Campaign Update

Propelled by our 2nd quarter campaign, 2019@$1,000, we have seen strong numbers coming in from across the country.  Excluding bequests, our 2019 annual campaign is about 10% ahead of the same period last year, and we are seeing great increases across our divisions from $1,000 through $100,000. We are now at more than $582 million toward our $1 Billion 10-year goal.  It is realistic that we can achieve $600 million by the end of May…but we have a lot of work to do to get there!

2019@$1000

Collectively, we have closed more than 1,200 gifts of $1,000 or more this second fiscal quarter for $12.3 million. As a reminder, the goal of the 2019@$1,000 campaign is to close as many gifts of $1,000 or more during our second fiscal quarter, which is January through March. Our General Campaign division covers gifts of $1,000 to $4,999.  It is a critical division as these donors, with proper relationship building and cultivation, often become major donors. We need to continue to expand this pipeline of donors for the overall vitality of our donor base.

These communities have closed a minimum of 50 gift units at $1,000 or more:

• Central New Jersey
• Greater Los Angeles
• Mid-Atlantic
• Nevada
• New England
• Northern California
• Northern Florida
• South Florida
• Tri-State (Greater New York area)

These communities have closed a minimum of 40 gift units at $1,000 or more:

• Arizona
• Illinois
• Mountain States
• San Diego
• Southeast
  

MAJOR DONOR WEEKEND

Please join us in Las Vegas for our annual Major Donor Weekend April 5 – 8 at the Four Seasons Hotel. Many fun and interesting programs are planned, including a wonderful Shabbat Dinner with JNFuture leaders from around the country, VIP tickets to the Cirque du Soleil show Mystere, a visit to the MOB Museum and a book signing with former mobster Myron Sugarman, the author of The Chronicles of the Last Jewish Gangster. You are also invited to attend an open meeting of JNF’s National Board of Directors on Monday morning, April 8th.   To register for major donor weekend, click here:  www.jnf.org/majordonorweekend

CAMPAIGN PLANNING SUMMIT AND NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Because this year’s National Conference is taking place so early on the calendar, September 13-15, we have decided to schedule the annual Campaign Planning Summit for the Monday immediately after the conference on September 16. The Summit will be a one day meeting from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm and is open to any lay leader serving on a JNF board, committee or task force.

Registration for the Campaign Planning Summit is included on the National Conference registration page. Please be sure to register for the National Conference and on the drop down menu there is a place to indicate you will attend the Campaign Summit. Click here to register for National Conference:  https://www.jnf.org/events-landing-pages/2019-national-conference

LAY LEADER TRAINING SEMINAR

The next training session will take place March 27 and will focus on solicitation training.

If you missed any of our previous training sessions, you can click below to watch the videos.

Leadership Training Seminar #1 (9/13/18) – History of Zionism and Jewish National Fund

Leadership Training Seminar #2 (11/14/18) – The Power of the JNF Brand and Brand Management

JNF Organizational Overview and Financial Structure #3 (1/16/19)

Shabbat Shalom!

Bruce K. Gould
President Elect and Vice President, Campaign

This week on IsraelCast, we are joined by Rabbi Dov Lipman, respected educator, active political leader, and widely published media spokesperson. Lipman shares his personal and professional experiences - from telling his grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, that he planned to make Aliyah to Israel, to his time as a Member of the Knesset. Tune in to hear his views on the current challenges Israel faces, and what lies ahead. Jnf.org/israelcast

Ignite your inner passion and get in touch with your creative side! Register today for the Art & Fashion Tour, this November. Learn more here.

Our Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School group headed off to Poland this week for their unit exploring the Polish and European Jewish communities over the last 100 years. All of our Semester groups take the same trip, along with many of our other day school and community partners. We are proud to partner with the Taube Foundation to include segments within these lessons about the current vibrancy of the Polish Jewish community, despite having overcome the atrocities in the middle of last century. Our Co-CEO, Rabbi Leor Sinai has been making the rounds in the United States. Have you seen him recently? Leor had speaking engagements in Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, and Tampa. Interested in having him come to your community to speak about Teen Israel Engagement or related topics? Speak to your local JNF fundraiser or contact info@amhsi.org for more information. Our other groups are busy learning and traveling as well, experiencing living history lessons at Ben Gurion’s grave, and discovering other parts of southern Israel like Ein Avdat canyon an Kiryat Gat.

Purim is a wonderful time for a visit to Israel’s heritage sites. Ben Gurion’s Desert Home in Sde Boker is one of several of Israel’s heritage sites that hosted a Purim party. The celebration included a costume contest, challenging contestants to come up with their best costume of Israel’s historic pioneers and leaders. The celebration also included various arts and crafts activities for children and their families to celebrate this joyous holiday with a historic twist! 

Congratulations to four of our volunteers as they reached a great milestone - fulfilling the dream of becoming a full soldier and receiving their military ID card and new uniform. Jewish National Fund partner Special in Uniform celebrated this festive event together with their families and commanders, congratulating the soldiers and wishing them all their future dreams will come true.

This week, all the Halutza communities came together for Purim celebrations. Purim is a special holiday about unity – from eating meals together to giving Mishloach Manot (goody packages) to our friends and family. Enjoy this photo of the fields getting ready for harvest squash!

A key element in human relationships is the ability to express thanks. We also need the complementary skill: to accept thanks graciously. And, if we wish our praise to be accepted, it is best to express gratitude in moderation. When invited to dinner, we might bring a bottle of wine or other gift, it is polite to thank the hostess when she serves each course and to express our appreciation when we’ve finished.

While the concept of giving thanks is important among human beings, it is also central in our relationship with G-d. Almost all our responses to G-d through the path of Jewish teaching can be seen as expressions of appreciation and thanks, for the infinite bounty that G-d bestows upon us.

One of the methods of expressing thanks to G-d is described in this week's Torah reading Parashat Tzav. The korban todah is the thanksgiving offering which an individual could bring to the Temple on any weekday. It was brought as expression of thanks to G-d by someone who experienced any of four specific kinds of danger: a captive who was freed; a person who crossed the sea; one who traversed the desert; and someone who recovered from an illness. Surviving these circumstances is considered miraculous intervention by G-d and deserving of an extra measure of gratitude and appreciation.

If you think about it, these miraculous events mirror the miracles G-d performed as we left Egypt at the dawn of our formation as a nation: G-d split the sea, helped us across the desert, and looked out for our spiritual and physical welfare.

Next month, JNF will gather in Las Vegas, Nevada to give thanks to our Major Donors and leadership from across the country for their commitment and dedication to JNF. While there is no sea to split, they will partake in Shabbat in the Desert. It is because of these committed individuals that the spiritual and physical welfare of all Israelis is looked out for.

Shabbat Shalom,

Yossi