Melbourne communal appeal abandoned

PLANS to introduce a Victorian Jewish communal appeal have been scrapped after research revealed the Melbourne community raises more money than Sydney.

New South Wales’ Jews have raised funds to support communal endeavours via the Jewish Communal Appeal (JCA) since the 1960s and for decades, discussions have raged whether its southern neighbour should follow suit.

A subcommittee of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) was set up in 2008 to explore the prospect of a communal appeal in Melbourne.
In March this year, the subcommittee was given a push by some of the Jewish community’s most generous donors, led by David Smorgon.

Smorgon, together with other donors, funded the appointment of a top consultant to speak to 14 community organisations and confidentially go through their finances.

The results were announced to the JCCV and donors last week.

“Our funding is pretty much on par with NSW funding, therefore there doesn’t seem to be a great need to go to a communal appeal,” JCCV president John Searle said. “A communal appeal would not raise more money. In fact, it might raise less money.”

The example Searle gave was that if 10 organisations call the same household during the course of the year, they may raise $100 each, but if a Victorian communal appeal were to call, it is unlikely to receive a $1000 donation from the same family in one lump sum.

He admitted “there is a fair bit of surprise coming out of this report. It is shattering all the myths.”

Smorgon added he was pleased to “once and for all get the facts” and that the idea of a Victorian communal appeal can now be “put to bed”.

“The findings are reassuring because they show the strength of the community,” he said.

David Balkin, the president of the NSW JCA, indicated the report was not as clear-cut as it appears.

“They say they raise slightly more than we do, but Melbourne has a much richer community than us,” Balkin said. “They have far more billionaires than we do and they are a bigger community. We shouldn’t be the benchmark because if Melbourne had a JCA like we do, they would raise more than they do today.”
Despite answering one question, the report raised a number of other issues.

Smorgon said it revealed that the fundraising burden was not being spread around. “We’ve still got too many people who don’t give.”

Searle listed other concerns, including that the next generation of philanthropic families will not support the Jewish community like their parents and grandparents have done; the substantial fundraising struggle faced by smaller community organisations and schools; the future of bequests; and how to go about central communal planning without having control of the purse strings.

Balkin certainly agreed with Searle’s final point.

“I’ve seen the report and I can understand what they are saying, but they are missing out on the planning,” he said. “Donors give us money as an intermediary because they think we know what the needs of the community are better than they do.

Balkin also took a swipe at the JCCV, indicating Sydney’s equivalent, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, benefits from increased funding.

“Clearly the most obvious example of the consequence is our JBD, where we have a well-respected and well regarded advocate for our community at the state level and Victoria has always struggled with that.”

NAOMI LEVIN