BUSINESS

MASTERS
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Milwaukee-based A.B. Data
has become a major source
of information for the
American Jewish community.

m

ilwaukee —
Talking about
the Persian
Gulf on his mo-
bile phone,
Jerry Benjamin puffs his pipe
and parks his car at A.B.
Data.
His license plate reads
ABD 1. His partner, Bruce
Arbit, already is in the of-
fice. Mr. Arbit's car bears
plates reading ABD 01.
"When we started out, we
both wanted to be No. 1.
There is no real significance
to the numbers," says Mr.
Benjamin, who in 1981 mov-
ed to Milwaukee to help Mr.
Arbit build the massive
direct mail, fund-raikng and
political consulting company
targeting the Jewish com-
munity.
Mr. Arbit, 36, and Mr.
Benjamin, 39, are the
masters of the A.B. Data
Group. Since its founding in
1976 as Arbit Books, the

52

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1991

company has become a
leading fund-raising
marketer for Jewish organ-
izations.
Sitting in the office he
shares with his partner, Mr.
Arbit speaks with confidence
about the information base
they built at the company. It
has taken 15 years to create,
and in his view, can't be
matched.
"We have had the most
expensive education that
anyone has ever had," Mr.
Arbit says. "We have had
millions of dollars' worth of
client experience in direct
marketing. At all times, this
company has had its finger
on the pulse of the Jewish
community."
Through its data base, the
company boasts it has com-
piled the most comprehen-
sive list of names, addresses
and phone numbers for Jew-
ish households in the United
States, numbering 1.7 mill-

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

ion, or 70 percent.
They borrow, swap and
create lists from organiza-
tions and from each client
they serve. Then they feed
the information into their
massive index. The company
claims to have more than
three times the Jewish
households on file as the
United Jewish Appeal, the
largest Jewish charity.
UJA officials in New York
say they don't keep a master
file of Jewish households.
Across the United States
and Canada, each federation
maintains its own index,
they say.
"We don't have any magic.
We're clever," Mr. Arbit

Above clockwise:
Bruce Arbit, Jerry Benjamin
(striped shirt) and Chuck Pruitt.

says. "We're smart. Some-
one else might also be smart.
They just need expensive
training. You can do this too
with $50 million worth of
experience."
No matter what the project
— direct mail fund-raising
for Michigan Sen. Carl
Levin, a Jewish federation,
or telemarketing for B'nai
B'rith International — the
concept of doing business is
the same.
"We are the kings of mass
solicitation," Mr. Arbit says.
"We are not good at
reaching the big donors. We
are good at getting the
masses of $0 donors to give
something. Ours is effective
and is constantly measured
by the dollars that come in
for our clients."
The duo has carved a niche
in the world of Jewish chari-
ty, although they work for
many other non-profit agen-
cies. Among Jewish organ-

4

4

4

izational clients _ are the
American Jewish Congress,
the North American Con-
ference on Ethiopian Jewry,
Israel Cancer Society,
Jerusalem Foundation, Yad
Vashem, American Israel
Public Affairs Committee,
20 Jewish federations, Mu-
seum of Jewish Heritage and
the Jewish Institute for Na-
tional Security Affairs.
They also like to try new
ventures — the most recent
being mass marketing in
February for a new Israel-
based news magazine.
Now the company is mov-
ing forward in the world of
consulting, with 30 politicos
on their roster and the addi-
tion of a new partner, Chuck
Pruitt, to the 80-person
enterprise. Yet to be con-
sidered as a consulting
client, the politician must be
liberal and pro-Israel.
"They are wonderful,"
says Teree Althaus of the