The Jewish Future Promise, originally the Jewish Future Pledge, is a charitable campaign modeled after The Giving Pledge, to encourage American Jews to designate at least 50% of their charitable giving to Jewish- or Israel-related causes. Over 100,000 people have signed the pledge since its inception in May 2020.
History
Co-creators Michael Leven and Amy Holtz launched the pledge in May 2020, modeled after The Giving Pledge, to encourage American Jews to designate at least 50% of their charitable giving to Jewish- or Israel-related causes.1 According to Leven and Holtz, Americans will donate $68 trillion in wealth over the next generation, 20% of which will be given by Jewish donors. Its aim is for at least half of that 20%, or more than $600 billion, to go to Jewish causes,23 compared to the estimated 11% of donations that do now.4 The Pledge partnered with the Jewish Federations of North America, Jewish National Fund, and Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi5 to integrate the pledge into traditional vehicles of Jewish philanthropy.3 The Pledge partnered with Morgan Stanley to create a donor-advised fund.5
On February 8, 2024, the Pledge changed its named to the Jewish Future Promise.6
Jewish Youth Promise
In 2023, the Pledge launched the Jewish Youth Promise for people aged 13-24 to commit to being active members of the Jewish community.7 By March 2025, the Youth Promise had surpassed 30,000 signatures, including 10,000 associated with Jewish fraternity AEPi.8
Signatories
As of October 2023, more than 25,000 donors, including individuals, family foundations, and families, had pledged $2.4 billion as part of the pledge.4 By February 2024, there were almost 50,000 signatories.6 According to Leven, by October 2024, there were over 80,000 signatories.9 The number of pledges crossed 100,000 on April 8, 202510 and surpassed 122,000 by August 2025.11
Notable signers of the pledge include businessman Charles Bronfman, Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus, philanthropist Julie Platt,1 advocate Morton Klein,4 activist Noa Tishby,2 comedian Modi Rosenfeld, lawyer Alan Dershowitz,6 and actress Patricia Heaton.10
References
References
- Oster, Marcy (2020-05-14). "New Jewish giving pledge takes a page from Gates and Buffett initiative". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- "Noa Tishby Becomes The 11,000th Person To Sign The Jewish Future Pledge". Boulder Jewish News. 2022-12-19. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- Chernikoff, Helen (2021-02-02). "Donor-advised funds are the future of the Jewish Future Pledge". eJewishPhilanthropy. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- Cohen, Haley (2023-10-04). "Jewish Future Pledge gets 25,000th pledge, amounting to $2.4 billion to Jewish causes". eJewishPhilanthrophy. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- Rudee, Eliana (2020-10-12). "Jewish Future Pledge partners with Morgan Stanley, asking donors to plan ahead". Jewish News Syndicate. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- "The Jewish Future Pledge becomes The Jewish Future Promise". Jewish News Syndicate. 2024-02-08. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- Putney, Fran (2023-05-10). "Jewish Future Pledge Spawns Youth Pledge Initiative". Atlanta Jewish Times. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- "Jewish Youth Promise surpasses 10k AEPi, 30k total signatures". Jewish News Syndicate. 2025-03-28. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
- Leven, Michael (2024-10-31). "The power of promise: The Jewish community's response to uncertain times". Jewish News Syndicate. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
- "Actress Patricia Heaton is 100,000th signer of Jewish Future Promise". Jewish News Syndicate. 2025-04-08. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
- Torok, Ryan (2025-08-07). "Jewish Future Promise, Which Encourages Jewish Giving, Enjoys Record-Setting Month". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 5 September 2025.