Legacy Letter
A project designed to deepen connection across generations of families and encourage matriarchs and patriarchs to put thoughts into words as to how you hope your family will carry on the charitable legacy you’ve imagined for yourself.
- Explain what inspired your desire to be charitable.
- Describe the values that drove your charitable involvement.
- What causes or issues are you most passionate about?
- Which organizations are you supporting, and why?
- Express your hopes and dreams for your children and grandchildren.
- Share it now with your children and grandchildren to inspire them to start or continue their charitable journey.
- Save this letter with your estate planning documents.
- DJCF can archive this alongside your philanthropic accounts with us. When you’re ready, we would be glad to share it with your family or advisors.
The Jewish Future Promise
The Jewish Future Promise is a worldwide movement working to ensure that vibrant Jewish life continues for generations to come. The Pledge is not a fundraiser. It is a moral obligation. It calls on all Jews to pledge that half or more of the charitable giving in their will/estate plan will support the Jewish people and/or the State of Israel.
No matter your age or your net worth, your signature sends a powerful message to family, friends and future generations about sustaining the Jewish people. Imagine what can happen if a million people commit to ensure that the Jewish future is secure?
The Jewish Future Pledge creates an opportunity to start conversations with your children, grandchildren, and community about the Jewish values that have guided your life and the importance of sustaining the Jewish people. These conversations are critical for fostering engagement and support for the organizations that will carry on the Jewish tradition in the future. To learn more or sign the pledge, visit: https://jewishfuturepledge.org
In addition, we are proud to spotlight the Jewish Youth Pledge, a first-of-its-kind initiative that asks Jewish teens and young adults – ages 13 to 24 – to commit to being active, contributing members of the Jewish community throughout their lives. Visit the Jewish Youth Pledge to learn more and get started: https://jewishyouthpledge.org/
DJCF Family Matching Grant Program
Inspired by a matching gift program at a family foundation, DJCF began formalizing a similar concept for our donor-advised fundholders. Younger generations of philanthropists are reshaping philanthropy and ushering in a new era of giving, mobilizing to support causes on social media and crowdfunding donations. To harness this inspiring spirit of generosity and passion for impact, while deepening connections across generations of families, we are proud to introduce a matching gift program for our fundholders.
Identify eligible causes or organizations. Your family determines your shared values or a certain area of need that unites you across generations. These issue areas or specific organizations will be eligible to receive a matching contribution.
Determine your matching gift pool. The generation sponsoring the program determines the available funds for matching contributions. We suggest a minimum annual matching fund of $10,000.
Decide on the activity criteria. Younger donors often seek = hands-on involvement with the organizations they support. They prefer to have a direct role in their social impact and often develop close relationships with the organizations they choose to support. We encourage families to include volunteerism with eligible causes or organizations, providing a matching gift for volunteer work completed in addition to financial contributions toward a qualified nonprofit organization.
2023 Guidelines: We suggest a match of $25 per hour of volunteer work and a minimum match per financial contribution of $1,000 per participant, annually.
Establish donor-advised funds for the next generation. This can take several forms: you may decide to open a fund for each of your children and grandchildren, to wait until they are of a certain age, to open one fund for each generation to manage together, or to keep all your charitable resources in one consolidated family fund. You decide which format works best for your individual family dynamics.
Launch your family matching grant program. DJCF manages the matching gifts up to your designated limits based on an honor system. Family members report a gift (or reference one made from their fund) to a qualifying beneficiary, and DJCF will process the match. Annually, DJCF will provide a report to the sponsoring family members detailing your community impact. For annual matching programs of $100,000 or more, DJCF is available to host a philanthropic values conversation with your family and help identify appropriate grant recipients or provide additional programmatic support, if desired.
