See also Introduction to
The Israel Foundation Directory

Introduction to Giving Wisely

Nonprofit organizations are the flowers of Israeli society.

So much has happened in the nonprofit sector since 1982 when I published the first edition of Giving Wisely, the first and only English directory of nonprofit organizations in Israel. There was no educational program, national data or field of research at that time on the Third Sector. It was a non-subject in academia, and certainly not recognized as a major area for massive public involvement in civil society. There were only 12,000 registered "amutot" or nonprofit organizations. By 1999 there were 27,000 registered Israeli nonprofit organizations and they constitute a major sector of the Israel economy. In 1995 the sector employed 11% of all workers (excluding agriculture), and its combined expenditure was 33 billion shekels or 13% of the GDP. Revenue to the sector comes from government grants for services (64%), fees and memberships (26%), and from donations (10%). The sector is growing very rapidly, taking a major role in the provision of services. Today, we Israelis live in a post-socialist, emerging capitalist society where government has pulled back drastically on social spending, often choosing to contract out to nonprofit and for- profit organizations. The issue of accountability, professional leadership, access to information and research is more relevant now than ever before, and today this is a recognized area for university education, in-service training, policy and research. No one imagined that a donor to the Hebrew University (L. Jacques Menard, of Montreal) would dedicate a Chair for the Study of Nonprofit Organizations, Volunteering and Philanthropy, and that I would be the first incumbent to that Chair.

I published Giving Wisely primarily to put the nonprofit sector on the Israeli map, and to honor the thousands of unsung heroes working in amutot who spent most of their time serving people in need. The book included detailed profiles of Israeli nonprofits active in the health, education and welfare fields. There were many reasons that pushed me to write the book. One was related to the fact that local and foreign donors had for years been asking my advice about where to send donations. With so many registered nonprofit organizations around, it was very difficult for donors to evaluate and make educated decisions or even know which organizations were legal, so that they could choose those that were closest to their own areas of interest, and to give wisely.

Guide for the Perplexed Philanthropist

If I had a shekel for every philanthropist who wrote me, telephoned, or walked into my office at the Hebrew University's School of Social Work during the last 40 years to ask for advice about "where to contribute charity where it's really needed", I could retire in style. I promised myself that one day I would publish some personal advice about giving money in Israel so that philanthropists and friends of Israel abroad could find their way through the maze of Israeli organizations seeking donations.

Every time I go back for a visit to the States, my relatives and friends show me huge piles of letters they received from Israeli organizations asking for donations. The mail builds up especially towards the Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah and Shavuot holidays. Invariably, the direct-mail packet contains the familiar "P.O.B." number on an addressed return envelope, along with a fervent plea for help. But the philanthropist needs help too. Especially if he or she wants to do something in a personal way for Israel. They need to have more information about welfare organizations in Israel; they need some indication as to whether the organization is recognized by responsible Israeli authorities, it's track record, whether donations are tax-deductible in Israel and abroad, and some knowledge about exactly who are the Israelis in charge. Instead of throwing all the requests for aid into the wastebasket, or sending a pittance to each of them to keep everyone happy, there is a very good chance that some of the requests may be of great interest to a potential donor. They may pull a specific emotional chord, answer a personal need of someone looking for a cause to support, and provide a vehicle to express that need. Who has not wanted to memorialize the loss of parents and loved-ones by undertaking a project in their name? Who has not wanted to leave some sign that we once existed here on this earth, and that we were not only out for ourselves while we were here? Who has been stirred by the miracle of Israel's rebirth and not sought to express some tangible measure of belonging and partnership in that magnificent enterprise? Perhaps one of those envelopes, piled high on the kitchen table, brings the opportunity to personalize one's relationship with Israel and its people, and to leave your footprint on our shores, however small.

This book has been compiled as a service to Jews and non-Jews abroad who want to know more about Israeli nonprofit organizations and who want to be more sophisticated in their philanthropic efforts. It is an attempt to enable interested donors to follow their curiosity by making personal contact with the representatives of organizations listed in the Guide.

