by Rachel Eisen, Director of Annual Giving
I want to tell you an amazing story.
A donor—let’s call her Susan—who received our end-of-year appeal letter went on to our website in late December to make a donation. By accident, she donated twice.
When we saw this, we naturally suspected something was up. Most people don’t donate twice in one day to the same organization! So we called Susan to let her know that her credit card had been charged twice – did she want a refund? Amazingly, she said no. She saw this had happened, and told us she decided to let both donations go through, because “Mayyim Hayyim is such a special place.”
Susan is one of hundreds of donors who understand the amazing impact Mayyim Hayyim has: Mayyim Hayyim breaks down barriers. Mayyim Hayyim’s impact is that no matter who you are or what kind of Jew you are, you have equal access to the beautiful ritual of mikveh. Regardless of your denomination, race, ability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age, you are welcomed and proudly and proactively included into our Jewish space. You are able to ask questions, learn, and explore; you should be able to celebrate, heal, and mark big moments in your life.
But Susan also knows that her donation isn’t just about Mayyim Hayyim’s impact on her and her community. It’s about her impact on Mayyim Hayyim.
Mayyim Hayyim is a small organization. Every gift matters. By doubling what, to Susan, probably seemed liked small gift (just $50 for a total of $100), she made enormous waves for Mayyim Hayyim.
Hundreds of Mayyim Hayyim’s donors—60% in fact—make gifts of less than $250. These gifts add up: to nearly $30,000 in 2016. In 2017, we need to raise nearly $50,000 from donors who give gifts of this size.
Why the increase at this level? Because as great as Mayyim Hayyim’s impact is, we know it could be even greater. And because we believe so strongly in pluralism, in belonging to the whole community, we also want our financial support to come from the whole community.
Susan is an inspiration to me. If she inspires you, too, to make an incredible impact to support the values of pluralism and petichut—openness and accessibility—then I would ask you to join Susan and hundreds of others like you and her, and make your 2017 gift to Mayyim Hayyim today.
Rachel Eisen is Mayyim Hayyim’s Director of Annual Giving. She loves the culture of philanthropic giving that has sprung up in the past few months—and asks you to consider supporting a small organization—like Mayyim Hayyim!—that does the hard work of fighting locally for inclusion and equality from the ground up.