Women's philanthropy continues its upward trend By Judie Jacobson Sydney Perry has traveled to Poland five times as a participant on the March of the Living trip. Each time, as part of that experience, she visits the old Jewish cemeteries of Lodz or Krakow or Warsaw. Walking among the graves, paying her respects, Perry is always struck by one thing in particular. "On the gravestone of the men one very often sees books, if the person was a scholar, or perhaps a washbasin, if a person was Levite, or the symbol that the Jewish priests used when blessing the people, if the man was a Kohen (the family of priests)," recalls Perry. "But what do you find on the gravestones of women in Poland?" she asks...and answers. "Often you find candlesticks - because it's one of the three mitzvot that women uniquely have to do...or, broken candlesticks, if the woman died young. But very very often you will see etched on these gravestones a tzedakah box or perhaps coins. It was one of the ways that women were remembered as having been philanthropic...as having built community." For Perry, who serves as executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, the symbolism could not be more on target. "Jewish women have a long legacy and tradition of being philanthropic...of giving tzedakah and performing acts of chesed - what has come to be called acts of lovingkindness. I think that sense of giving that women have still exists in our communities today," says Perry. "In America, women continue to be extremely generous and extremely philanthropic, whether they have a tzedakah box that they throw coins into when they light the Sabbath candles, or whether they give through pledges to Federation or the many other worthy causes in our communities." In fact, as Perry and other fundraising professionals attest, women not only continue to give...they are giving in record numbers and record amounts. According to a report issued by the United Jewish Communities (UJC), the national clearinghouse for the Jewish federation movement, women's giving in the federation system is the fastest growing component of the annual campaign, representing nearly a quarter of the annual campaign. In 2005, women's federation campaigns have raised close to $190 million annually and over $350 million in planned gifts and endowments during the last 10 years. The dramatic rise in women's philanthropy may be instigated by what the UJC refers to as "social and economic realities." These "realities" include the fact that 56 percent of Jewish women work for pay. Women today control nearly 60 percent of the wealth in America and run 60 percent of the family foundations. In addition, nearly half of all businesses are at least 50 percent owned by women, who control about half of the investment wealth in the U.S. and own a majority of the stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Finally, the bulk of inheritors will be women, 70 percent of whom are already primary inheritors. All these factors have conspired to make women more independent...which, in turn, has translated into more dollars for charitable organizations. "For many years women have set the table, and not had a seat at the table," says Lisa Fishman, Women's Philanthropy Chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford. Now, she notes, things have changed. "American Jewish women today are blessed with freedoms to pursue personal, community and professional opportunities that our mothers and grandmothers could have never imagined...Women don't need to give ourselves the power to change lives." At the Hartford federation, women's philanthropy is changing lives to the tune of $1.85 million a year - two thirds of which comes from 152 women who take part in its Lion of Judah major gifts program. In 2005, reports Mickey Weinstein, Hartford's Major Gifts chair for Women's Campaign, women's philanthropy represented close to 30 percent of the agency's campaign total of $6.5 million - about five percentage points ahead of the national average. This year, the agency's campaign goal has been increased by $1 million...with women's philanthropy expected to hit the $2 million mark. The federation also works collaboratively with the Jewish Community Foundation to encourage women to establish Lion of Judah endowments. At present, Hartford's Lion of Judah endowment (LOJE) honor role includes the names of 20 major women philanthropists. The month of May, points out Weinstein, is LOJE month, during which time the federation hopes to bring new donors to this exclusive group. "The number of women's philanthropic funds around the country is growing," says Doreen Fundiller- Zweig, the agency's executive director, noting that women-generated funds come in a broad range of shapes and sizes. "The trend is for women to set up funds to support programs or projects that are near and dear to their hearts. We have women who set up funds for scholarships or to help people with special needs or to provide social opportunities for the elderly...and so on." Funds that allow women who give gifts of varying sizes to participate in collective grant making - such as the Foundation's Lillian Fund - are also becoming increasingly popular, reports Fundiller-Zweig. For women, passing on the tradition of giving is often as important as the act of giving itself. "Women like to set an example through their giving," says Fundiller-Zweig, "We're working with someone right now who intends to set up a donor-advised fund so that her grandson who is graduating high school can become a grant-maker in his own right. It's all about teaching values, passing on tradition, taking on our responsibility to make the world a better place for others." To help women set an example of giving, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven this year established a new level of giving that falls between their Lion of Judah and Pomegranate donors - that is, donors of $5,000 and $1,800, respectively. Seven women philanthropists have already joined the ranks of the agency's new Double Chai donors by pledging a gift of $3,600. The new category may already be paying off. According to the agency's Women's Division chair Claudia D. Heyman, women's gifts, which, like Hartford, represent approximately 30 percent of the total campaign, are up 6.7 percent...and counting. The agency's plan, notes Heyman, is to share the idea for the Double Chai level of giving nationally. "Women have always been leaders in establishing the importance of raising dollars to help build community," explains Perry. Fishman agrees. "When we give as women, we pass down more than purely physical traits to our children, we help shape the future of our community."