There is also another very important reason for writing this book, namely, to provide a platform and an equal opportunity for Israeli non-profit welfare organizations to describe their work, accomplishments, and needs, and to reach the ear of potential donors abroad. In the past, only the most well oiled, sophisticated, public-relations-conscious organizations have been able to reach large foreign audiences. The smaller organizations in Israel, usually the grassroots citizens' groups, have not used the international media or made close contacts with foreign philanthropists. Some of them wouldn't even know where or how to begin. Thus, there is a need for bringing together, fomatchmaking perhaps, the non-profit and volunteer organizations with potential philanthropists. Israelis are struggling very hard, for the most part, to make Israel work, but we see this effort as falling also upon our brothers and sisters in the rest of the world, as our partners in the enterprise. That is why, although we are a very proud people, reluctant to ask for handouts and ambivalent about receiving them, we do turn to Jews abroad to enlist their philanthropic partnership. What is remarkable, and generally unsung, are the literally thousands of citizens' self-help and non-profit organizations in the fields of health, education, culture and welfare which have been established to improve Israeli society by private initiative. From miniscule, one-family, interest-free loan (gemilut chasadim) funds and funds for the children of deceased paratroopers, to the "big-time" educational and medical organizations, the amount of non-profit, volunteer work which is going on in Israel today is unbelievable. The same Jewish ethos of our forefathers concerning tzedakah (doing justice through good deeds) and pulling together to preserve Jewish life and spirit during centuries of wandering, persecution, and ghetto life, have surfaced again. Rooted in our earliest history and pre-State days, these are an important part of the fabric of modern Israeli society. Indeed, many of today's non-profit organizations were initiated to preserve Jewish ways of life and values often endangered by modern society, including the act of volunteering, itself.

This stream of volunteer, non-profit welfare activity in Israel seems to increase with hard times, almost as an instinctive Jewish response to hard times. Traditionally, over the centuries, and still today. Israelis have tried to link up with philanthropists abroad that could provide the financial fuel for their volunteer efforts. When these partners come together, beautiful things often occur, and they happen every day. This book opens a window onto the types of non-profit organizations which are active in the country, explains what their needs are, and provides access to the people connected with them. It shows some of Israel's human resources and strength rather than its weaknesses. It shows, simultaneously, both the empty half and the full half of the cup, what is being done and what still needs to be done. It is my hope that this modest Guide will create an appetite for Jews and non-Jews abroad to get involved in organizations that interest them, and make direct, personal contact with Israelis who are genuinely seeking partnership and expertise as well as money.

Direct Giving as a Norm

The publication of Giving Wisely is not intended to downplay the importance of the UJA-Federation Appeal (now, the "United Jewish Communities") or its European counterpart, Keren Hayesod. There is no question in my mind that the centralized federation community campaigns are an important device to enable Jews around the world to tax themselves for local services and to identify in some degree with Israel and the Jewish people as a whole. The funds transferred to the Jewish Agency in Israel are utilized for important projects such as immigrant transportation to Israel, absorption, Diaspora education, housing, urban renewal and other essential programs. Nevertheless, the lack of personal, face-to-face involvement of most donors, the persistent appeal primarily to emotions rather than to intellect and the "give-and-run" philanthropic style which is the hallmark of centralized fundraising, are simply not enough for a growing number of educated, committed, sophisticated young and older philanthropists. These leaders want to move beyond their regular involvement with the mainstream Jewish fund-raising apparatus and want a personal stake in Israel, a partnership relationship. They want to see how their philanthropy is spent, they want much more control over it and more accountability for its use in Israel. They want to deal directly with real people in Israel, counterparts whom they can trust and whose energies they can cultivate for a better Israel.

