A group of teenagers sits around a conference table, whipping out their cell phones to use the calculators. They are in the midst of some serious deliberations: Which organizations deserve their money?
If you are concerned with fighting anti-Semitism, do you fund an established entity like the Anti-Defamation League, which has an annual budget of $40 million or do you give to the little-known Polish/American/Jewish Alliance for Youth Action (PAJA), a group that facilitates dialogue between young Poles and Jews, and educates young Poles about Judaism and the Holocaust, with a shoestring budget?
“Risks need to be taken sometimes in philanthropy,” said Jonah Lipsitt of Oakland. “If you don’t take risks, sometimes new things won’t happen.”
And if you want to help environmental causes, do you give to an organization that is using its money to sponsor an awareness campaign about pollution, or to one that challenges anti-environmental legislation in the courts?
“We’d be funding a bunch of lawyers and their salaries, not really helping the environment,” said Lev Hirschhorn of Berkeley, of the latter. “It rubs me strangely.”
These teens were part of the Community Jewish Youth Foundation, which took place in the East Bay and the South Bay earlier this year.
“The goal was to empower teens around issues of social justice and tikkun olam,” said Sue Schwartzman, director of the project. “With this, they realize early on they can make a difference.”
And indeed, having thousands of dollars to give away, to causes of their own choosing, teaches teens a valuable lesson.
For example, take Rachel Barach. The Oakland teen knew that giving tzedakah was something she was supposed to do. But she feared that her charitable donation might be too small to actually make a difference.
“This experience made a bridge for me between the check and the impact, and now I can quantify the positive impact it will have on somebody’s life,” said Barach. “It is such an amazing experience to be involved in such a hands-on way.”
Schwartzman, who had led a tzedakah project at the Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto, was hired to be coordinator of the overall project, as well as lead the Peninsula group. Rabbi Serena Eisenberg led the East Bay group, with both of them using a curriculum they developed together. Much of the program costs were supported by a grant from the S.F.-based Jewish Community Endowment Fund.
The teens had to give $100 of their own money, as well as raise funds from family members and friends.
The participants came together for a weekend retreat, made possible by a grant from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation.
Not only was it a chance to get to know each other, but it was a “Foundation 101 experience,” said Schwartzman.
They learned what Jewish sources had to say about giving and heard from philanthropists themselves about how they choose their causes. They discussed the merits of giving to grassroots organizations verses those that are more established, and of giving locally, nationally or internationally. And about giving to Jewish verses non-Jewish organizations.
They also learned how to ask for money.
The teens then split into their respective foundations and chose the areas of giving they would focus on. The Peninsula group chose medical intervention, and the East Bay group narrowed it down to three areas: fighting anti-Semitism, the disabled and the environment.
The two groups had different amounts to give away. The Peninsula teens raised $5,350 themselves, and the John and Marcia Goldman Foundation specifically gave a $6,000 matching grant.
In the East Bay, the teens were helped out by matching grants from three of the families whose children were participating. They also received a grant from an anonymous donor, so they ended up with close to $25,000.
Once the areas of giving were determined, the groups invited organizations to submit grant proposals, with the maximum amount of $5,000.
Some organizations sent representatives to give presentations, with others making their case by conference call, DVD and PowerPoint presentation.
Scott Levin of Los Altos, who participated with the Peninsula group, said that he received a valuable lesson in consensus building.
“While the grants we made may not have been the most personally satisfying — I may not have made the same choices alone — the real satisfaction came in seeing a decision that the whole group found acceptable. It was very satisfying to see a decision that embodied at least a part, if not all, of my input.”
Sydney Calander of Daly City, also in the Peninsula group, said that her favorite part of this process was learning that philanthropy was not limited to people “with a steady job, lots of money and who know a lot about organizations. No matter how much or how little we have, there is always someone lesser than us we can help.”
Many of the participants are now helping to plan a national teenage philanthropy conference next year.
Information about the program or to apply for next year’s group: Sue Schwartzman at (650) 919-2109 or [email protected]. The deadline is Sept. 29.