SPECIAL REPORT: charities face ‘toughest fundraising climate’ with optimism

After the horrific attacks of 7 October, philanthropic attention inevitably honed in on the urgent needs of injured, displaced and traumatised Israelis. Donors who already gave to Israeli causes often upped their contributions and many who hadn’t traditionally done so started to dig deep as the full extent of the horrors become clear. 

That, coupled with recent UK government tax hikes, have had a significant impact on fundraising across the community, just as the Covid pandemic led to an immediate focus on care charities.

Jewish Care fundraising and marketing director Ellisa Estrin, who has been at the charity for 16 years, describes the current climate as “the toughest we’ve been in, for all sorts of reasons”.

Operating costs, which now include Jami’s mental health service provision, are £60 million. And the recent hike in employer National Insurance contributions, with no exemptions made available to charitable organisations, means it now has to find an extra £1.1 million.

Estrin, who leads the task of raising £20m annually alongside lay leaders including Lord Levy, says: “We’re facing more antisemitism. We’ve got the war going on in Israel. The community is pretty divided at the moment. So, it’s an interesting landscape that I don’t think we’ve found ourselves in before.”

Despite the myriad of challenges facing Anglo-Jewry, the thing she insists hasn’t changed is a commitment to tzedakah and mitzvah.

“That’s the bond that unites us: our Jewish values. From a fundraising point of view, it is extremely challenging. I suspect that will be the same for other organisations. For Jewish Care in particular, we are a social care provider and the community is aging, so as a result, we’re seeing more people come to us.”

She’s proud there are so many “amazing charities doing amazing work for Israel. And quite rightly, it’s understandable that people are supporting them.

“But we have to ensure as fundraisers, that our community continues to recognise that the community in the UK also needs support”.

While the community often relies heavily on a relatively small number of families for bigger donations, Jewish Care is not alone in trying to face the challenge of finding and engaging younger supporters who could pick up the baton in future years.

Estrin adds: “We’re focusing hard on trying to engage with the younger generation. We continue to do what we’re doing, but we have to broaden it as well.”

It’s the first year that Jewish Care has launched an online fundraising campaign and whilst Estrin anticipates, in time, embracing AI “from an analysis point of view, to look at trends and to identify gaps in data”, she’s adamant it will never replace human contact.

With her “eyes wide open that this is going to be tough and we’re going to have to work harder than we’ve ever worked to raise funds”, Estrin is proud that “all these organisations have stood the test of time and as long as the Jewish community continues in their spirit of their Jewish values, in their tzedakah, we’re going to weather the storm”.

Her words were echoed by Anthony Shaw, formerly of UJIA and now Norwood’s director of fundraising, who says charities have faced a mix of immediate and longer-term pressures over the last 18 months.

“The war in Israel has shifted a significant amount of philanthropy in our community, whilst economic uncertainty and global events have further changed how and where people give.

“At the same time, we are seeing broader shifts: some long-standing donors relocating, generational changes in attitudes to giving, and a stronger demand for visible impact.”

Shaw says that for many younger philanthropists, giving is no longer about tradition or expectation, but about “meaningful engagement and clear outcomes.”

He believes that engaging younger donors is both a challenge and an opportunity, adding that “many in this generation are finding it increasingly difficult financially, and are highly impact-driven in their giving. That makes building relationships early on key, ensuring the future succession of major donors.”

Shaw is seeing “more young people starting out on their own, particularly entrepreneurs within our community – as highlighted in the Jewish News 50 Under 40 in tech – which is an exciting emerging space. While they may be cash-poor until their ventures succeed, establishing connections now lays the foundation for meaningful giving in the future.”

Turning to Israel, Magen David Adom UK‘s chief executive Daniel Burger has one eye on the future too. He says: “This generation is in part less philanthropic than their parents or grandparents for a variety of reasons. This means we have to work twice as hard to convince them as to why they should give to and connect with MDA.”

He adds: “If you’ve got time and you want to give and you want to see, then give with your time. Come and understand the cause and then hopefully give.”

In a nod towards fostering that new generation with a week-long Israel scheme in January 2026 in conjunction with Birthright, Burger points to the many brand ambassadors that have returned after taking part in missions since October 7th.

“These missions have all been really successful; in part we’ve thrown in the need to be together to visit the atrocities in the aftermath of 7.10, whilst visiting MDA and having access to amazing speakers including the President and First Lady of Israel and the lead Mossad psychologist who personally interviewed each released hostage.”

He remains optimistic about the future, believing MDA’s diverse workforce and the fact it treats Jewish and Arab citizens alike reflects the very best face of Israel.

The charity is now hoping to repeat the £8 million raised in 2024 again this year. “Obviously,” Burger says finally, “we’re not going to see the levels we saw after 7/10, but we’ve grown from £5 million, to £8 million per annum. We then spend this directly on life saving in Israel.”

Few other organisations have had such a dramatic rise in demand over the last two years as Beit Halochem, the charity that provides rehabilitation and support services for injured veterans across Israel.

More than 10,000 additional people now receive support from the charity compared to two years ago. “From a charity that was raising between £1.5-2m a year, since October 7 we’ve raised over 11 and a half million pounds,” says Spencer Gelding, chief executive of Beit Halochem’s UK fundraising arm.

“I’m probably the only financial fundraising director that is upset about the fact that we’ve had to raise so much money.”

Their database has grown from 4,200 to just over 10,500 donors, with a huge percentage made up of young people.

That’s also reflected in the charity’s board, where “everyone is under the age of 55” and the recruitment of a new trustee who is mid 30s. At their annual dinner earlier this year, “our largest to date, 530 people, around 85%, were are under the age of 62, which is pretty unheard of.”

Gelding thinks it’s because “Israel has become sexy again amongst the younger members of our community. It’s a place they’re either visiting or wanting to support financially. I question whether that will remain or will they move on to whatever the next issue might be in the world. That’s probably my biggest challenge”.

On the domestic scene, the need is growing for Chai Cancer Care, which raised just over £4 million last year. “Sadly,” chair Louise Hager reflects, “more people are being diagnosed with cancer and from one cancer diagnosis we can be supporting ten to fifteen people.

“And people, thank God, are living for longer, so our service is needed for longer. That’s a double challenge, obviously, to make sure we continue to support everybody that turns to us.”

Whilst Chai was impacted by the National Insurance hike, it wasn’t at the same level as larger organisations such as Jewish Care.

Hailing the contributions of volunteers and committees,  Hager says Chai’s biggest challenge is “making sure that we can continue to provide the services for longer periods of time to people who have complex needs.”