A major reason for publishing the first and second editions of Giving Wisely is to promote direct giving by donors to Israeli nonprofits of their choice. I had always felt that the Jewish Agency's monopoly over the bulk of Diaspora centralized federation fundraising was not productive to the development, needs and role of the nonprofit sector in Israeli society. I believe very strongly that direct philanthropy fosters stronger, long-term partnership relationships within a much broader spectrum of civic grassroots nonprofit activities than proxy giving provides. The limited portfolio of services offered by the Jewish Agency, its consensual built-in politicization of the administration of donor funds and monopoly of foreign philanthropy were good reasons to promote independent direct giving. The Agency is only one of many worthy Israeli amutot. It is very important to me that sophisticated donors abroad should have objective information about other nonprofit agencies in Israel and be able to make their own decisions about how and where they may contribute to the development of the country. I want to end the state of captive donor audiences and the politicization of centralized Jewish philanthropy for Israel. An effort was made to persuade me not to publish the first edition in 1982, warning that the book would harm the federation community campaigns and the Agency budget, and that no one abroad was really interested in or needed a book of this kind. They said that donors abroad had no time for learning details about Israeli organizations or for private direct philanthropy, that they trusted their local leadership and professionals, and that centralized giving was the best vehicle for helping Israel. These paternalistic monopolistic arguments made me even more convinced that Giving Wisely was an important, timely project. Apparently I was correct, because within 18 months nearly all copies of the book were sold out. Ironically, many copies were purchased by Jewish community federations, but mostly by individuals and foundations.

The Jewish federations that funded the quasi-governmental Jewish Agency during the past five decades viewed the Israeli government as their primary partner. However, the federations' most appropriate partner in the new millenium is the Israeli nonprofit sector. This means a developing a new social covenant with the sector as a whole, rather than with the Jewish Agency.

The trend of seeking "private projects" and personalization of philanthropic effort has been going on for several decades and was even institutionalized for "big givers" by setting up the Israel Education Fund for people who wanted individual projects (usually edifices), beyond their regular UJA contribution. But during the past decade, and particularly after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, a large number of younger middle-class and independently wealthy Jews and non-Jews began to seek out projects in Israel with which they could identify and experience cause-effect results from their contributions. Eventually, the Jewish Agency understood this need, and established its own "JAFI Allocations Program" in 1987 which by 1999 has provided a total of $30 million to 652 projects implemented by 344 nonprofit organizations. Although half of the grants go to projects of the three religious streams, this is a good beginning, one that may eventually lead the way in converting the entire Jewish Agency into a large world Jewish foundation working in Israel. Nevertheless, this quasi-direct giving model cannot take the place of individual partnerships and direct philanthropic involvement with Israeli amutot. One example of this is the involvement of worldwide Sephardi leadership that identified almost immediately with disadvantaged Israelis hailing from the Moslem countries of the Middle East. The efforts of Nina Weiner of New York, who, together with the Safra family and others, established ISEF (the International Sephardi Education Fund), are a very good example of successful direct private giving. TheSwitzerland based SACTA-Rashi Foundation is another outstanding example of direct grantmaking. Others turned to personal philanthropic involvement with Israeli amutot because of their own special interests in communal, health, recreation, religious, or educational programs. Edith and Henry Everett are another example of smart private foreign philanthropists working in Israel, especially in the Galilee development town of Hatzor. Several hundred local and foreign based foundations are now working in Israel, including those of major Jewish community federations, and in the 1980's they established a Forum of Foundations to share information and ideas. Thousands of individual donors created their own private partnerships with amutot out of disillusionment with exclusively mainstream charity. The Israel Free Loan Association, an amuta founded by this author in 1990, has provided over 12,000 interest free loans totaling more than $16 million to help new immigrants and other needy Israelis. All of this income comes directly from private donors and foundations worldwide (including Israel) who understand and cherish the Hebrew free loan concept. Not one cent of these funds comes from the Israeli government.

In response to this rapidly growing trend of direct private giving in Jewish life, a network of funds and foundations have been created abroad to responsibly channel private charity directly to amutot in Israel, earmarked for specific projects. One of the most successful and reliable of the American organizations is P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, Inc., located at 342 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10173. Founded in 1922 by Justice Louis Brandeis and other prominent Americans, it disburses millions of dollars each year to Israeli nonprofit organizations from private American donors and foundations. From 1996 to 1998 P.E.F sent $327 million to Israeli NPO's. In 1998, disbursements were made totaling over $31.5 million dollars. P.E.F. is a tax-exempt non-profit public charity. It welcomes small (from $25.00) and large gifts, from American donors only, deductible under U.S. tax laws. Donations are sent to P.E.F. with the donors' recommendation for its use in Israel. Upon approval of the PEF trustees, remittance is made to the organization in Israel without any deduction for administration. This procedure usually takes up to three weeks. A potential recipient organization in Israel must be approved by the PEF representative in Israel, to whom they must send a copy of their Israeli amuta papers, Articles of Association, tax exempt permit and a statement of activities. Less than 1.3% of the total P.E.F. receipts were used for administration in 1998, none of this taken from donor grants.

