JCF's Tamar Snyder led an interactive session with the teens at JCC Rockland's Teen Leadership Initiative, teaching them how to evaluate charities, read a 990, and use tools like Guidestar and Charity Navigator. The teens then created an evaluation rubric to help them determine which local organizations to give a grant to once they receive grant proposals.

1. JCC Rockland Teen
Leadership Initiative
April 1, 2014

2. JCF’s Impact
• Each year, JCF makes a Community Gift of
$2 million to UJA-Federation of NY
• $10 million has been awarded from JCF’s
Special Gifts Fund since 1999 to dozens of
Jewish communal organizations
• JCF donors grant more than $250 million
annually to charities in all sectors

3. Educational Resources
JCF provides seminars, guidebooks, webinars and
online resources to help people be more strategic and
have greater impact with their philanthropy:
• Teen Tzedakah Guide
• Your Jewish Philanthropy Roadmap
• JCF Roadmap – Start Your Journey Conversation Cards
• JCF Legacy Scrapbook & Guidebook

4. Goals for this session:
•Create an evaluation rubric
•Learn how to research charities
•Discover tools to help you be
more thoughtful with your
own charitable giving

5. Who said this?
“To give away money is an easy
matter…and in any man’s power. But
to decide to whom to give it, and how
large and when, for what purpose and
how, is neither in every man’s power
nor an easy matter. Hence it is that
such excellence is rare, praiseworthy
and noble.”

6. Share an example of a time
when you had to make a
decision about where to give
tzedakah (charity).
What did you decide and why?

7. Ways to evaluate charities:
• Review grant application
• Look at charity’s website/materials
• Site visits
• Interviews with
staff/volunteers/recipients
• Look at charity’s financial health

8. Research Charities Online
•Charity Navigator
(www.charitynavigator.org)
•GuideStar (www.guidestar.org)
•Better Business Bureau
(www.bbb.org/us/charity-
reviews)

9. How to Read a 990
• If an organization is doing important
work but its finances are a
mess, your donation may be
mishandled.
• Every public charity files a form 990
with the IRS which can tell you
about its financial health

10. Exercise: Sharsheret’s 990
• What % of donation goes to charitable
purposes? (Should be at least 60%)
• Is the charity in good financial health?
• What is the organization’s mission?
• What programs are in place to achieve
these goals?
• How do they measure effectiveness?
• How long has the organization been in
existence?

11. Why an evaluation rubric?
•Common set of questions to
ask of all organizations levels
the playing field
•Choose grantee more
objectively, less because of
emotion

12. Articulate a Mission Statement
We, the JCC Rockland Teen
Leadership Initiative, will
support an organization that:
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________

13. Grant Application Evaluation Qs
• What is the purpose/mission of the
program?
• What need does it address? What
would happen if it didn’t exist?
• How many people will benefit?
• Who will benefit?
• Does the project’s budget seem
appropriate?

14. More questions
• How great is the need this project
addresses?
• How feasible is this project?
• Will this program have a measurable
and sustained impact?
• Does the budget/financials seem
appropriate?
• Do you have confidence in the
applicants’ ability to carry out this
program successfully?

15. Questions?
Tamar Snyder
Associate Director, Strategic Initiatives &
Communications
212.752.8277 ext. 231
tamar@jcfny.org