Appendix D:

SAMPLE FORMS
Temple Isaiah Seventh Grade Fund FAQs

What is it?

The Seventh Grade Fund is a charitable foundation run by the seventh grade class at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, California. Each member of the class agrees not to purchase gifts for his/her classmates when they become B'nai Mitzvah. Instead, each family pledges $200 into the Fund. (Financial participation in the project is voluntary, but all students are bound by the obligation not to give one another gifts.) In addition, the Seventh Grade Fund welcomes outside donations and pursues a modest fundraising campaign.

What's the history of the Seventh Grade Fund?

The Seventh Grade Fund was initiated by the seventh grade class of 1998-99. During its first year, the Fund awarded grants totaling $16,500 to five organizations that provide services to children in need, including: Bay Area Young Positives, Big Brothers / Big Sisters of the East Bay, Center for the Education of the Infant Deaf, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 1999-2000, the Fund awarded grants totaling $17,125 to four organizations that pursue medical research and treatment, including: American Heart Association, Diabetic Youth Foundation, San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium, and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. In 2000-2001, the Fund awarded grants totaling $22,200 to five organizations that protect animals and the environment, including: American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, Pets Unlimited, Valley Humane Society, and Voices for Pets. In 2001-2002, the Fund distributed $17,500 to four organizations that work for human rights, including Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities, International Justice Mission, Association for Encounter Projects, and Free the Slaves/Anti-Slavery International.

Who makes the decisions?

The Seventh Grade Fund Board of Trustees is comprised of all members of the seventh grade class (regardless of their families' financial participation in the program) and is advised by the seventh grade teachers and TAs and interested parents. All decisions of the Board are made by simple majority.

Where does the money go?

During its first meeting, the Seventh Grade Fund's Board of Trustees selects an issue upon which to focus its grant-giving activities. Each Board member takes responsibility for identifying several potential grant recipients to which Requests For Proposal and Applications will be sent.

What are the goals of the program?

1. To educate students in the exercise of philanthropy, to encourage the practice of educated philanthropic giving, and to emphasize the value of tzedakah as an integral part of Jewish life.
2. To provide a concrete alternative to the materialism that is a large part of the B'nai Mitzvah experience in contemporary America and to relieve some financial pressure on families by agreeing (voluntarily and collectively) that donations to the Seventh Grade Fund will replace customary gifts to B'nai Mitzvah.
3. To provide targeted financial gifts to advance the cause of one or more local community service organizations.
4. To foster a sense of responsibility and effectiveness within the seventh grade community by giving them the power to effect positive change in the real world.

How will these goals be accomplished?

1. A study unit on the history and practice of philanthropy and the mitzvah of tzedakah is an integral part of the curriculum. In addition, the students will prepare and distribute applications to potential grant recipients, review the submitted applications, and invite selected organizations to follow-up their applications with presentations before the Board.
2. The Fund will act as a vehicle for channeling financial resources away from consumption and toward social justice. It does not represent an additional expense, but instead, a redirection of family resources that would otherwise go toward the purchase of gifts.
3. Distribution of money from the Seventh Grade Fund will benefit one or more local community service organizations.
4. Every student in the class will have a role in raising money and deciding how that money will be distributed to organizations that foster positive change in our community.

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