We’ve just celebrated the 5785th year of Jewish history, a nearly 60-century journey that is awe-inspiring. It’s remarkable that our Jewish community has endured, thrived and shaped history for so long — but it hasn’t always been inevitable.
At Shir Ami in Bucks County, we’ve been around for just over 50 years, less than 1% of Jewish history’s overall existence. This, too, is inspiring. However, ensuring Shir Ami continues to exist for another 50 years, which will mark one century of our congregation’s operations – isn’t guaranteed.
One of the greatest challenges we face is building a stable, predictable revenue stream to sustain our community, enabling us to strengthen our connections, grow spiritually, deepen our knowledge, and make an impact both locally and globally.
Historically, Shir Ami has operated year-to-year, budget-to-budget. Nearly all our revenue has come from member affiliation, tuition and our annual campaign. But crossed fingers aren’t a reliable source of revenue, and while meaningful prayer is comforting and heard, it too often feels unanswered when it comes to finances.
As highlighted in the parable of the drowning man – where a person refuses to be saved by emergency services because they are waiting for G-d, but it was G-d who had sent the life-saving assistance – G-d’s presence can come in a variety of ways. And many times, it is up to us to be active in leveraging the opportunities provided to us to create our own pathway forward.
Just over 50 years ago, a group of visionary founders met in a basement and decided to start a congregation in Bucks County. Last year, after meeting in a conference room, a few of us took the first steps in securing Shir Ami’s future by deciding to start building an endowment that would sustain and grow our congregation for the next 50 years and beyond.
At that moment, looking around the table, we all asked ourselves, “How are we going to make this happen?”
Fortunately, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and the Harold S. Grinspoon Foundation launched the Life & Legacy (called ShirLegacy at Shir Ami) Initiative to answer that question. Life & Legacy recognizes that teaching Jewish institutions how to build their own endowments, which is a fund that provides long-term financial support for nonprofits, is crucial to strengthening their mission. By sharing a proven process for donor cultivation and stewardship - and by holding us accountable, Life & Legacy teaches Jewish institutions how to meaningfully engage with members and jumpstart the endowment-building process.
I’m incredibly proud that Shir Ami was selected as one of the first 13 Jewish institutions to join this effort, alongside synagogues like ours and other service agencies. The Jewish Federation has equipped our cohort with practical, actionable tools and we’ve also had the chance to learn best practices from each other along the way. Together, we’ve avoided the daunting task of starting from scratch and instead have benefited from a shared foundation of knowledge and experience.
The Jewish Federation has over 120 years of trusted experience in managing endowments, providing us with a safe, proven place to invest our donors’ generous gifts.
Legacy gifts are more than finances, they’re about sustaining our future. Through the power of investment returns and time, an endowment gift of $50,000 can generate $23,000 in revenue and grow to $71,000 in just 10 years. Fifty years from now, that can be $276,000 in revenue, growing to $303,000!
Listening to the stories of those who’ve already joined ShirLegacy is inspiring. Some are motivated by ensuring their grandchildren will have a thriving Jewish community to turn to. Others speak of the comfort that Shir Ami has brought them in times of tsuris (Yiddish for trouble or distress) and loss. Still, others are driven by the rise of antisemitism and threats we’ve seen since Oct. 7, motivated by the desire to protect the Jewish future. No matter the reason, each legacy gift tells a story of commitment, connection and love for our community – a reminder that we are part of something greater, bound by shared values and a common purpose.
Our hopes for Life & Legacy are both ambitious and optimistic. Shir Ami is well on its way to 25 new members of Life & Legacy this year, which is on track to more than 75 members in 3 years. These generous legacy gifts will help create an endowment equal to our annual budget, enabling programs to grow spiritually, study deeply, connect meaningfully with one another, and make an impact on the world.
Our success is a reflection of the entire Life & Legacy cohort’s accomplishments. In its premier year, the 13 Life & Legacy participatory institutions have secured $25 million in gift commitments from 193 donors. These funds will ensure a number of vital operations can continue for our congregations and agencies, such as upgrading security systems, offering tuition assistance, elevating programs to better engage with the community and more.
Any Jewish Institution looking to safeguard its mission for generations to come should consider joining a future Life & Legacy cohort. Learning to tap into the power of legacy giving along with other organizations strengthens relationships with local institutions and inspires donors to plan their legacy. Working with the Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Foundation professional team makes planning straightforward by providing community members with vehicles of giving, like estate planning, life insurance, charitable gift annuities, and retirement beneficiary planning. Life & Legacy’s progress in Greater Philadelphia shows we can achieve great things when we come together.
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Jon Stevens is the past president of Shir Ami and part of the
Life & Legacy Initiative.
Want to learn more about Life & Legacy? Visit jewishphilly.org/life-and-legacy, email legacy@jewishphilly.org or call 215.832.0574.