Adam Milstein’s Philanthropy: Innovative and Effective

According to president/CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, Argentinian Jewish activist Andres Spokoiny, “Jewish philanthropy has an illustrious history of stepping up in times of crisis and achieving impressive feats.” Since the inhuman attacks on Israeli civilians by the terror group Hamas on October 7, 2023 that killed over 1,200 with 251 more taken hostage, Jewish giving has risen exponentially. This is also in part due to the antisemitic and anti-Zionist reactions to October 7 by many progressive groups in America, which are still ongoing and which have shocked the American Jewish community to its core.

Based on “informal surveys of our members at the Jewish Funders Network and knowledge of the field,” Spokoiny estimates that “the amount of philanthropic dollars going to Israel has doubled – representing an extra $2 billion.” In addition to that, the “Jewish Federations of North America [JNFA] – city-based fundraising and community funding bodies – has collectively raised and contributed approximately $1 billion.” And yet, according to The Forward, a large portion of the money raised by JNFA has gone unspent nearly a year later – about $342 million. Jeff Schoenfeld, a retired investment banker helping JNFA manage distributions says, “There’s not a conscious effort to hold money back… It’s just not possible — in many ways — to allocate all the money all at once.”

For the many American Jews who donated a significant portion of their hard-earned money to JNFA, this revelation may be disappointing. How can Jews ensure their donations go toward meaningful impact rather than sitting in a bank account? 

American of Israeli descent and LA-based strategic venture philanthropist Adam Milstein has creative solutions. Milstein has been a full-time philanthropist in the Jewish nonprofit world for decades and, having come from a successful career in commercial real estate, comes up with innovative ways to ensure he and his partners make an impact. On a May 2024 episode of the podcast Giving Ventures, Milstein details his journey to full-time philanthropist as well as the strategies he has developed to achieve his goals.

After accomplishing much in the real estate world, Milstein and his wife Gila asked themselves, “Where do we go next?” They “wanted to conquer new frontiers” make a big impact. Milstein had always been a donor to Jewish causes, so he made the decision to not just give money but also time and effort, which he used to empower “a big ecosystem or organizations and likeminded individuals that have the same goals and mission in mind.” 

When it comes to philanthropy, Milstein says it’s vital to first know what your mission is, what you’re trying to accomplish and where you want to make an impact. For years, and well before October 7, he has seen the growing threat of antisemitism from the political left as a problem that would only get larger. In 2000, Milstein co-founded the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation with his wife Gila with the targeted mission of strengthening American values, supporting the U.S.-Israel alliance and combating hatred and bigotry in all forms, most notably antisemitism, and recently from the alliance between he radical left and radical Muslims.

Therefore, much of his focus goes into supporting organizations that combat the “Islamo-Leftist Alliance,” an unholy partnership between American progressives and Islamist forces in the world. Milstein emphasizes that these forces are not just a threat to Israel and Jews, but to the American way of life, American values and all Western civilization. He was one of the few people not surprised by the antisemitic reactions of many progressives here in the U.S. to the Hamas attacks. It was a predictable reaction that was part of a long history of antisemitic and anti-American incidents born of a flawed Marxist worldview that separates people into oppressed and oppressor. That’s why he feels that making true impact in the fight against them is critical.

In order to do this, Milstein’s strategy is to find nonprofits that are “willing to collaborate and share information” and “go on the offensive” in fighting antisemitism. He then uses “research, coordination and donations to empower, mobilize and incentivize” a network of organizations, getting them to work together rather than in competition. Milstein states that nonprofits often don’t want to work together despite having a shared mission. Each individual organization wants to demonstrate that they are the best in the field, most worthy of donors’ money, and thus there is fierce competition that stymies change-making. By reducing this competition and incentivizing collaboration, Milstein can harness the capabilities and drive of these organizations toward achieving shared goals.

Milstein takes this strategy a step further by applying it to his fellow donors and philanthropists. He helps to spearhead the Impact Forum, which hosts dinners in Los Angeles every three months at which philanthropists can come together and share impact-driven ideas. These dinners feature keynote speakers, such as Alan Dershowitz, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and firebrand journalist Douglas Murray, to attract philanthropists to “become part of the community.” Milstein uses the Impact Forum to collectively incentivize donors to support organizations that are doing important work, thus building synergy that leads to greater communication, collaboration and in the end, results.

By facilitating this kind of synergy on both the donor and recipient sides, Milstein ensures that donation money gets mobilized quickly and efficiently toward vital causes rather than sitting dormant. Milstein sees this more nimble approach as complementary to what the legacy institutions are already doing rather than instead of it. Well-established legacy institutions are easy for Jews to donate to, and they should continue to do so. The strategic venture philanthropy that Milstein practices takes a little more research and creativity, but it can be all the more impactful.

It’s up to individual donors to decide how they want their donation dollars to be used. However, it’s vital they understand that organizations apart from the legacy institutions can make donations go a long way, perhaps even more so. Nimble, grassroots philanthropy like Milstein’s is designed to ensure that Jewish giving helps Jews quickly and efficiently, and it’s something every Jew should consider investing in.

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