OUR COMMUNITY

J

ust as drips of water 
over millennia can carve 
out caves and canyons, 
one small mitzvah multiplied 
several times over can move 
mountains as well.
That’s the belief of 
Dr. Jonathan Donath, a 
chiropractor in White 
Plains, New York, who got 
an epiphany in 2018 while 

dropping a dollar bill into 
the tzedakah box at his shul. 
“No matter how much money 
I give to charity, I still get a 
mitzvah every time I drop a 
dollar in,” he thought. “How 
can I guarantee that I do this 
mitzvah every day for a buck?”
 He looked for an 
organization that was doing 
this and couldn’t find one. 
So, he and a couple of his 
friends had a website built 
and created a nonprofit: 
dailygiving.org. 

“We decided we wanted to 
give to a diversified portfolio 
of different organizations that 
were making a meaningful 
impact in people’s lives. We 
would pool donations and 
give as a community, making 
a meaningful impact by giving 
together.”
Donath was a big fan of 
famed author and speaker 
Rabbi Paysach Krohn and 
often listened to him on 
TorahAnytime.com. He 
reached out to Rabbi Krohn 
and asked for his help. “I 
wanted to get this famous 
rabbi to talk about Daily 
Giving the way he spoke 
about TorahAnytime. My 
heart was beating so fast when 

I called … He was amazing, 
and he loved the idea.” 
With Rabbi Krohn’s help, 
Donath assembled a group of 
well-respected rabbis to form 
a rabbinical council to vet 
and approve the charities that 
would receive support from 
Daily Giving. 
DailyGiving.org went live 
on Jan. 1, 2019. To date, more 
than 9,000 people from 34 
countries give a dollar a day, 
and the nonprofit distributes 
almost $3.5 million a year. The 
organization has already given 
out over $4.4 million to more 
than 57 Jewish organizations 
so far, such as Camp HASC 
(Hebrew Academy for Special 
Children) Chai Lifeline, 
United Hatzalah, Kids Kicking 
Cancer, Magen David Adom 
and Yad Eliezer, as well as 
lesser-known nonprofits such 
as Yad Sarah, which enables 
disabled and terminally ill 
people to live at home or on 
their own with dignity, to 
Meir Panim, which helps to 
eliminate poverty across Israel.
“Let’s face it, Jews range 
from Reform to Ultra-
Orthodox and there’s not a 
lot we all agree on, but what 
could make God happier than 
if we give charity together to 
our less fortunate brothers 
and sisters?” he said. “There’s 
so much need in the world. 
Individually, we can’t give to 
everyone. But collectively, we 
can have a massive impact!”
Every single penny collected 
by Daily Giving goes to 
charity. For any salaries paid, 

DailyGiving.org multiplies $1 donations to make a 
meaningful impact on people’s lives.
Even Small Mitzvahs Matter

JACKIE HEADAPOHL DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL

30 | MAY 12 • 2022