Donor Covenant

The Jewish Liberation Fund believes that this work - our movement - needs all of us. None of us can bring forth liberation alone, and the more whole, just world we are seeking will be brought forth by the strength of our collective. Together, we are stronger, more adaptive, more resilient, and more fully alive.

In the nonprofit and philanthropy worlds, relationships between donors or funders and organizations can be powerful and complicated, fraught and transformative. JLF is both a funder and a fundraiser, and we are committed to treating both our grantees and our donors with respect and integrity. And - we believe this relationship is mutual! We need each other, and so we want to be in right relationship with each other. One tradition Judaism offers us is a relational covenant. (Examples of this include a Ketubah - for marriages - or a Shtar Brit - for business agreements.)

In addition to abiding by the AFP Donor Bill of Rights, this Donor Covenant is one piece of what it means to us to be in right relationship.

What you can expect of us…

  • We will be good and conscientious stewards of your donation, and under the guidance of our Steering Committee and Grantmaking Panels, will allocate your donation towards our mission of mobilizing resources to sustain and grow a progressive Jewish movement for justice and liberation.

  • We will always treat you with respect and dignity. We commit to seeing and honoring you in your fullness as a human being, as well as a donor.

  • We will invite your feedback and ask for direction, as appropriate, and be honest and forthcoming about where we see needs within JLF or the movement.

  • We will treat every donor - whether you give $10 or $10 million - as an integral member of this community and movement. The size of your check does not dictate the depth of respect or quantity of time to which you are entitled, or correlate with the value you offer to the movement.

  • We will be transparent with our budget, while also protecting the privacy and sensitivity of certain human and grant -related decisions and allocations.

  • We will invest in the people who make this work possible, by compensating our team in a manner that respects and honors the value of their work. We believe that overhead costs are not separate from the work and mission of JLF, they are a critical component of building a just and sustainable movement.

What we hope and ask of you, our donors…

  • You will respect JLF’s decisions to allocate your donation according to our Grantmaking Priorities, and in alignment with the needs of the movement. JLF does not accept directed gifts, either with limitations to the scope of our mission, or for regranting to specific projects, outside of our grantmaking cycles. (If you are interested in establishing a Donor Advised Fund (DAF), you may want to consider The Progressive Jewish Fund at the New Israel Fund, for a values-aligned DAF program.)

  • You will always treat JLF employees, Steering Committee members, and grantmaking panelists with respect and dignity. You will remember that we are human beings, and you will respect our boundaries as whole people with lives and responsibilities beyond our respective roles.

  • You will communicate with us directly about your needs, requests, and any feedback - we are more powerful together, and want to hear from you! We deeply appreciate and welcome your proactive communication.

  • You will be open to hearing our feedback, in service of moving all of us closer to the world we seek.

Your donation to the Jewish Liberation Fund, and our acceptance of that donation, will be understood as an embrace of this covenantal agreement. In the event that any part of this agreement is not being upheld by JLF, you are encouraged to share that feedback directly and respectfully with JLF, by contacting the Director or a member of the JLF Steering Committee. In the event that any part of this agreement is not being upheld by a donor, JLF will start by sharing that feedback directly and respectfully with the donor. JLF may return or refuse to accept a donation if a donor has demonstrated an unwillingness to uphold this agreement.