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Jewish - because we are Jews. Through charitable giving we pass along our tradition to future generations and define our own contribution to repairing and improving the world. Community - because we are the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and its beneficiaries at home and throughout the world. Beyond this we serve synagogues and hundreds of Jewish and non-Jewish organizations which make our community a better place in which to live. Endowment - because we are focused on the future with its unlimited potential. Creating endowments, however we choose to do so, is a proven way of perpetuating the Jewish values that mean so much to us. Fund - because the ways of giving result in funds as varied as the donors who make them. This ensures, for each of us, the continuity of our heritage from generation to generation.

"It is a Tree of Life to those who hold fast to it. Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace." - Proverbs 3:17-18

The Torah is the inheritance we have received from our forefathers and mothers. What better way to frame the legacy we will, in turn, create for generations to come. The Jewish Community Endowment Fund was established by people just like you who wanted to put into practice the highest expression of Jewish values expressed in the Torah --- acts of charitable giving.

For more information about the various endowment opportunities, please see our list below. If you would like more information please email endowment@jewishinseattle.org or call (206) 774-2252.

The Donor Advised Fund
The Restricted or Special Purpose Fund
The Supporting Foundation
The Special Initiatives Fund
Life Income Giving Program
Perpetual Annual Campaign Fund
Bequests
Womens Endowment Foundation
Charitable Gift Annuities

THE DONOR ADVISED FUND

We Americans are good at saving. We save for college, for retirement and for "rainy days." Our kids save baseball cards and Uncle Leo saves string. What about a philanthropic savings account? The closest thing is a Philanthropic Fund with the Jewish Community Endowment Fund. With a gift of cash, appreciated stock or other property you can create a virtual philanthropic checkbook to make gifts to charity. Invested to preserve capital while maximizing earnings, this fund can grow just as your tzedakah grows over the years. This does not need to be just a dream. Let this year be the year it becomes a reality. Return to List

THE RESTRICTED OR SPECIAL PURPOSE FUND

Each one of us finds his or her way to contribute to the betterment of the world - tikkun olam. For some it is through concern for the environment, for others it is caring for the sick and elderly. A Restricted Fund lets you decide today the specific field of interest for the your philanthropic dollars. We have funds that provide scholarships for Jewish students, help the Jewish disabled, and enhance the availability of Holocaust education in public and private schools. Other Funds are designated as Endowment Funds to support our local Jewish institutions. What is your passion? Together with the Jewish Community Endowment Fund you can turn it into a perpetual expression of your caring. Return to List

THE SUPPORTING FOUNDATION

When a Supporting Foundation is incorporated, it almost seems as if something has been born. With family members and friends around the table to discuss issues of investments, structure and grant making, there is a palpable sense of community. The donor's charitable giving priorities can be passed along from generation to generation in the best of all possible ways… by example. Children, grandchildren and unborn generations yet to come can learn the lessons of tzedakah, the highest expression of our Jewish heritage. And you're never too old or young to start along this remarkable path. Return to List

THE SPECIAL INITIATIVES FUND

With these words the Children of Israel begin to receive the commandments that will make them a community. To this day we understand the need to set aside some of our own specific preferences for the greater good of us all. Our Community Fund is the greatest tool for meeting unexpected needs and implementing projects for which funds are not available. By making a gift to this fund you are also providing the much needed "venture capital" to realize dreams and new ideas. With the commandments at our core, the Jewish community continues to change to meet new demands, accept new challenges and grasp new opportunities. The Community Fund makes these things possible.

READ MORE about the Special Initiatives Fund

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LIFE INCOME GIVING PROGRAM

Even as the Children of Israel were fleeing for their lives, they were fulfilling a promise made generations earlier. Though Pharaoh was a King who "arose and knew not Joseph," Moses remembered. In much the same way we can combine our current needs for financial security with our ethical obligation to do acts of tzedakah. Placing assets into a Charitable Remainder Trust, a Charitable Gift Annuity or a Pooled Income Fund can generate tax benefits today and provide you and/or someone you care about with income for life. Thereafter, these same assets become a significant contribution to your Jewish community. No matter how many years go by, this arrangement is a promise made and a promise kept. Return to List

PERPETUAL ANNUAL CAMPAIGN FUND

How reassuring it must be to receive such a blessing and know the future holds such promise. In our own small ways we can lay the groundwork for a future of promise. As many have done before, a Fund can be established during life or through a will which will perpetually make a gift to the Federation's Community Campaign. Generations to come will do more than just remember you. They will remember what you cared about and how important the future of the Jewish community was to you. The covenant described in Genesis is as real today as it was 4,000 years ago. A Perpetual Annual Campaign Fund can be your blessing upon the Jewish community you leave behind. Return to List

BEQUESTS

The conclusion to a life can take on different meanings depending on how we prepare for it. We can dwell on the ending and the finality, or we can accentuate the positive influences we leave for future generations. A will is a powerful estate planning device for distributing your assets. This document can also speak volumes about the compelling causes you have spent a lifetime supporting. It can teach your children and your grandchildren about charitable giving in the best of all ways --- by your example. Rachel's legacy could have defined by how she died, but was instead transformed into a testament to how she lived, as Jacob's right hand. No life is complete without a will and no will is complete without a provision for charitable giving.
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THE WOMEN'S ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION

About The Women's Endowment Foundation

The Mission
The Women’s Endowment Foundation is a Jewish philanthropic organization that promotes tzedakah, justice and concern for others, and tikkun olam, repair of the world, by improving the lives of women and girls through targeted grant making and the development of donor activism.

“Despite the challenges and the resistance to change, there is a renewed sense of anticipation among women across the spectrum of our institutions. If we believe that through philanthropy we can create a more equitable society, then pooled Jewish women’s funds can be powerful agents for change.”
-- Nancy Schwartz Sternoff,
Dobkin Family Foundation

What is the Women’s Endowment Foundation?
In 1989 a dedicated group of Seattle Jewish women, including Shirley Bridge for whom the Foundation’s Shirley Bridge Power
of One Award is named, created the Women’s Endowment Foundation specifically to address the unmet needs of Jewish
women and girls. They were among the first in the nation to establish a fund to harness the giving power of women for women.

The Women’s Endowment Foundation is an egalitarian organization that:

• educates the community about emerging issues
• funds programs that create change
• invites Jewish women from all sectors of the community to join in its mission

Why a Women’s Endowment Foundation?

Nationally, programs to meet the needs of women and girls are hugely under funded; only six percent of donation dollars go
specifically to their needs. The Women’s Endowment Foundation addresses issues important to Jewish women and girls because they are female and because they are Jewish. The Women’s Endowment Foundation changes lives with its grants and by teaching women to become more effective donors, advocates and leaders.

For more information on WEF and how you can help and/or become a member contact Anna at the WEF office: 206-774-2213 or email AnnaB@JewishInSeattle.org.

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CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITIES (CGA)

The Charitable Gift Annuity is the Federation's newest deferred giving product. A CGA is designed for individuals 60 and older who are looking for a lifetime income stream, immediate tax deductions, and the desire to make a long term financial commitment to a charity.

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