Fluer Hassan-Nahoum walks over to me, beaming. Someone just made her a shidduch… philanthropically at least.
The JFN held “Speed Philanthropy,” its take on speed dating, Wednesday morning, setting up philanthropists on a series of mini-speed-info-dates with each other.
The 100 or so funders and professionals who participated were asked to pair up and sit in facing chairs. They were then given 10 minutes to give each other the “elevator pitch” about a philanthropic endeavor that excites them and in which they are involved.
Ala Michael Steinhardt, who sometimes pays for the honeymoons of young couples who meet on Birthright Israel trips, JFN gave the groups a bit of an incentive for making a match. The host organization offered $50,000 in matching funds to a group that ends up giving more than $10,000 to a new organization, with a partner with whom they have never worked, who works in another country than they do. And of course, the match had to be made during the hour-long speed philanthropy session.
Nahoum sat down with a funder who is a former Californian who had moved to Israel years ago. She told him about her organization, Tikva, a project of the urban clothier, Ecko, that builds Jewish orphanages in the Former Soviet Union.
She told him about Tikva and he said, “It sounds fascinating. I think I have a guy for you.”
