About Create a Jewish Legacy of Western Massachusetts

Create a Jewish Legacy of Western Massachusetts (CJLWMA) is an innovative program that helps Jewish organizations in the region approach their donors for legacy gifts (bequests) in order to ensure that current good work can continue long into the future. Since its launch in June 2008, twenty organizations have joined CJLWMA – day schools, synagogues, and social service agencies. Each group has assembled a dynamic Legacy Team.  Together they have learned about the importance of planned giving, mastered endowment basics, and set goals to hold many discussions with their constituents in order to educate them about legacy giving. The results speak for themselves. As of February 1, 2012, the 17 participating organizations have received 693 legacy gifts for an estimated total of $17 million dollars.

The program’s funding partners, the Jewish Endowment Foundation and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, not only provide the training, coaching, advertising and marketing materials but also reward organizations that reach their annual goals on time with an incentive grant. The Federations of Western Massachusetts and the Berkshires are program partners, and the Jewish Federations of North America has previously awarded CJLWMA a 3-year grant for administrative staff support.

Pioneer Valley school children are featured in this March 2012 video by Mark Knox about what their Jewish heritage means to them. The 2-minute video will be introduced at the 2012 Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival.