It has been a banner year for United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s NADIV Young Men’s Giving circle. Moving out of the pandemic, the group’s membership has climbed to 37 members—all active and donating into the giving circle. Plus, the men made another fantastic push for the March Madness Bracket Challenge which helps raise money for the group and for Jewish Tidewater.
Last month, the group participated in a 38-hour mini mission to Washington D.C. where members heard from a number of internationally known speakers, bonded through an evening out, and learned about and toured the historic Sixth and I synagogue in downtown Washington, D.C. The mission culminated with a meaningful process for the participants to learn about different programs in Tidewater’s community and decide how funding those programs matched with the group’s philanthropic values.
NADIV’s decision on what to fund is made with much input and discussion from the group. Back in December, over Zoom, the men discussed their priorities when thinking about giving. They shared what they thought was important, types of impacts, quality vs quantity, and narrowed down six collective priorities. Those six priorities were then sent to every member of NADIV who was not in the discussion, and through their feedback, Education rose to the top of the giving priorities, with Israel, Disabilities and Inclusion, Poverty and Social Services, and Jewish Peoplehood taking close seconds and thirds. After those results were examined, the group reached out to Federation community partners who focus on education in their missions. NADIV received back six funding opportunities for upcoming programs and projects in Jewish Tidewater.
During the D.C. Mini Mission, participants took ‘deep dives’ into these Federation partners and programs, and through a new and meaningful process, discussed and chose two of the programs to fund. The participants were split into six committees, each examining one of the submitted programs. In addition to studying the program, they were presented with the survey information for that program. Each committee then presented their program to all of the participants and shared the committee’s thoughts from their discussion. After the presentations, a discussion took place on the overall results from the survey and the feedback from members not on the trip. The group then submitted a ballot on the bus which was added to the results from the survey submitted by members not on the trip.
Ultimately, the two programs selected were the Hillel Kemach Leadership program and Strelitz Learning Lab. These programs will be funded 50/50 by the proceeds that are collected by NADIV’s giving circle through donations to the group and the money raised through NADIV’s March Madness Bracket Challenge.
For more information on NADIV, contact Matthew Kramer-Morning, UJFT Young Leadership Campaign director, at 757-965-6136 or mkmorning@ujft.org.
–Matthew Kramer-Morning