Largest Donations From Jewish Donors Go to Secular Organizations, Report Says

Jewish donors and foundations give the vast majority of their biggest contributions to secular groups, according to a new study of gifts of $1-million or more. Just 9 percent of the dollars donated through such gifts and grants from 2001 to 2003 went to Jewish causes, according to the report by the Institute for Jewish & Community Research.

The report found that Jewish donors gave 1,017 gifts of $1-million or more, totaling almost $7-billion — 16 percent of the megagift dollars contributed by all American donors.

Although Jewish groups received 21 percent of the total number of those big contributions, most of the donations were on the smaller side. Of gifts and grants that were larger than $10-million, secular causes received 95 percent, or $4.6-billion, of total dollars given by Jewish donors from 2001 to 2003. Nearly all of that money went to colleges and universities, arts and cultural organizations, and health and medical organizations, a giving pattern that closely resembles that of non-Jewish donors.

Gary A. Tobin, president of the institute, and Aryeh K. Weinberg, a research associate there, examined donations made by both Jewish individuals — their religion or background uncovered through Internet research and interviews — and organizations founded by Jews or otherwise identified as Jewish institutions.

Jewish groups receive just 2 percent of all dollars from donations of $1-million or more made by both Jews and non-Jews, according to the report.

The report said that almost all the large gifts made to Jewish causes come from Jewish donors — which may cause the organizations to struggle if those donors continue to favor secular groups.

Mr. Tobin and Mr. Weinberg conclude that Jewish causes should “consider new approaches and methods to garner the largest Jewish gifts.” In the spring, the institute will release the results of a study that explores why Jewish groups do not receive the largest gifts from Jewish donors.

State Comparisons

Jewish organizations in New York received 295 megagifts, worth a total of almost $2.3-billion, the most of any state; California, with $1.4-billion from 173 gifts of $1-million-plus, was second. Internationally, charities in Israel won nearly $95-million from 27 large donations.

The study also found that Jews were less likely than non-Jews to donate to certain causes:

The general population gave 17 percent of gifts of more than $1-million to health and medical institutions and 6 percent to human-service organizations, while Jews gave 8 percent to health organizations and 1 percent to human services.

Jewish donors give more than four times the number of very large gifts than their relatively small population would suggest, according to the study.

“Jews make many more megagifts than they receive,” the report says, though such donations “are the lifeblood of the Jewish communal infrastructure.”

The report, “Mega-Gifts in Jewish Philanthropy: Giving Patterns 2001-2003,” is available free on the Institute for Jewish & Community Research’s Web site.