Jewish donors forced to rethink strategies due to Covid

Focus has turned from long-term transformation to short-term wins, with fewer conditions attached, and philanthropists looking closer to home when deciding where to direct money.

Jewish donors have been prompted to drastically rethink their strategies by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by the Jewish Funders Network.

Focus has turned from long-term transformation to short-term wins, with fewer conditions attached, and philanthropists are generally looking far closer to home when deciding where to direct money.

“I’d much rather get some hospital PPE, so people can live,” said Los Angeles-based donor Lisa Greer, speaking to J-Post. “Life became more important.”

When the pandemic hit, “people really adopted wholeheartedly this more flexible way of giving,” said Andres Spokoiny, president of the Jewish Funders Network (JFN).

Representing some of the biggest Jewish philanthropic foundations, the JFN said the first few months of lockdown led its donors to give more than £400 million in emergency grants alone. This is roughly one third of the average annual amount donated to Jewish causes in any given year.