Tzedakah, Inc.
Supporting More Effective Jewish Giving
Web address:www.just-tzedakah.org

MEMO:

FROM:    Ira Kaminow, President
TO:          Friends of Tzedakah, Inc.
DATE:     July 7, 2006;
RE:          What's new in the world of nonprofits    

   I'd appreciate any feedback you might have. Just let me know by email whether you think the information is interesting and useful, and how I might improve the content or layout. Of course if you want to get off our list, let me know that as well. You can send me an email by clicking on my name above.

   Can Warren Buffett Learn from the Jewish Way of Giving? Warren Buffett pledged to donate several times more money than Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller combined! And that's adjusted for inflation. But it remains to be seen whether Buffett will get his money's worth. According to Jewish tradition, the true joy of giving requires involvement. The Jerusalem Talmud reports that "Rabbi Yonah said it is not written 'happy is he who gives to the poor,' but 'happy is he who considers the poor' that is, one who thinks about the mitzvah of giving and how to perform it." Buffett outsourced his charity to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For his sake, I hope he'll do more than just drop his money off at the Gates foundation front door. Buffett is a smart guy who can pick for-profit winners; he can probably do the same for non-profits.

   Are Men or Women More Generous? In 1998, a high-profile paper by Catherine Eckel and Philip Grossman presented evidence that women are more generous than men. But in a new article, Christina Hoff Sommers of the American Enterprise Institute looks at subsequent research and concludes that "both sexes have their graces and their own styles of being virtuous. Determining which sex is the more generous is like deciding which is more physically attractive: there is no objective answer." More. The article appears in the current issue of In Character which is devoted entirely to the topic of generosity.

   Sex collects. Craig Landry, Andreas Lange, John A. List, Michael K. Price, and Nicholas G. Rupp examined what works best in door-to-door solicitation. Nearly 5,000 households were solicited for contributions in this field experiment. Many different characteristics were tested. One was the physical attractiveness of women solicitors. The study asked college students to rate the female solicitors by attractiveness. It turned out that collections by solicitors rated as more attractive were 50%-135% higher. Not surprisingly, "this result is largely driven by increased participation rates among households where a male answered the door." Other characteristics such as weight and assertiveness of solicitors were tested, as well as the type of donation requested. More

   Too-Much-Athon Cities are overwhelmed by charity walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons, and runs. Some cities are restricting these activities or charging more in permit fees. A few charities have introduced virtual walks or runs in which participants sign-on to websites. More

   Mars Bars Big Gifts Monster charitable gifts by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have prompted a review of the generosity of the super-rich. This New York Times article reports that charitable giving among America's wealthiest is declining. Two mega-billionaire families -- the Walton (Wal-Mart) and Mars (candy) families -- are highlighted as being pikers compared with Gates and Buffett. In 2004 the Mars Family Foundation donated 1/1,900^th of the amount the Gates Foundation gave away. More

Tizku L'mitzvos