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Lynn Schusterman in Israel speaking to a group of teachers who taught
English to young Israelis.

education foundation, so that

Natan Fund launches Amplifier
to boost giving circles into global
Jewish philanthropy.

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16 September 25 • 2014

he Natan Fund, a giving circle
of young professionals in New
York, has launched Amplifier,
a global network of giving circles
inspired by Jewish values.
Amplifier is the first concerted effort
to unite Jewish giving circles into a
field, catalyze the creation of new
circles, educate circle members on best
practices in philanthropy, and con-
nect giving circles to each other and to
grantseekers of all types efficiently and
effectively through an innovative new
Web platform.
Giving circles are groups of people
who pool their charitable donations
and decide together where to allocate
their money. Research shows that
members of giving circles give more,
give more strategically and are more
engaged in their communities than
non-members.
This past summer's Connected
to Give: Community Circles report
(Jumpstart, 2014) demonstrated that
giving circles are also particularly
strong among affinity groups, such as
those connected by religion, ethnicity,
gender, sexual orientation or age.
Supported by a pilot grant from
the Charles and Lynn Schusterman
Family Foundation, Natan convened
dozens of partners from across the
Jewish philanthropic and nonprofit
sectors over several months to co-
design Amplifier's Web platform and
in-person training and mentoring pro-
grams. More than 30 giving circles and
over 100 nonprofit organizations have
registered on the Web platform during
its beta phase.
"People are craving a meaningful
experience with giving, and giving cir-
cles can provide just that:' says Felicia
Herman, Natan's executive director.
"So much of giving is reactive — we
give because we get a solicitation
in the mail or our friends ask us to
donate to their favorite cause. Giving
circles, by contrast, are proactive: they

enable members to discover their
giving passions and then to give in a
way that is transparent, intentional,
hands-on and social — no matter how
much money they have or what types
of causes they want to support"
Amplifier's in-person and online
resources make it as simple as possible
for anyone to start, grow and sustain a
giving circle and to connect with excel-
lent potential grant recipients and with
other giving circles.
Trainings, coaching, conferences
and events complement a unique
interactive Web platform, www.
AmplifierGiving.org, that offers
searchable directories of giving circles
and nonprofit organizations, giving
circle management tools, a growing
resource library and a common grant
application for grantseekers.
"Giving circles are for everyone:'
says Lynn Schusterman, chair of the
Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family
Foundation. "They inspire people at all
levels of giving to come together with a
community of friends or family and to
wrestle with how to bring Jewish wis-
dom to bear on contemporary issues of
all kinds. We are investing in Amplifier
because we believe that giving circles
can be a powerful pathway for engag-
ing with Jewish life and values as well
as for ensuring a vibrant future for
Jewish philanthropy. "
Amplifier is also intended to benefit
nonprofit organizations, to make it
easier for them to raise funds from
giving circles and even to start their
own circles.
"The common grant application
and organization directory make
spreading the word about our work
and connecting to potential sources
of support incredibly efficient:' says
Rachel Ishofsky at Innovation: Africa.
"Submitting one application on
Amplifier's site not only saves us time
but also showcases our work to a broad
landscape of potential supporters:'

❑