Our Family's Philanthropy

One of the first things Lisa and Josh Mayers of Beachwood did when they returned to Cleveland 16 years ago was get involved with the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. They joined Young Leadership Division’s LEADS (Leadership Education Development Series) program, as well as various committees at Federation. They’ve also become invested in other agencies and organizations in and around the community and were looking for a more efficient way to support all of them.

During a lunch meeting, a suggestion was made to open a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) at the Federation. “I don’t even remember how it came up in the conversation, but we started talking,” Lisa said. “I came home and told Josh about this really cool thing they do at Federation and maybe we should look into it. It seemed like there are some real advantages to manage our donations, kind of like a central clearing house of how to do it.”

A DAF is a philanthropic fund through the Federation in which you – as the donor advisor – make recommendations for charitable grants from the fund. “We have the ability to recommend grants to organizations that are meaningful to us both in the Jewish and secular community,” said Lisa.

The Mayers realized quickly at how fast, efficient, and helpful the Federation staff is. “We were blown away,” noted Josh. There’s no comparison to the forward thinking, the thoughtfulness of this whole thing. From start to finish, the staff is so well trained and knowledgeable on how the process works; they’re so organized. It’s trusted that when you make your donation through Federation, nothing is going to slip through the cracks.”

An additional benefit of their DAF was the feeling of helping out the entire community for years to come. “This is laying the stepping stone for our future and what we teach our daughters for their future,” said Lisa. “We’ve always talked about what it would be like to have a Foundation; in a small way, we’re doing that. Not a day goes by that we do not feel a sense of community with Federation. In every aspect of our life, we have an involvement with the Jewish community.”

To learn more about opening a Donor Advised Fund, contact Janet Shapiro at jshapiro@jcfcleve.org or 216-593-2875.