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We are very excited about a new feature added to the just-tzedakah website. Rabbi Rafael Cohen has graciously agreed to answer your questions about tzedakah. Rabbi Cohen has written many books on the performance of essential mitzvot. Among them are Preserve Your Assets: The Laws of Tzedakah and Related Issues and, his newest book, Practical Laws of Money. Got a question for Rabbi Cohen? Click here.
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 We recently updated the profile for A.H.A.V.A. “English Learned in a Natural Method” A.H.A.V.A. is an Israeli organization that teaches English to disadvantaged Israeli school children. Israeli kids, especially those living in geographically and socially peripheral areas of the country, are taught English which is often a critical skill in finding a job later in life. Click here to see the A.H.A.V.A. profile. Rambam (Maimonides) teaches that the highest form of tzedakah is to give the recipient tools to earn a living on his or her own.
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The L.A. Times reported on the fundraising efficiency of commercial fundraisers. The data are based on reports filed with state of California covering the years from 1997 through 2006. On average organizations received 46 cents for each dollar collected. Organizations in the Religious Service/Advocacy category did a little better; they kept 51% of funds donated. Jewish groups in that category got to keep a more respectable 63% of funds collected by commercial fundraisers. Of Jewish organizations raising over a million dollars through commercial fundraisers, United Jewish Communities did the best, keeping 97 cents for each dollar collected. At the other end, commercial fundraiser activities returned only 29% of total dollars collected to the Anti-Defamation League.
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Want to keep up with the latest in Jewish philanthropy? Here are three great resources:Research in Jewish philanthropy published by the Institute for Jewish and Community Research The Fundermentalist blog sponsored by the Jewish Telegraph Agency eJewish Philanthropy |
The IRS is sending questionnaires to 400 universities and colleges. Among other things, the questionnaire "will gather information regarding how the organization invests and uses its endowment funds and determines compensation of certain highly paid individuals." That seems to be a response to a heated discussion lately about which kinds of organizations should benefit from tax exemptions and qualify to receive tax-deductible contributions. For example, the Minnesota Supreme Court just ruled that a non-profit day care agency had to pay property taxes because it did "not provide goods or services free or at considerably reduced rates..."More generally, critics argue that universities, non-profit hospitals and orchestras do not always use donations for charitable purposes. Top universities have endowments of many billions of dollars. Non-profit hospitals often provide no more community service than do for-profits which are subject to income taxes and cannot accept tax-deductible contributions. This issue is vitally important. We don't want large amounts of gifts qualifying for tax breaks if those gifts merely fund subsidies for the wealthy and divert resources from the truly disadvantaged. >>>More>>> >>>More>>> >>>More>>> >>>More>>> >>>More>>> >>>More>>> |
Conservatives give more than liberals? That's the conclusion of the book Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism. The book was written by Arthur Brooks, Professor of Business and Government Policy at Syracuse University. Brooks is slated to leave Syracuse next year to become president of the right leaning American Enterprise Institute in Washington. Brooks concludes that most of the difference in giving between conservatives and liberals can be attributed to the fact that conservatives tend to be more religious and liberals more secular. He is quoted as saying "There is not one measurably significant way I have ever found in which religious people are not more charitable than nonreligious people," >>>More>>> >>>More>>> Comparing generations: Who gives more and why? A new study compares giving by different generations. The study looks at the percent of people who give, how much they give, and why they give. For example, members of older generations are more likely to give to religious causes but cohorts in all generations are about equally likely to give to secular causes. That pattern is not followed with regard to the average amount given, though. Consider this comparison: Seventy-two percent of those born before 1929 gave to religious causes while only 45% of those born between 1964 and 1981 (Gen X-ers) did. But, the average amount given to religious causes by the oldest generation was just $1,266 while for Gen-Xers the amount was $1,799. >>>Executive summary>>> Full study (requires free registration) |
Check out Joe Biden's tax returns, and you'll find he looks like a miser when it comes to charitable contributions. According to the returns he and his wife filed with the IRS, the couple gave only $369 a year, on average, over the last decade. Giving jumped last year to $995 on income of $319,853. A Biden spokesman claimed that the Bidens don't claim all their charitable contributions on their tax forms. >>>More>>> The Palins did a lot better. On income of about $128,000 in 2006, they gave $4,880 to charity. They were not quite as charitable last year when income jumped to $166,000 and contributions fell to $3,325.
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