Another vehicle for forwarding private philanthropy to Israeli amutot, primarily from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. is The New Israel Fund. The Fund was founded in 1979 and specializes in seed money grants for social action, civil rights, women's rights, Arab-Jewish relations and a range of innovative volunteer activity. Other examples of foreign funds that transfer donations to Israeli nonprofits are The Abraham Fund, the Ziv Tzedakah Fund, and a host of others. Some deduct for overhead, some don't, and donors should check this subject carefully.

Many of the Israeli organizations that solicit funding abroad have encouraged the establishment of "Friends" organizations in the U.S. and elsewhere which receive donations, provide local tax deductible receipts, and then forward the donations to Israel. This is very common for Israeli universities, yeshivot and social service organizations. For example, many projects in Jerusa1em (parks, museums, theaters, etc.) have been funded through the Friends of the Jerusalem Foundation, and Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Beersheva have similar funds. The Israel Free Loan Association has Friends organizations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. The Friends organizations are freestanding, independent entities liable only to the laws of their own country.

Some of these organizations provide for "delayed donations" in the form of bequests and life insurance policies assigned to the organization. Most insurance companies and lawyers are familiar with these arrangements and in many cases legal consultation and standard forms containing the proper legal phraseology can be obtained, without cost, from the benefiting organization.

Now, going into the year 2000, there is an urgent need for this second edition of Giving Wisely, both in hard cover and for the internet. Today, there are 27,000 amutot registered with the Ministry of Interior and approximately 12,000 of them are also registered with the Ministry of Finance as tax-deductible organizations. Each year, an average of 1,000 new amutot are registered. Fifty-six percent of today's amutot did not exist when Giving Wisely first came out in 1982, and yet many donors abroad still inquire whether specific nonprofit organizations are listed in Giving Wisely. The book has become a reference for donors.

In recent years some donors abroad have been turned off to giving in Israel because of the improved standard of living here, the emergence of a strata of wealthy Israelis and the struggle for official recognition of all religious streams of Judaism. Sophisticated donors, however, understand that not all people benefit equally during economic good times, that there is a limit to what local private wealth can accomplish, and that fighting for pluralism in Israel is an excellent focus for foreign philanthropic effort. They also know that there is a limit to what the government can do and that a strong partnership between private philanthropy and nonprofit sector organizations is absolutely essential for all civil societies.

Donors can use this new edition of Giving Wisely to find their way through the jungle of Israeli organizations and to facilitate making direct contact with grass roots Israelis working in similar fields of interest. Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews seek new nonprofit vehicles to promote their Israeli religious counterparts, pluralism, educational and social services in Israel, turning to direct philanthropy to satisfy these needs. The Jewish Agency, faced with financial crisis, is undergoing significant organizational contraction, the most dramatic being the transfer of the Youth Aliyah Department to the Ministry of Education, and the merging of various existing programs. In 1998 the Agency sponsored the creation of a new central fundraising organization called "The Israeli Spirit" began to function in Israel in 1998, to solicit citizen's donations for the elderly, victims of family violence, help to discharged soldiers, and for underprivileged children. "United Way Israel" also began to function here in 1999. These are interesting experiments because until now Israelis do not seem keen to adopt proxy giving, preferring direct giving to their favorite charities.

A Resource Directory for Israelis

One of the best ways to judge how well people can cope is how knowledgeable they are about, and how expertly they make use of existing resources. This skill is often found in community leaders, and seems to be a key variable frequently lacking among members of lower income groups. Information is indeed power. In the welfare, health and education fields there is as yet no resource in Israel equivalent to this book. Thus, the author hopes that Giving Wisely will serve as a helpful, although partial handbook for Israeli professionals, clients, and citizens who are in need of information about resources. Unfortunately, many Israelis have little knowledge about the wide range of non-profit services available to them or whom to contact in order to apply. There is a tremendous ongoing practical need by Israeli citizens and human service professionals for information about services and resources available from nonprofit organizations. For this reason, the second edition of Giving Wisely also is being published for the first time in Hebrew as well as in English.

