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ly assess the way they give
. . . should the religious right
gain more control of Israel,"
and others stating flatly
they would stop giving to
Israel if the law of return
were changed.
Giving levels to the UJA
are down. While major do-
nors continue to give their
largest gifts to
UJA/Federation, it com-
mands a decreasing portion
of total philanthropic
dollars. "For many donors,"
according to the report, "the
percentage given to
UJA/Federation has dropped
from about 70 percent to
between 25 and 30 percent
in the past few years."
Moreover, while mo s t Jews
retain a positive association
with the UJA name as vir-
tually synonymous with
Jewish fund raising itself,
knowledge of how the organ-
ization works is incomplete
at best.
Most donors are aware
that the UJA is tied to Jew-
ish federations through
Israel campaigns such as
Project Renewal and Opera-
tion Exodus and serves as
the umbrella under which
both overseas and domestic
campaigns are run. Fewer
Jews, however, comprehend
that overseas dollars are ex-
clusively channeled to Israel
through the UJA, or that
approximately half of all
dollars raised in combined
UJA/Federation campaigns
go toward local Jewish agen-
cies in the home com-
munities.
Fewer Jews still think that
UJA and federations are
even related —especially
since the decades-old trend
of dropping the UJA
acronym from federation
names.
The report says some con-
tributors feel that in the
absence of sufficient descrip-
tion of what it does, the
UJA/Federation contacts
them only "when it is asking
for money." As a result,
"many resent the perceived
failure of the UJA/Federa-
tion to clearly state the
reasons why one should give."
Given the candor of the
Tobin report, many of the
UJA/Federation executives
and donors who received it
in the mail only this week
may choose to sidestep the
criticism in favor of the
positive analysis that makes
up half its bulk. If that
happens, warns one federa-
tion executive, they will do
so "at their own peril."
Wayne Feinstein, ex-
ecutive vice president of the
Jewish Federation of San
Francisco and one of the few
familiar with the completed
report, said it shows "there
is some serious work to be
done." He said that
"ignoring donor attitudes"
could have "a disastrous
effect."
According to the Tobin
report, the signs are already,
apparent in levels of giving,
noting "a sizable proportion
of Jews give either nothing
or less than $500 per year
total to all Jewish philan-
thropies."
"The competition for the
Jewish philanthropic dollar
has become fierce," said
study author Gary Tobin,
noting the surge of single
purpose giving like Israeli
universities or organization
like the New Israel Fund.
"As a result, UJA and local
federations simply have to
be more donor-sensitive in
terms of courting givers."
One person who won't
mind if the Tobin repor
prompts a collective soul-
Most Jews retain a
positive
association with
the UJA name but
knowledge of the
organization is
incomplete at best.
searching is outgoing UJA
president Marvin Lender.
"Our job is to take the
criticism and improve," he
says. "After all, we're th
ones who told him to pul
this material together.
"Sure we need more per-
sonalization," he continued,
"but let's look at it in the
context of Operation Exodus.<
We've already raised $696
million towards the $f
billion goal. That's the most
successful campaign in
UJA's history."
Exactly, says Mr. Tobin. If
Operation Exodus has
taught the UJA anything,
he says, it should be tha
despite the current reces-
sion, federations across the
United States should be in-
creasing, rather than cut-
ting back, fund-raising staffs.
Citing Operation Exodus'
ability to raise money by ap-c"
pealing to the unambiguous
imperative of rescuing Jews,
Mr. Tobin says the single
biggest factor in making
Jews give more is making
them realize that they are
contributing to a greater
moral cause than them-
selves. ❑