Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee Helps Legacies Take Root
The LIFE & LEGACY™ program raises $6 million in six months.
Eleven Sarasota-Manatee area Jewish organizations will receive support to build substantial endowments.
(Sarasota-Manatee) One year ago, The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee (JFSM) launched an initiative to transform the philanthropic culture of Sarasota-Manatee’s Jewish community with the LIFE & LEGACY™ program. The four-year program, which joins similar efforts in more than 40 cities around the country, is a partnership program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and managed by JFSM in this region. Through the program, lay leaders and staff from a cross-section of synagogues, social service agencies, and day schools are receiving training, support and monetary incentives to start conversations, secure legacy gifts, steward donors and integrate legacy giving into the philanthropic culture of the Jewish community.
According to Gisele Pintchuck, the director of the LIFE & LEGACY director at JFSM, the results have been extraordinary. “Our minimum goal of securing 198 letters of intent was exceeded and the estimated volume of legacy gifts is astonishing. We raised more than $6 million in promised gifts for our community in the first six months of the program.”
Pintchuck says that the 11 local agencies that are partners in the program are Chabad of Sarasota & Manatee Counties, Chabad of Bradenton & Lakewood Ranch, Chabad of Venice & North Port, Hershorin-Schiff Community Day School, Jewish Family & Children’s Services, The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, Jewish Housing Council Foundation/Aviva, Temple Beth Israel, Temple Beth Sholom, Temple Emanu-El and Temple Sinai. “These organizations have teamed up to engage donors in conversation and promote the importance of planning for the future and securing Jewish tomorrows for generations to come,” says Pintchuck.
“This program is a real game-changer,” said Albert Ernest, chair of the LIFE & LEGACY program in Sarasota-Manatee. “It does two important things at the same time: It enables donors to fulfill their philanthropic wishes by supporting specific needs in the Jewish community, and provides critical resources for our agencies, synagogues and community to meet unforeseen challenges and build for the future.”
Upon completion of the program’s first year, the Federation will host a special event on April 26, 2018, “to celebrate the community’s accomplishments, thank all partnering organizations and honor all legacy donors for their generosity and commitment to the future of the local Jewish community,” says Pintchuck.
For more information about the program, contact the LIFE & LEGACY director, Gisele Pintchuck at 941-706-0029 or [email protected].
About The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee
The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to save Jewish lives and enhance Jewish life in the Sarasota-Manatee region, in Israel, and throughout the world. In addition, the Federation is responsive when worldwide catastrophes occur. For more information, call 941-371-4546 or visit www.jfedsrq.org.