This book is a basic tool for anyone interested in sending money to Israeli charities, especially corporate fou, family and private foundations, people preparing their Will and estate planners, fund administrators, federations, Israeli consulates, people seeking volunteer opportunities, and anyone interested in the nonprofit field in Israel. For the Israeli Third Sector, this book puts a broad range of nonprofit organizations on the same shelf for all to see, thus opening the competition for funding to less known and less wealthy organizations. In my introduction to the first edition of Giving Wisely, potential donors were encouraged to communicate directly with the nonprofit organization of their choice, and this message is still very relevant. Feedback to me from directors of organizations showed that the book generated significant direct donations to many of the organizations profiled.

How the Guide Was Prepared

In general, the methodology used to prepare the first edition of Giving Wisely was similar to that used in this second edition. To be included, an organization must be a registered amuta at the Ministry of Interior.

The Questionnaire

A lot of thought was invested in developing the questionnaire. After consultation with foreign philanthropists, the Registrar of Amutot, Guidestar executives and British Charity Commission staff, and third-sector researchers, several versions of the questionnaire were developed, pretested and revised before we selected the final version. The questionnaire was similar to that used in the first edition, plus a few items gleaned (with permission) from the Guidestar Directory of American Charities. A 50-item questionnaire was prepared in identical Hebrew and English versions, with an explanatory cover letter and a return envelope attached. The main "audiences" for Giving Wisely are potential donors around the world interested in Israeli social affairs and Israeli citizens in search of services. Primarily, we wanted readers to obtain a full profile of the organizations including their history, organizational structure, goals, achievements, names of board members, financial situation and tax-exempt status in Israel and abroad, scope (i.e. members, branches, employees), references abroad and other information.

The basic purpose of the questionnaire was to gather enough information to enable interested potential donors and clients to follow-up their curiosity concerning an organization by making direct, personal contact with its officers. We want them to be able to walk into the organization's office in Israel and ask to see any of its board members or write directly to organizations listed in order to obtain more information and intelligently proceed to explore the possibility of granting them funds.

All profiles constitute subjective and objective information provided by the nonprofit organization. We cannot attest to 100% accuracy, and we suggest that donors ask for official CPA reports and any other information and documentation that they may need, make site visits where possible or have friends do this for them, and learn as much as possible about the organization. Self-reports are a very good beginning, however, and this information indicates a desire to cooperate and share information. Many organizations invested a lot of time and thought in preparing their questionnaires. In some cases, organizations inundated us with brochures and text way beyond the parameters allowed in our questionnaires. In those cases we edited their material. As in the first edition, there was no charge whatsoever to the nonprofit organizations for us preparing their profile for the book or for the internet version of Giving Wisely. For this, we thank the foundations that funded this project and the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work of the Hebrew University that sponsored part of our work.

Preparing the Mailing List

Unlike the purpose of the first edition which was to list and objectively describe non-profit, volunteer organizations active in Israel in fields of health, education and welfare, this edition sought to include amutot providing a service to the public, regardless of the field of activity. The most crucial task involved in this effort was the compilation of a list of the organizations that answered these criteria. This was done in a very systematic way period beginning in April, 1998, and involved two stages. In the first stage the author obtained comprehensive lists of organizations from the Ministries of Education, Health, Labor and Social Affairs, and Religious Affairs. Each of these Ministries have contact with volunteer organizations or are involved in providing these organizations with letters of reference or certification of one kind or another, and each has its own lists.

In the second stage we solicited lists of volunteer organizations from a large number of municipalities, some of which (Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa) had mimeographed their own lists of social services for use by social workers and citizens in general. More lists were obtained from volunteer roof-organizations such as The Israel Council for Voluntary Services, a government-funded organization established to promote and coordinate volunteer activity. In addition to the above, we scoured the "Yellow Pages" and telephone directories of the various regions in Israel to find more non-profit organizations, and sifted through tourist guidebooks for more names. We also obtained lists from local Religious Councils, news items in the daily papers, and from social workers in the community organization field. Once all the lists were gathered, we prepared a comprehensive central list of nearly 2,500 non-profit and volunteer organizations. Every organization on that list was sent our six-page questionnaire explaining, in English and Hebrew, the purpose of the book and asking for their cooperation in filling-in the questionnaire.

