I am thrilled about the fundraising successes of Jewish Camps, and with good reason. There has been so much progress over the past decade. Jewish Camps have collectively raised over 200 million dollars for capital campaigns, scholarship funds, program improvements, and even endowments. Despite that success, there are still major gaps in Jewish Camp fundraising.
The truth is that Jewish camps raise most of their funds from a small handful of people. Usually, they do so without knowing much about who among their camp alumni and families have the most capacity and motivation to give. Without knowledge, it is hard to know who to ask, and for how much.
I agree with Robert Evans in
this eJewish Philanthropy article about Wealth Screening, who wrote, “Annual subscriptions to DonorSearch or WealthEngine are in the thousands of dollars, and training staffers to interpret the reports is time-consuming. However, we endorse these as essential budgetary items today and contend that the investment is a good return for the dollars spent.”
Don’t let the cost and effort of wealth screening get in your way of moving forward.
I’ve developed a program called Data2Donors where we at the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and JCamp 180 will pay for this subscription for your camp for one year, and we will also support you in learning how to get the most from these tools. We've found that the resources (time and money) invested into this program by JCamp 180 and the participating camps, as well as the helpful data found through wealth screening have more than paid for themselves.
Applications for this year’s cohort of Data2Donors are due September 8, 2017 and I would encourage you to take a look and take the next step in advanced fundraising. Contact us if you have any questions.
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Written by Julia Riseman. Julia is a Mentor with JCamp 180. Julia leads Data2Donors, a program to advance Alumni Outreach, improve camp databases, and raise more major gifts, and Fundraising Fundamentals. Julia has also sparked the creation of many JCamp 180 programs and offerings, including this blog.
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Who we are: JCamp 180 is a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation (HGF). Our goal is to significantly enhance the long-term effectiveness of nonprofit Jewish camps in North America. To meet this goal, we provide affiliated Jewish camps with consulting services, annual conferences, shared resources, professional development, and matching grant opportunities. Find more at www.jcamp180.org.