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Building a meaningful legacy in partnership with the Dallas Jewish Community Foundation

DJCF is committed to supporting Jewish legacy giving, which ensures a sustainable, vibrant future for community organizations.

While many people make charitable giving a habit during their lifetimes, only a small percentage of those same givers include charitable beneficiaries in their estate or will. The fact is that financial generosity can have a longer-lasting, exponential impact when structured strategically — and it can create a legacy for both the philanthropist and the organization that receives the funds.

The Dallas Jewish Community Foundation (DJCF) has been an invaluable resource for philanthropic-minded individuals in the community since 1973. Rooted in its value of Jewish tradition, DJCF empowers individuals and organizations alike to sustain their impact through strategic Jewish legacy giving, which ensures a sustainable, vibrant future for generations to come. This Jewish practice centers around making connections between generations of family and community members and is especially relevant to charitable giving.

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In late 2023, DJCF launched a new initiative, “Your Legacy, Our Jewish Future,” which educates individuals, families, nonprofit organizations and professional advisors about legacy giving. Through this initiative, DJCF facilitates philanthropic legacy planning discussions with individuals and families and conducts a variety of educational opportunities (for nonprofit organizations and professional advisors) that provide guidance for soliciting, accepting and structuring legacy gifts.

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One of DJCF’s key differentiators is its focus on legacy giving. While the organization is committed to supporting annual giving — the foundation celebrated its 50th anniversary year with a record $37 million in gifts to charity — it believes that endowments represent the biggest opportunity for long-term sustainability in the Dallas nonprofit community. The foundation facilitates strategic giving by empowering individuals to identify areas of passion. DJCF connects philanthropists to resources or organizations that serve the community needs they are passionate about and then identifies the most tax efficient manner in which to structure a charitable gift. In addition to providing a steady stream of resources to charitable organizations, this also meets the foundation’s broader goal of supporting the Jewish community for generations to come.

Family photos of three men and two women posing, dressed in formal attire for an event.
One of the DJCF’s missions is to connect philanthropic families to charitable organizations that reflect their values. For Beverly and Cary Rossel (far right) establishing a scholarship for individuals with disabilities in the culinary field was the intersection of multiple family values. The Rossels have passed on their value for charitable giving to their triplets (from left) Jeremy Rossel, Ilana Rossel and Bradley Rossel.(Courtesy DJCF)

Cary Rossel, a life trustee at DJCF, and his wife, Beverly, worked with the foundation to structure legacy gifts in the form of endowments and scholarships that go to organizations now — and will live on in perpetuity. They were able to create scholarships for culinary and hospitality students and for individuals with intellectual or physical disabilities who would like to obtain gainful employment in the culinary field. Planned giving has been a joyful experience for Rossel. “We feel good about our legacy gifts. We feel good about what we’ve accomplished through the guidance and assistance of the DJCF,” he says. “My wife and I feel that we have done what we want to do now and for the future.”

Educating nonprofits and professional advisors

“One of the goals of the program was to demystify charitable gift planning,” says Kent Weimer, co-chair of the initiative’s 10-week cohort for nonprofits. “Every nonprofit should be talking to their donors about estate gifts. The largest gifts an organization will receive from a donor [often] come through their financial, estate and legacy planning.” Charitable gift planning takes into account all of a donor’s wealth — not just their income. This might mean designating a charity as the beneficiary of retirement assets or donating real estate, closely held business interests or appreciated stock to a philanthropic fund designed to be granted to a charity. Through endowments, scholarships, donor-advised funds and even their wills, generous individuals can support organizations during their lifetime and in perpetuity.

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The impact of these gifts on nonprofits is transformative, but the complexity of receiving, structuring and implementing planned gifts like these can make it difficult for nonprofits to reap the rewards of their donors’ generosity. “Many small charities don’t think that endowments are a relevant area of focus for them or don’t have sufficient resources to be effective in structuring and closing these types of gifts,” says Megan Hyman, CEO and president of DJCF.

The 10-week cohort of “Your Legacy, Our Jewish Future” solves that challenge by educating stakeholders at nonprofits (typically one board member and two senior staff members) about the nuances of gift planning. Five in-person sessions are coupled with 10 online courses, a sort of homework for participants, to teach these smaller nonprofits how to plan for legacy gifts. Participants in the inaugural course, which occurred in early 2024, included religious and communal organizations primarily serving the Jewish community. Professional advisors, like Weimer, led the cohort’s in-person meetings and provided guidance. The self-directed online courses were produced by Philip Cubeta, founder of Philanthropy Offerings, who formerly held The Wallace Chair in Philanthropy at The American College of Financial Services and is responsible for the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP) designation.

It’s not just financial education that these nonprofits receive, they also get to hear from donors to better understand their philanthropic perspectives. DJCF also connects cohort participants to fund holders and prospective donors to collaborate on giving opportunities, learn about planned gifts and cultivate deeper philanthropic relationships.

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The foundation plans to extend the reach of the “Your Legacy, Our Jewish Future” initiative with a 10-week training for professional advisors, which will launch this winter. For professional advisors working with clients who have philanthropic goals, the course will provide expertise on gift planning, bringing philanthropy home to clients, donors and communities. These professionals play a critical role in the allocation of charitable gifts on behalf of their clients. The foundation is working to equip advisors with the resources needed to be more effective when working with charitable bequests and endowments.

DJCF also offers quarterly roundtables and annual seminars for advisors to connect them to legacy gift planning resources. Most recently, Russell James III, a professor at the Texas Tech University School of Financial Planning, spoke at the nonprofit’s 29th Annual Professional Advisors Seminar. James educated nearly 400 fundholders, nonpro­fit leaders and professional advisors over a series of events spanning two days about the psychology of giving and top trends in gift planning.”

To start a conversation about your personal charitable goals or, if you’re an advisor interested in deepening your understanding of philanthropic planning, contact the team at info@djcf.org to learn more.