Finally, in order to make sure that all of the relevant organizations had an equal opportunity to be listed in the book, we published a large ad for several weeks in Friday's edition (the weekend edition) of four major Israeli papers announcing the purpose of the book and asking organizations that had not yet received our questionnaire to apply for inclusion. Every possible avenue had been taken to guarantee that every organization had been given an equal chance to participate in the publication. We are not responsible if an organization did not return their material or sent it after the publication cut-off date, although late profiles will be put on the Giving Wisely internet site.

Upon receipt of the completed questionnaire, a Profile was carefully prepared in Excel format for each organization, using uniform headings and relying only on information abstracted from the material submitted. The draft of each profile, in English and Hebrew, was then sent to the contact person of each organization with a request to correct any obvious mistakes and return them to us. They were informed that a non-response would be an acknowledgement that the profile was accurate and ready for printing. After the Profiles were returned to the editor, the organization's corrections were reviewed and included in the Profile. Even at this stage, some organizations did not return their Profiles or written approvals for publication, and they were reluctantly omitted from the book.

Who Was Left Out?

National and Municipal Government Agencies

In view of the fact that Giving Wisely was meant to present volunteer and nonprofit organizations to which private individuals abroad can donate tax deductible gifts, these criteria automatically ruled out all government agencies and organizations, national and municipal. Such agencies do not provide tax-exempt status for donations from local or foreign donors.

Synagogues

We did not include the thousands of synagogues that abound in Israel. For one thing, they are not all registered as amutot and it would be technically impossible to find and list them all. Moreover, their functions (in Israel) do not fall under the technical theme of "service organizations", which is the major basis for including or excluding organizations in the book. On the other hand, if a synagogue opea free loan fund, educational or other type of service, it was included.

Political Parties and Labor Unions

We did not include political parties since they are not tax-deductible organizations for donors abroad. It will be noticed when reading the book, that some Israeli welfare organizations are supported by grants from political parties, as a service to members of the party and their families. Labor Unions were also not included in the book since these are inextricably linked to the various political parties and also benefit greatly from national and municipal government resources.

West Bank and Palestinian Authority Organizations

The book relates only to amuta societies registered by the Israel Ministry of Interior, and does not include organizations registered by the Palestinian Authority.

Organizations That Opted Out

This category refers to organizations that were included in our mailing, but opted of their own accord not to participate in the publication simply by not returning their questionnaire. We can only speculate about possible reasons for opting out. One reason, mentioned by some organizations, was a desire to maintain privacy and anonymity. Others may not be interested in mingling outside funds with family funds that, for example, have been contributed to a scholarship fund in memory of a loved-one. That fact that we "discovered" them and sent them a questionnaire may be completely irrelevant to their goals.

Another reason for opting-out of the book was the desire not to reveal financial information requested in the questionnaire. Some organizations called this author to "ask permission" to omit these items of information. When this was refused they may have chosen not to send the questionnaire at all. However, other organizations simply sent in the questionnaire, minus certain items. Laziness or poor administration may well have been another reason for not sending in the questionnaire, although we tried to make it easy by enclosing an addressed return envelope with each questionnaire. Nevertheless, some organizations may have been deterred by the task of answering a six page detailed questionnaire. It is certain, however, that no organization was deterred from participating for financial reasons, since there was absolutely no charge for printing their profile in Giving Wisely. It is very important to note that of the 2,500 questionnaires sent out, less than 100 were returned by the Postal authorities due to a wrong address. In other words, most of the questionnaires arrived at the proper destination and were claimed.

How to Use the Guide

The essence of wise partnership philanthropy, in my opinion, is information. There are smart ways and naive ways to give away money. It never ceases to amaze me how well meaning businessmen and economy-conscious housewives will sometimes give charity to organizations or programs in Israel without the slightest demand for information, accountability or credentials from the recipient organization. To encourage a more rational process, the Profiles of the non-profit organizations which follow in Part Two of this book have been carefully prepared and edited to provide information which can be helpful to readers. The "history and goals", "programs" and "accomplishments" sections are important and were reported by the organizations within the guidelines that we requested in the questionnaire. The accuracy of the Profile material is the responsibility of the reporting organization and not a result of any investigation or office visits on our part. Many of the organizations participating in the book sent us their "Articles of Incorporation" and voluminous public relations literature, but we do not claim to have verified all of the information presented.

