Your gift to the Jewish Federation of Cleveland provides vital support to those in need in Cleveland and around the world. Consider these tips to make your philanthropy even more effective before year-end:

When someone asks me what I do, I answer, “I’m a fundraiser.”

After the devastation of World War II, the leaders of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland came together and decided that they would create an endowment fund so that if and when an unknown crisis in the future arose, the community would be prepared and able to act. Since that time, the Unrestricted Endowment Fund has been Jewish Cleveland’s safety net that has supported our beneficiaries in times of economic downturns, helped to defend Israel when it has been under attack, and assisted Jewish and general communities throughout the United States and the world when natural disasters such as fires, earthquakes, and hurricanes have wrought destruction.

Philanthropy is in Ervin Pavlofsky’s DNA. Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, a close-knit Jewish community of less than 10,000 Jews at that time, he learned the importance of caring for one another. “Every Jewish person was involved, giving what they could to as many agencies and synagogues as they could,” he said. “We felt that it was up to each one of us to keep the Jewish community alive for our own families and everyone else’s too.”

Karen Tucker’s lifelong love of Israel has roots in her youth. At 13 years old, she vividly remembers watching the news coverage of Israel, then a fledgling nation, fight for its survival in the Six Day War. As a college student, she attended rallies, spoke out in support of Israel, and donated funds to help the country defend itself during the Yom Kippur War.

The wall showcasing past leadership in the Federation’s Conference Center is a sea of mostly black and white photos of men. Yet among the photos there is one that stands out – a woman whose plaque reads “Mrs. Siegmund Herzog 1927-1930.” While a dignified photograph, it does not begin to capture the force of nature that was Bertha “Birdie” Herzog.

Organizations and institutions rely heavily on endowment funds created by donors in the community. These investment funds allow the institutions to make consistent withdrawals from the capital in those funds.

Communicating with family during the estate planning process can help mitigate any issues and make it easier for important decisions to be made.

Creating an estate plan – or updating one – is probably on your to do list. And, if you are like so many others, it has probably been on the list for a while now.