Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

David Harris

Meet Linda and Gary Greenberg and watch their video.

Create Your Jewish Legacy, Round 2: A Fast Start 
 
The second group or cohort of Create Your Jewish Legacy (CYJL), the Cincinnati Jewish community’s effort to secure our collective future through endowment giving, is off to a feverous start. Alongside and with the help of the first cohort of 12 teams, which started their work in September 2014, the second group began this process almost a year ago. In the first year each organization, 11 in this new group, is tasked with securing eighteen new Letters of Intent (LOI’s) for endowments.
 
The organizations, agencies, and synagogues took to their assignment with passion. More than halfway through the first year we are at 70 percent completion rate towards the goal. But what makes me the proudest is the collaboration at the heart of our efforts: of the new LOIs secured, 30 percent have been secured through other organizations—the epitome of our vision of a true community initiative.
 
Cohort Two just wrapped up their fifth seminar with a guest speaker; Carol Seidman, the Director of the Tomorrow Campaign at UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. Seidman spoke on stewardship, donor relations, and awareness of our own communication styles for better results.
 
I began the seminar asking all the participants to reflect on why we do what we do; why we volunteer our time to work in the community and have conversations about endowments. The audience overwhelmingly said that “we care about the future of our community.” They also said that “we want to  pass down our values from generation to generation” and “we want to see a strong Jewish community in the future for our children and grandchildren.” The answers were so indicative of the tremendous good energy Cohort Two is putting behind their efforts.
 
We are currently planning for our sixth seminar (November 29). I know we will do everything possible to help Cohort Two take this strong momentum built in year one and carry it forward.
 
—Josh Ackerman, Development Officer, Create Your Jewish Legacy and Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Why I Volunteer: Tighter Connections

We asked people in the Jewish community to tell us why they volunteer, in one sentence. Here, we ask Cody Gamm:

“I volunteer for the Jewish community on Super Sunday to create a community of tighter connections.”   —Cody Gamm, Human Resources Generalist at the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Meet Linda and Gary Greenberg and watch their video

“The core value of Judaism is that every individual human life is sacred.  We are committed to the Jewish community and being as involved as we can.”

—Gary Greenberg
 

Linda and Gary believe that this legacy gift reinforces the core values inherent in their Jewish heritage, and continues the legacy their parents have left them. They feel fortunate to be part of a thriving Jewish community and wish to ensure that their children, grandchildren, and future generations have the same opportunity. Two weeks ago, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati announced that Gary would be the new cochair, along with Debbie Brant, of the 2018 Community Campaign.

By Jim Friedman

The start of fall means appreciating beautiful colors as the leaves change from the lush green of spring to the brilliant red, orange and gold hues of autumn. But it also warns us that a new season is not far behind where we will not have the warmth and sustenance we have been enjoying. We are reminded that we need to make sure we have saved up enough to get us through the long bleak winter days. This brings to mind the need to plan for our retirement someday or make the best of these times if we are already well into those years.

Most of us have been encouraged  to save for our retirement and we are often reminded by our financial advisors to make the maximum contributions to our IRAs or adjust our contributions to our employer’s 401(k) or similar plan. But just as it is important to take the proper steps to ensure your financial security during your retirement years, it is just as essential that you plan for the ultimate distribution of your retirement assets, both during your lifetime and beyond.The start of fall means appreciating beautiful colors as the leaves change from the lush green of spring to the brilliant red, orange and gold hues of autumn. But it also warns us that a new season is not far behind where we will not have the warmth and sustenance we have been enjoying. We are reminded that we need to make sure we have saved up enough to get us through the long bleak winter days. This brings to mind the need to plan for our retirement someday or make the best of these times if we are already well into those years.

Most of us have been encouraged  to save for our retirement and we are often reminded by our financial advisors to make the maximum contributions to our IRAs or adjust our contributions to our employer’s 401(k) or similar plan. But just as it is important to take the proper steps to ensure your financial security during your retirement years, it is just as essential that you plan for the ultimate distribution of your retirement assets, both during your lifetime and beyond. More >