Online donation platform offers a better way to do good

In an Israeli first, JGive, an online non-for-profit donation platform, launched a donor-advised fund or DAF, a service for companies and organizations interested in donating in a more efficient and rewarding manner.

Notable hi-tech companies such as Lightricks and Microsoft already use JGive’s service to help facilitate their donations and fundraise for various causes, and over NIS 35 million (over $10 million) has been contributed already.

In the U.S. DAF is an established financial product, but in Israel, no association or philanthropic foundation has, so far, allowed individual donors to establish such a fund.

JGive’s DAF, called JGive Platinum, allows companies to allocate funds for donation, transfer them into the DAF, receive their tax benefit at the time of the deposit, and decide on the actual donation later in time. Donations, grants, and other contributions to different charities can be made at the donor’s discretion.

Furthermore, JGive Platinum offers donors' contribution value to be maximized by investing the donation deposited in the fund in yield-producing investment tracks, before transferring them to charities. It is important to note that when establishing JGive’s DAF a minimum initial amount of NIS 36,000 (about $11,000) is required.

To maximize the amount of money donated to various charities, an investment committee will be established headed by Uzi Danino, chairman of the Fulfillment Fund and former CEO of Excellence Investment House, and he will be joined by Anat Krumkis and Ronen Torem. The committee will be responsible for investing the donations deposited in the fund and not yet transferred to the various non-profit organizations. The contributions will be invested in solid income-producing investment vehicles.

The project is also backed and accompanied by several different bodies, including a public committee that will include, among others, Maj. Gen. Eliezer Shkedi and Israel Prize winner Natan Sharansky, as well as a grants committee headed by Judge (retired) Carmi Musk, Adv. In addition, the legal advisor of this venture is Adv. Yaron Keidar, former Registrar of Associations and former head of the Corporations Authority.

JGive founder and CEO Ori Ben Shlomo said that “JGive sees the world of philanthropy as a whole and thus strives to maintain the relationships between donations from households, NGOs, and businesses. In doing so, JGive works to create an appropriate response for all parties by creating technological infrastructure and transferring all philanthropic activities to the digital space, nurturing the donor community and addressing their needs, as well as using compatible marketing, understanding that the entire philanthropy future rests on the future generation of donors."