Richmond Jewish Foundation - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Richmond Jewish Foundation is a charity based in Richmond, Virginia. This is a non-profit organization. The website is www.rjfoundation.org.

Overview

The Richmond Jewish Foundation was established in 1979. Like a community foundation

Community foundation

Community foundations are instruments of civil society designed to pool donations into a coordinated investment and grant making facility dedicated primarily to the social improvement of a given place...

, it is an independent philanthropic organization working in a defined geographic area (in this case Richmond

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

and central Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

), which, over time, builds up a collection of endowed funds from many donors in the community. The Foundation also provides funding to charitable, educational and religious causes outside of the region, including but not limited to Jewish causes. It provides services to the community and its donors, makes grants and undertakes community leadership and partnership activities to address a wide variety of needs in its service area.

By 2006, the Richmond Jewish Foundation had over 200 subcomponents that include endowments, donor advised funds, and life income gifts that include charitable remainder trusts. Affiliated agencies include Beth Sholom Campus and Weinstein JCC

JCC

JCC may refer to:* John Cooper Clarke, Mancunian punk-poet* China Basin Heliport, San Francisco, CA, USA * Jackson Community College* Jamestown Community College* Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research...

, Jewish Community Federation

Federation

A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...

of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia area Jewish congregations such as Temple Beth El and Congregation Kol Emes, museums like Virginia Holocaust Museum

Virginia Holocaust Museum

The Virginia Holocaust Museum is a Virginia museum dedicated to depicting the Holocaust as experienced by its victims. A main part of the exhibition is about the family story of Holocaust survivor Jay M. Ipson.-History:...

and Congregation Beth Ahabah

Congregation Beth Ahabah

Beth Ahabah is a Reform synagogue in Richmond, Virginia. Founded in 1789 by Spanish and Portuguese Jews as Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome it is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States.-History:When the congregation was founded, there were 100 Jews in Richmond's population of 3,900...

Museum and Archives, schools like Rudlin Torah Academy and programs like Hillel

Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life

Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, working with thousands of college students globally...

. A broadly representative volunteer board serves to oversee the organization and to function as its ambassadors with various constituencies including individuals, families, agencies, congregations and the general community. As a mission focused independent charity, partnering in community, Richmond Jewish Foundation operates in a manner similar to such charities as the San Diego Jewish Community Foundation; Jewish Community Foundation of Kansas City and Tidewater Jewish Foundation, to name a few.

Richmond Jewish Foundation is home to the Genesis Fund and Create a Jewish Legacy. Among the offerings of the Foundation are field of interest funds, special purpose funds, life income plans and donor advised funds

Donor advised funds

A donor-advised fund is a charitable giving vehicle administered by a public charity and created for the purpose of managing charitable donations on behalf of an organization, family, or individual...

Mission

Richmond Jewish Foundation is a primary, trusted and expert resource for planned giving

Planned giving

Planned giving is an area of fundraising that refers to several specific gift types that can be funded with cash, equity, or property. These gift vehicles are commonly based on United States tax law, but Canada, the United Kingdom, and other nations are beginning to establish similar laws...

and endowments. We engage, educate and inspire generations of donors to create ongoing resources for charitable, religious, and educational needs. Our donors may choose legacies of Tzedakah and Tikkun Olam. We effectively steward philanthropic assets entrusted to our care.

Values

Values associated with Richmond Jewish Foundation include Tzedakah

Tzedakah

Tzedakah or Ṣ'daqah in Classical Hebrew is a Hebrew word commonly translated as charity, though it is based on the Hebrew word meaning righteousness, fairness or justice...

, which translates as justice or charity, as well as Tikkun Olam or repair of the world.

Create a Jewish Legacy

Richmond is a pilot community for United Jewish Communities Create a Jewish Legacy program that encourages bequests for permanent endowments. One feature of this program is training of representatives of affiliated agencies, congregations, museums and schools to ask their most loyal supporters to commit to gifts through wills or estate plans especially for permanent endowments. Other features of Create a Jewish Legacy include marketing and donor recognition. This program, modeled on success in communities like San Diego, may be compared to the Leave a Legacy program of the National Committee on Planned Giving.

Edward S. Hirschler Memorial Legal and Tax Seminar

Richmond Jewish Foundation, along with the Richmond-based law firm Hirschler Fleischer, offers an annual continuing education seminar for lawyers, accountants, financial planners, insurance providers, fiduciaries and other interested professionals. The late Edward S. Hirschler, an early President of Richmond Jewish Foundation, also co-founded the Hirschler Fleischer law firm. After the attorney's passing, the partners of the firm established a fund at Richmond Jewish Foundation to provide annually for this seminar.

Leaders

A variety of caring professionals, business leaders, community volunteers and others steward Richmond Jewish Foundation as members of the Board of Directors. Some such leaders have been prominent. Circuit City founder Samuel Wurtzel is credited as among the early organizers of Richmond Jewish Foundation. Other prominent Virginians associated with the organization include past Investment Committee Chair Diana Cantor and current board member Jeffrey M. Lacker

Jeffrey M. Lacker

Jeffrey M. Lacker is an American economist and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. He is also a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee for the year of 2009. Formerly, he was senior vice president and the director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of...

, Richmond Federal Reserve. Among the funds is one established by late US Congressman Norman Sisisky

Norman Sisisky

Norman Sisisky was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia from 1983 to 2001, representing the 4th District. He was a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition and one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress at the time.Sisisky was born in Baltimore, Maryland...

and his wife.

External links

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