The financial sustainability and longevity of Jewish day schools and yeshivas heavily relies on the success of fundraising efforts. On average, approximately 9% of revenue for Jewish day schools and yeshivas is derived from the annual campaign. In the wake of the ongoing Hamas-Israel war, Jewish day schools and yeshivas have assumed the crucial responsibility of supporting faculty, students,and broader communities amidst various critical challenges such as security concerns, exposure to violence on social media, antisemitism, and trauma. The communities served by these schools have been significantly impacted by the repercussions of the ongoing war in Israel. Development professionals have had to strategize how and if they should continue with planned fundraising campaigns while meeting the existing and increased financial objectives (including fundraising and volunteer campaigns to support Israel) of their respective institutions.
In response to questions from development professionals about how school fundraising plans will be impacted by the war, Prizmah fielded a survey to understand how fundraising strategy is shifting throughout the current landscape in Jewish day schools and yeshivas.