The financial information items should be of special importance to readers, especially the information concerning income, expenditure and tax-exempt status. In Israel, anyone can get involved in volunteer work and operate a philanthropic enterprise if they desire. But Israel has also developed certain regulations for these efforts in order to protect the public and guarantee some degree of organization and accountability to donors and the government. These regulations are particularly necessary when charitable groups request benefits from the government, such as special status regarding tax laws and official recognition as a legal entity, both of which facilitate fund-raising activity here and abroad.

In the field of philanthropic work the five most important laws which regulate charitable, non-profit organizations in Israel, are the following: the Amutot – Nonprofit Societies Law (1980, revised in 1996), the Trust Law (1979), the Value Added Tax Law (1975), and the Income Tax Ordinance (1962). Lack of space prevents us from describing these laws in detail, but suffice it to say that in general, a nonprofit organization must be registered as an Amuta, and then must apply separately to the Ministry of Finance for tax-exempt status (‘mosad tziburi'). In the Profiles Section presented here there are three numbers to watch for:

1. The Amuta (Nonprofit Society) registration number shows that the organization has been registered by the Registrar of Amutot at the Ministry of Interior as a nonprofit society. This does not mean that donations are tax-exempt, in Israel or anywhere else. It only means that the organization is legally constituted, formally recognized, and liable to government scrutiny.

2. The tax-exempt number provided by the Israel Ministry of Finance. This means that the organization has been approved by the Ministry of Finance and donations to it in Israel are tax deductible to the extent approved by law. A CPA report is required by the Ministry to renew the tax-exempt license each year. This number is different from the amuta number.

   Many amutot also apply to the Ministry of Finance for a VAT (value added tax) exemption license, which enables them to sell goods and services exempt from VAT (17% of the sales price). This is an additional level of fiscal approval by the Finance Ministry.

3. The Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.), British Charity Commission or foreign tax exempt number shows that donors abroad can obtain tax deductible receipts for donations to the organization through a foreign affiliate, and that a tax report is available with the tax authorities in their home country.

Some organizations have declared in their Profile that they are tax-exempt in Israel and the U.S., but they have not provided the registration numbers. These should be requested before making any donations.

To enable the reader to make inquiries about the organizations listed in Giving Wisely, we provided the Affiliations and References section, including names of foreign organizations and individuals abroad, when these were given, who can serve as references and can be contacted. For the same reason, we requested and listed in each Profile the names of officers and board members of each organization.

The Internet Edition

Unlike the first edition, the second edition has been placed on the internet through a special Giving Wisely web site. Today, new technology, unavailable to the general public in 1982, allows and facilitates this added service to potential donors, amuta clients, volunteers, researchers and anyone interested in Israeli society. While most donors require a hard cover book edition for reference and handy use, many others will browse and make initial acquaintance with the amutot profiles through the internet. The internet edition allows making changes and additions to profiles without the need to publish a new book each year. Organizations that have their own website or internet address can be contacted via links from their Profile page. This enables immediate inquiries and E-mail correspondence, much wider exposure and direct access to the organizations profiled on the Giving Wisely website. The website allows and encourages those organizations with partial profiles to upgrade to full profiles by filling out a form online or by requestithe Giving Wisely questionnaire. Although these are self-reports, the website is a new, strong incentive for direct accountability and reporting to the public and potential donors. Hopefully, readers will actively encourage organizations to have their profile on this site, along with their address for electronic mail. This will be of great help in promoting accountability and public scrutiny.

