Reseda Jewish Home is Fundraising Powerhouse

When it comes to fundraising in the Valley, Reseda-based Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging is without a doubt a leader. During a five-year period, the home raised more than $70 million. It recently opened the Annenberg School of Nursing thanks to a $1.1 million contribution from the Annenberg Foundation. “There are tens of thousand of not-for-profit organizations in the greater five-county area,” said Leonard Aube, managing director of the Wallis Annenberg Foundation. “We can’t respond to all of the needs, so foundations such as ours look for certain conditions. The philanthropic dollars available are so limited. We look for organizations that have the deepest impact on the greatest number of people.” What stood out about the Jewish Home is that the organization is not overly reliant on just a handful of donors, according to Aube, who stressed that, while he is speaking on behalf of the foundation, Annenberg’s gift to the Jewish Home reflects Wallis Annenberg’s personal philanthropy. The leadership of the home’s executive director, Molly Forrest, was what appealed most to Annenberg. “The Annenberg Foundation has many different options to direct its philanthropic work and, in this case, the leadership of Molly Forrest was the determining factor, notwithstanding the recognized need for expanding the need of trained nurses,” Aube said. “It’s Molly’s stewardship over many, many years. Her leadership over the organization was really the tipping point for Wallis Annenberg to direct the grant.” The Annenberg Foundation isn’t the only one to make a major contribution to the Jewish Home in recent years. In 2005, the Skirball Foundation gave the Jewish Home $2 million. The Weingart Foundation also gave the Jewish Home a seven-figure donation. The Business Journal spoke to Forrest, who has been on the Jewish Home’s staff since 1996, first as chief operating officer and, a year later, as executive director, about the Jewish Home’s smashing success in the arena of fundraising. Question: How has the Jewish Home raised more than $70 million? Answer: We did a capital campaign with a goal of $72 million which we started in 1997 and closed in 2002. For most not-for-profits, about 90 percent of the support comes from about 10 percent of the donors. For the Jewish Home, 90 percent of the donations comes from 90 percent of the donors. We don’t get money through United Way or the Jewish Federation. It’s from individuals and individual foundations who partner with us. It’s been that way for 95 years. Study after study shows that the biggest impediment to philanthropy is failure to ask, so perhaps we have gotten better about asking. Q: What about the Jewish Home compels people to contribute to its financial success? A: I think most people respond to the needs for the elderly, children and the needy. The Jewish Home, if you will, is a unique niche in that we care for 800 elderly who have an average age of 90. We care for the most senior of the old. We also have a commitment to serve those who are financially needy. Q: How so? A: For example, 83 percent of those we serve rely upon the welfare program for subsistence. Welfare does not give seniors in need necessarily a quality of life. We have two unique features in that we serve the very old, and we serve the financially needy as a priority. We also prioritize serving those who are alone one-third of our residents have no direct living family member, so either they did not have children or lost their children. They have no siblings, they have no spouse. Our staff here recognizes the needs of who we serve and support. In turn, we support our staff. Q: What are the home’s most recent developments? A: We most recently opened the Annenberg School of Nursing and that investment allows people to have a wonderful career, but there’s also a need for nurses to have a stable future with pay and benefits. The home is located in Reseda. We’re not Sherman Oaks and Encino. We try to reinvest in our community. We work with the local Reseda Adult Education program. We do extensive English as a Second Language classes for staff members. We do math tutoring. We’re able to help some people with G.E.D. preparation. We have 300 volunteers every month who volunteer here for two hours and we invite them to have lunch or dinner with our residents. It is no surprise that a number of our volunteers are older. When they give back to the home, they’re able to share the social experience of eating good food. We also started “Mommy and Me” where 85 young parents of children from newborns to age three bring their children here once a week for parenting classes. Most of that is underwritten by donors who want to provide that kind of help to new parents. Lastly, we serve 700 people through the hospice program. It’s not just a nursing home and not just hospice care. It is a wonderful and uniquely efficient system of healthcare and services for the elderly. Q: Is giving up or down? A: It is up. About 25 percent of our annual budget depends on annual donations. That is not the capital campaign. It’s literally the money that provides the hands that put the food on the table. We had the Wells Fargo Walk of Ages on Dec. 2. We usually try to raise $300,000 to $350,000 with that event. Usually at fundraisers, you sit at a dinner and you’re sedentary. The 5K walk is a wonderful way to see both of our campuses and meet our residents while you raise money and support the home. We do an annual dinner. We have regular gifts that come through the foundation for our core services.