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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/40518/full/40518/jgooders-web-site-lets-philanthropy-start-at-just-5/ <br /><br /> <b>Jgooders Web site lets philanthropy start at just $5</b> <br /> Thursday, November 12, 2009 | by ruth eglash <br /><br /><p>At first glance, Jgooders.com looks like any other Jewish organization’s Web site. Listing a variety of social welfare and cultural projects in Israel and the Jewish world, encouraging surfers to “get involved” and volunteer, Jgooders could, in fact, pass for its own philanthropic organization attempting to rally the international Jewish community for support.</p> <p>However, Jgooders runs no projects of its own and fundraises nothing for itself. Rather, it is a Jewish philanthropic startup offering individual donors and Jewish or Israeli charities the chance to raise money with ease via new technology and social media promotion.</p> <div class="capDivLeft" style="width: 126px;"><img alt="CGgooders Judith Stern Peck" class="left" height="180" src="/images/uploads/z_photos_2009/f11_13_09/CGgooders Judith Stern Peck.jpg" title="Judith Stern Peck" width="126" /> <div class="caption">Judith Stern Peck</div> </div> It’s a new take on Jewish philanthropy, says founding investor and board member Judith Stern Peck, one of five investors who established the initiative with Israelis Smadar Fogel and Ronit Dolev. <p>Indeed, since its launch in November 2008, Jgooders already lists more than 110 Jewish charities and some 230 individual projects for people to donate to, and has quickly created a new forefront of Jewish giving. Aside from basic fundraising, donors are also invited to monitor the specific projects of their choice. The site also has allowed lesser-known charities, which in the past might have been overshadowed by much larger organizations, to gain recognition.</p> <p>Inadvertently, the site has also provided an answer to medium and smaller nonprofits struggling with the global economic crisis and those hurt by the antics of the now infamous Jewish investor Bernard Madoff.</p> <p>“It’s a platform that allows what I have called the democratization of Jewish philanthropy,” explains Stern Peck, a 60-something New York–based grandmother who describes herself as an “adventurous person addicted to her Blackberry.”</p> <p>“While in the past there has been focus on major organizations and large donors, Jgooders levels the playing field for donors and for the small project or organizations,” Stern Peck says. “Our model is more for the smaller donors. We are looking to attract people who make [donations] between $5 to $3,000. The emphasis on the larger donor is not as important as it has been in the past. On our Web site donations can vary in size — we are trying to find ways in which everyone can be part of this.”</p> <p>While in the past Jewish organizations focused on several key benefactors, Stern Peck explains that Jgooders allows people of all financial means to get involved in Jewish philanthropy. It offers an opportunity for anyone to be involved in certain projects belonging to a wide range of Jewish and Israel-based organizations.</p> <p>“For us it is an excellent tool,” says Yonatan Gher, executive director of Jerusalem Open House, a Jewish gay, lesbian and bisexual community that recently joined Jgooders. “We have two projects listed on the Web site — our LGBT community center and a health clinic that will provide anonymous testing for the HIV virus. In each project, we as a charity can monitor its progress and our supporters can receive more involvement and transparency on our goals.”</p> <p>While it is still too early for Gher to assess how much he has raised by signing on to Jgooders, he has been able to gauge how much traffic has passed through his particular Web page. He is feeling extremely encouraged.</p> <p>“This is a very innovative initiative,” he says. “I think it would also be beneficial to larger organizations because it allows for a focus on specific projects.”</p> <p>So how does it work? According to Stern Peck, charities can list any number of individual projects on the Web site — organizations pay $130 to $250 a year per project to be listed — and can monitor who is supporting them, send out personalized “thank you” notes to those who make a donation and link the Jgooders page to their organization’s Web site.</p> <p>In addition, she says, Jgooders’ staff of seven, which is based in Israel, utilizes a wide range of social media to encourage the flow of visitors to its page, including recent campaigns on Facebook and Twitter, as well as “old-fashioned” methods such as e-mail lists.</p> <p>“Building up such a business is like anything else you do in the world,” she notes. “You have to market yourself, get your name out there until you reach the tipping point.”</p> <p>Although for Jgooders the “tipping point” has yet to come, it is clear that global Jewish philanthropy, especially after the blow caused by Madoff and the recession, needs to start modernizing itself and reassess its direction.</p> <p>“Obviously no one can predict whether this is a new era of Jewish philanthropy,” says Stern Peck, who has been actively involved in the voluntary sector since the 1970s, including work for the UJA–Federation of New York. “But even compared to my generation, my children’s generation has a whole different view of how they give philanthropically.”</p> <p>She adds, “I really think this will be a successful venture because being online is the way of the future … There has already been a huge trend in on-line global giving by non-Jewish charities. The Jewish world is lagging far behind in this and it’s about time we caught up.”</p> <p>As well as its practical function of improving the flow of fund-raising and donations, Stern Peck envisions her project as a chance to provide a lesson in Jewish giving and tikkun olam to a new generation.</p> <p>“The Web site can most certainly be used as an education tool. It’s a chance to transmit Jewish values and an opportunity for all of us to be part of the larger international Jewish community,” she says.</p> <p>“Philanthropy is no longer just about where you give or how much. It’s about how you give and how you involve your children in the process.”</p>

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