Yesterday, at 1 PM EST, 23 pioneering Jewish outreach organizations from across the globe finished what is the largest-ever online Jewish giving day: #Givingforoutreach. They set original goals between $20,000 to $1,000,000 individually, with a collective total goal of more than $4 Million. All donations were being quadrupled. The final total raised: $5,358,556 from 9800 donors around the world. The largest gift made online was $15,000 – quadrupled, effectively giving $60,000 to one organization.
“Incredible!! Speechless!! Beautiful!! And all for kiruv!!” is how one of the EMET organizers in Queens reacted at the end of the campaign. “This is what UNITY is. May we always do incredible things. I am beyond the world excited for the upcoming and new things for us at EMET!”
The Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals (AJOP) sponsored the venture. According to Rabbi Yitzchok Lowenbraun, National Director of AJOP, “This ambitious event is designed to increase support for the participating organizations, allowing them to spend more of their time on outreach, and less time on fundraising. Last year, we piloted MillionforOutreach and raised $1.3M in 24 hours. We are so excited about the growth of this event for outreach. We cannot thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the community and contributors enough for the outpouring of support that happened today. Truly humbling. More than $1M contributed over our original goal.”
The participating organizations ranged from massive international programs like Aish Jerusalem to college outreach programs to small shuls. All of the men and women behind these and every other Jewish outreach organization teach, host, role model, counsel, support, cater, and parent hundreds to thousands of students, congregants, and guests. “They literally dedicate their lives to their work, which benefits our entire people, for generations,” comments Tobey Finkelstein, co-founder of the event. “Offering them the opportunity to pilot a crowdfunding venture that would not only save them precious time from soliciting support, but would also enable those they work with and the community-at-large to give back to them, is a privilege.”
The #GivingforOutreach Campaign capitalizes on an innovative collaborative crowdfunding model to increase attention, communal support, and large donor investment for their cause. Each of the outreach organizations is using an innovative online crowdfunding platform: charidy.com.
To view the participating organizations and campaign results, go to www.charidy.com/givingforoutreach. Donations are now closed. To donate, reach out to the individual organizations directly. For more information, contact AJOP at 410-367-2567 or [email protected].
{Matzav.com Newscenter}
