In November of 2019, United Jewish Federation (UJF) facilitated the partnership of the Stamford, New Canaan and Darien Jewish community with the Harold Grinspoon Life & Legacy program.
Eleven community organizations began a four-year journey of building endowments and securing the Jewish future. After an energetic start, COVID hit, but despite the challenges, the Stamford, New Canaan and Darien community continued on with vigor with its Life & Legacy objectives and will complete the four- year program successfully in July.
Under the leadership of United Jewish Federation’s community coordinator Lenore Fogel, UJF was honored on May 6 at the 2024 Life & Legacy Leadership Conference in Springfield, Massachusetts. This annual conference is collaborative and educational and includes inspiring keynote speakers, networking, skill based workshops from industry leaders, discussions and more.
David Gordon, who was Federation president when UJF was accepted into and launched Life & Legacy, accepted the award “for outstanding leadership in integrating legacy giving into the culture of the Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien Jewish Communities,” on behalf of the community. David’s vision made this program a reality, and to date, the Stamford, New Canaan and Darien Jewish community has 554 legacy commitments and an estimated $15.2 million in future and realized gifts.
After completion of the Life & Legacy program in July, the community will be eligible to apply to be part of Life & Legacy Plus, which provides four more years in which local Jewish organizations and synagogues will continue to have an opportunity to obtain incentive grants for reaching legacy commitment goals. If accepted, these incentive grants will motivate the organizations to obtain legacy commitments and motivate donors to make their legacy commitment within a given time frame.
If you are interested in obtaining more information about the Life & Legacy program, please contact the UJF community coordinator Lenore Fogel at Lenore@ujf.org or call 203-321-1371, ext 4.