Leon Dulzin, treasurer of the Jewish Agency, discerns a pattern in donations to the United Jewish Appeal. They follow a curve that rises sharply at times of military crisis, declines sharply as conditions return to normal but then rises again in a gradual but steady slope. Dulzin, who is preparing the Jewish Agency’s budget for fiscal 1977, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that UJA income is now in one of its slow, upward trends.
He predicted that 1977 will be a good year. “Jews have grown accustomed to donating large sums of money and they do it without a feeling of sacrifice,” he said. Furthermore, there is a new generation of Jewish leadership throughout the world. “They are better. They give more money, although they use different terms of reference than the previous generation,” Dulzin told the JTA.
He noted that the current Jewish Agency budget was $502 million although total expenditures are not likely to exceed $440 million because the number of immigrants fell short of anticipations. The last budget was based on 35,000 immigrants but only 20,000 arrived. Dulzin would not disclose the amount of the new budget but said it would be similar to the current one. He will present his draft budget at the end of February to a budget committee headed by Melvin Dubinsky of St. Louis, chairman of the United Israel Appeal. Once approved, it will be submitted to the Jewish Agency Executive and then to the Agency’s Board of Governors for final approval.
SATISFIED WITH 1976 RESULTS
Dulzin was generally satisfied with the results of the past year. Although income from countries covered by Keren Hayesod was $20 million less than anticipated, cash income from the U.S. was much higher than expected, he said. It amounted to $276 million at the end of 1976 compared to the original estimation of $260 million. Fund-raising was especially good in December and thus, despite gloomy forecasts, the total cash contributions to the UJA was IL 4 million higher than last year.
Fund-raising got off to a good start in 1977 he said, and there are good prospects for a further increase. He attributed the rise in actual contributions to the 25 percent increase in pledges made by the 3,000 delegates who participated in the UJA mission that visited Israel last spring and the Prime Minister’s UJA Conference. “True, the people who give at the beginning of the year are the cream of the crop, but this shows there is hope for a good year.” Dulzin said.
Discussing the pattern of UJA income, he recalled that it amounted to $70 million before the Six-Day War but jumped to a record $340 million afterwards. It declined to $180 million during fiscal years 1968-69 but then increased gradually to the 1967 level and soared to $750 million after the Yom Kippur War.
A few individual donors make contributions disproportionately higher than the average, Dulzin said. The largest individual donation after the Yom Kippur War was $7.5 million and four persons donated 34 million each. There were some 60 contributions of $1 million each, Dulzin said. The largest donation this year was $2 million given by “one of the richest people in the world, not an American;” Dulzin disclosed. He did not name the donor. He said that while the number of large individual donations has dropped, there was a constant rise in the number of small and medium donations.
“TELL THEM AS IT IS”
Dulzin said, “When I come to the Jews and ask for their financial assistance I explain what the needs are and explain to them that as long as there are less than 7-8 million Jews in Israel, it is their responsibility to share in the civilian expenses. I tell them it is not a matter of a year or two. It is a long range commitment. It is the younger generation that understands the importance of this commitment better than the others.” Dulzin said.
He said that when he visits Jewish communities overseas he is frequently asked why there always seems to be an internal crisis in Israel. “I tell them what is happening is bad and it must be corrected. But this cannot justify giving up the responsibility toward the State of Israel. Just like a father should not neglect his son if he is sick, this may be the time for greater efforts.” Dulzin observed that “Many Jews are worried, but those who really care about Israel understand — as long as you do not whitewash things and tell it to them as it is.”
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