Now in its thirteenth year, Birthright is coming of age
Now in its thirteenth year, Taglit-Birthright Israel is coming of age. A non-profit organization that provides free trips to Israel for Jewish college students and young adults, Birthright is the brainchild of philanthropists Charles Bronfman and Michael Steinhardt, who saw a need in their community and rose to meet it in a unique way. Putting up $8 million apiece to start, they then recruited 15 other partners to contribute $5 million each and solicited $70 million in matching funds from the state of Israel. Today, the program has a broad base of support, with more than 30,000 sponsors who make it possible for about 50,000 souls to travel to the Jewish homeland each year. To date, Birthright has brought 350,000 young Jews to Israel, most of them for the first time. This summer, I was one of them.
http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/topic/excellence_in_philanthropy/nonprofit_spotlight
