The Jewish Observer
News from Middle Tennessee's Jewish Community | Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025
The Jewish Observer

Campaign Update

As we start 2025, the first thing that I am holding is a sense of gratitude. This year we received more gifts from more people than we have since before the pandemic. We also regained a record number of lapsed donors, even though there are still more people out there that we need to connect with in the new year. I am very proud of how many donors were kind enough to increase their gifts to help us meet the challenges that we have faced and to further enrich our communal life. And one last piece I am humbled by is how many first-time donors to our Israel Crisis Fund made the decision to become regular donors to our 2024 Annual Campaign after seeing the work we have been doing to support Jewish life here in Nashville.  So, thank you to everyone who supported our work, and more importantly our entire Jewish community. 
 
And it isn’t just about the Annual Campaign. As an organization, we must begin thinking bigger and embracing the concept of “Total Financial Resource Development” or “Total FRD.” This is the concept that, while the Annual Campaign is still very important, our revenue sources are more than just that. For example, our Jewish Community Foundation holds hundreds of funds and is currently valued at $45 million.  And while there are many wonderful foundations in our city, there’s only one that is managed by and specifically for Jewish Nashville. The more individuals who transfer their funds to our Foundation or establish designated funds, the greater our capacity to take on impactful projects. Best of all, these contributions directly benefit and remain within our community. 

 
Our Life and Legacy program has helped many of our partner agencies build a plan of legacy giving that has already realized $1.7 million and has the potential to have millions of dollars flow in over the years to sustain our institutions through the generations. There are still many eligible members of our community who we have a duty to connect with through our partner agencies, help them build a plan to create enduring legacies, and ensure that those agencies have a sustainability plan in place to continue that work into the future.   
 
Corporate giving is another area of support outside of our Annual Campaign that has a major impact on the work that we do. When I speak to my peers around the country, they are constantly in awe of the growth of Jewish Nashville, but also the growth of our business community. We have so many opportunities to create partnerships that will allow us to help those companies to better support their Jewish employees while also helping our community as well.  
 
Stewardship of our donors is also a very important part of our work. I’ve had deep, meaningful conversations with community members who despite limited means, have given more because they know it is so important to fund the work we are doing in these times. I’ve spoken to donors who have raked me over the coals for mistakes they have perceived that we have made, and I have been grateful for those conversations. Because it is far easier to walk away silently than to speak up to try and fix what is wrong; and feedback is a gift. I have been deeply grateful for members of our community that have built philanthropic legacies for many generations who have reached out to give advice and tell their stories. And it has been so rewarding to weave in folks that are new to our fair city to our great history and help them to begin their own new Jewish Nashville stories. 

I’m very excited to see what we will achieve as an organization in this new year. It’s not just about being prepared for whatever happens to our community locally or abroad, while that is a very important role we play, our most important goal is to be able to support our entire community, regardless of ideology or politics. My partners at Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville are deeply committed to see our mishpacha not just sustained, but thriving.  And with the help of all of us working together, we will. 
 
 

Support The Observer

The Jewish Observer is published by The Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville and made possible by funds raised in the Jewish Federation Annual Campaign. Become a supporter today.