Future Plans

This author, representing the School of Social Work of the Hebrew University, held many discussions with attorney Amiram Bogat, Registrar of Amutot at the Ministry of Interior, to request his partnership on this Project and to obtain the complete data base of organizations registered at the Ministry under the "Law of Amutot". Under that law, all organizations wishing to obtain official status as a nonprofit association must apply to the Ministry of Interior for an Amuta registration permit and number. These discussions proved fruitful, and the Ministry of Interior agreed to sell us a CD list of all 27,000 registered amutot. This database and the limited identifying information that it provides appears in what we call the "Partial Profiles" section of the Giving Wisely web site. It is essentially a basic reference database of all Israeli amutot. Because of the huge volume and costs involved in mailing our "full profile" questionnaire to this entire list, we did not send them the questionnaire, but are planning to do so during the coming year. Organizations that return the questionnaire will have their profile appear in the "Full Profile" section of the internet site. As noted above, they also have the option to fill in the questionnaire on line, which we will edit and post on the site. The goal is to obtain, over time, as many full profiles as possible on the internet site. This is essentially the same goal set by Guidestar of America for the American nonprofit sector, and by the British Charity Commission regarding British charities. The plan is for our Israeli site to initiate and be part of an international consortium of similar website databases for many countries around the world, all linked to each other.

The Evolving Israeli Nonprofit Sector

My hope is that this new edition of Giving Wisely will trigger some significant contributions to the further development of the nonprofit field in Israel. Major tasks for research and development in Israeli nonprofit management and administration include the promotion of program and fiscal management accountability and transparency, board member responsibility, public access to information on nonprofit organizations, and mapping the sector in general. There is a need for legislation making the tax reports of all Israeli tax- deductible organizations open to public scrutiny and accountability, as they are in the USA. It is inconceivable that amuta files at the Ministry of Interior are open to the public, while files of tax deductible organizations registered with the Ministry of Finance are secret and closed to the public. The data reported in this book and on the website should lead to legislation introducing a mandatory annual Activity Report Form for Amutot, an Accountability Rating System, and a National Nonprofit Database and Accounting System. These can be ongoing activities of government or nongovernment agencies, but they are all essential for the development of the nonprofit sector in Israel.

A Plea for Partnership Philanthropy

The choice of one's area of philanthropic interest is a matter that involves personality, cultural and religious background, financial capacity, and a host of other conscious and unconscious factors. Different people give in very different ways. The main principle, however, in giving wisely is always to take time to verify who receives your money and to follow-up on the use of your resources. If you just want to feel good for having helped someone or some organization, one can "feel good" by doling out dollar bills or shekalim to as many people as possible. But the wise donor who really wants to help should feel a personal involvement and sense of partnership with the organization or people being helped. There should be a combination of informed, intelligent thinking as well as emotional investment in what you are doing. Perhaps most important of all is the need for developing a strategy of giving. For those individuals who are seriously looking for a philanthropic partnership in Israel my advice is not to play the whole field, but to concentrate on one or two specific organizations or areas of service and support them for several years before moving on to another project. Make a dent. Pick an organization, a person, an issue, some cause that you believe in—and leave your mark on it. The more involved you become, the more intelligently you will be able to understand issues and to help. And the more intelligent you become in your philanthropy, the sooner you will become a partner with thousands of Israelis who are trying to create a better society. This moving away from a charity and purely checkbook relationship with Israel to a partnership relationship is perhaps the best possible form of philanthropy. However, make no mistake, for us Israelis the highest form of partnership, more important than any philanthropy, is aliya, immigration to Israel. For us, laymen and professional alike, even the biggest donation can never replace immigration.

I have met a lot of wealthy and not-so-wealthy Jews during their visits to Israel, but only a handful of them really understood and practiced the art of giving properly. And it had nothing to do with the size of their gift. You could tell who really cared and who didn't, who was involved and wanted details and who gave merely for the personal honor they got out of it. For me, the thing that separates the pros from the amateurs in philanthropy is not always how much they gave, but the personal story behind how and why they gave. Donors should always be anxious about the results and the changes created because of their gift. It's this style of giving that makes a difference. Most of us learned about the importance of giving from our parents. But how many of us really learned how to give? How many of us have experienced a joy in giving and the very special kinship that it bestows? And who has reached that level of kinship that enables us to give without a sense of paternalism or benevolence, or the ability to choose not to give, without feeling guilty?

The art of giving is something that has to be developed and learned. The transmission of that art and a genuine appreciation of the Jewish tradition of the brotherly and sisterly involvement and partnership upon which it rests, may well be the major gifts that we can make to ourselves, to our children, and to the generations that will come after us.

See also Introduction to
The Israel Foundation Directory

©
2000
Copyright
Eliezer D. Jaffe