia Schwartz Getzug at tzivia@svfisrael.org for more information.

TEN: Together Ending Need

A collaborative of funders, Jewish Federations, direct service providers, researchers, media outlets, and advocates dedicated to fighting poverty in the American Jewish community. Founded in 2019, it is coordinated by Jewish Funders Network and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. 

Contact Rachel Sumekh at rsumekh@jfunders.org for more information.

Young Funders Forum

The Young Funders Forum was established in 2016 by a group of Israeli funders at the beginning of their philanthropic journey. Today, the Forum brings together more than 50 young funders in Israel, ages 30 to 50, some of whom are new to giving and wealth and others who are second- and third-generation philanthropists. Throughout the year, the Forum convenes community gatherings, workshops and lectures, and serves as a venue for peer learning, consultation, sharing and collaboration. Leading members of the group serve as chairpersons to lead the Forum together with JFN staff.

Contact Maya Golan at mgolan@jfunders.org for more information.