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A: JChoice.org – the website for the next generation of giving – is a non-profit organization that supports overlooked and meaningful Causes embodied in Jewish values. JChoice offers a social network for learning and consciousness raising that connects these important Causes with the next generation of contributors.

A: JChoice’s mission is to empower the next generation of contributors to learn and experience the Mitzvah of Tzedakah and become more thoughtful in their relationship to society.

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A Cause worthy of our attention as a Jewish community is one whose mission embodies core Jewish values that may include, for example, saving a life, repairing the world, or protecting the earth .

A: One of the most exciting elements of JChoice is the opportunity for the JChoice community to learn and engage each other about Tzedakah. The JChoice website features music, videos, and wisdom relating to Tzedakah and our obligations to participate as a giving community.

A: Being that the Bar or Bat Mitzvah was intended to occur at the beginning of one’s Jewish journey into adulthood, we have chosen to focus most of our initial campaign efforts on this age group. If a person begins adulthood by performing Tzedakah (which “is as important as all the other commandments put together” -- Baba Batra 9a, Babylonian Talmud), then, presumably, that person will perform Tzedakah for the rest of his or her life.

A: The opportunity to expand the Bar or Bat Mitzvah experience in a vibrant and dynamic way within a larger global community of peers has not been possible until now.

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A: There are numerous laws and traditions relating to Tzedakah. The most basic Tzedakah law mandates that we are obligated to give. Although this is an obligation, there is a great spiritual value found in the process of “giving of ourselves” which interestingly makes us “a whole person.” For thousands of years, Jewish tradition has taught that we become better humans when we act outward, performing commandments and good deeds (Mitzvot) while treating all people with dignity.

A: JChoice is both an attractive, appealing website AND a social network that empowers this online generation to explore Jewish values in action and discover their own character growth and heightened consciousness. At JChoice, the individual makes his or her own Tzedakah choices; group consensus is not required.

A: Donations may be made via credit card, check, or money order.  You can also buy a JChoice Gift Card and give it as a gift for lifecycle events, and in honor or in memoriam. 

 

A: Every donation makes a difference. The minimum donation is $18.00. Larger donations (divisible by 18) are most welcome. In Jewish tradition, the number eighteen is symbolically special because it is the numeric equivalent of the letters that spell “Chai” (Life).

The message at JChoice is the same as the message of Tzedakah: It is not how much you give, but simply the fact that you give something.

A: JChoice accepts most major international credit cards:  VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

A: JChoice allocates 90 percent of your donation directly to the cause. As a public charitable organization, JChoice’s operations are transparent, reported as required by law on a regular basis. Our goal is to enable a greater thoughtfulness in society, which includes our own effectiveness. (For more details see "How is JChoice Funded?")

A: The parent of JChoice.org – Jewish Causes of Choice, Inc. – is a US 501(c)(3) organization, which means that 100 percent of every donation to JChoice is tax-deductible under the US tax code.

A: Once you become a member of JChoice, you can easily track the history of your donations online.

A: You will receive a tax deductable receipt by email for all transactions from Jewish Causes of Choice, Inc., the parent of JChoice.org.

A: Every JChoice cause will submit an annual report providing extensive financial reporting for the period covered, a narrative description of grant activities, and detailed information on program objectives and milestones consistent with the application the cause originally filed with JChoice. Additionally, visits from JChoice field officers will be scheduled with each grantee so that we may evaluate the use of the funds. 

A: All JChoice causes sign a grant agreement with JChoice to use JChoice-allocated funds only in the manner as declared on their Tzedakah application. Any cause that improperly uses funds will be required to repay JChoice any portion of the funds not used for the purposes identified in the Tzedakah application and the grant agreement, including any unexpended funds. All donors who contributed to that cause will be notified and money returned to JChoice will go back into the donor’s accounts for redistribution.

A: When the total balance pledged to a cause reaches $500.00 a check or electronic transfer will be made to that cause within the next calendar month. The cause receives exactly 90 percent of the allocated amount. (For more details, see "How is JChoice Funded?")

A: JChoice is a new model in giving and in Tzedakah.

A: Absolutely!  The vision of our founders is to create a JChoice endowment, the income of which will be used to pay any and all of our administrative expenses. We believe that by limiting our administrative costs and judiciously applying our future donations, we will be able to make their dream a reality.

A: There are many ways to help us advocate for Tikkum Olam without spending money.

Are you on Facebook? We started a jchoice.org fanclub. You could join with one click and invite your friends in a few minutes.  In this simple act of support, you will bring more attention to our new social network. Since we just launched, every positive word about us really helps.

Also, joining is free. You can open a profile and experiment. If you load in a d'var Torah, or make a video reflection, you can earn $18 each into your Tzedakah account to give away. If your entry is selected as a monthly winner, you can earn $180 to give away to Tzedakah!

Each cause has ways to get involved on their page as well. As you find the causes that you care about, you are welcome to contact them and reflect about it on your profile, too.

A: When you make a contribution on JChoice.org, your credit card information is collected and processed by our secure third-party credit card vendor First Data. No data is stored on JChoice.org servers.

A: JChoice.org enables you to establish a donor-advised fund at no cost and with no minimum contribution. When you make a contribution to your JChoice.org account, you are making a charitable donation to a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity. Consequently, you are entitled to receive the maximum tax deduction allowed by law. You no longer need to track receipts from multiple charities.  You receive your tax receipt from JChoice.org. We provide reports on all activity related to your fund that you can access online at your convenience. At this time, individual account balances do not accrue interest or receive dividends. JChoice.org does retain any interest earned on these balances to simplify bookkeeping and to help offset administrative and programmatic costs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the maximum tax deduction is received by the donor at the time of the gift, JChoice.org gains full control over the contribution, granting the donor advisory status. As such, JChoice.org is not legally bound to the donor, but make grants to other public charities upon the donor's recommendation.

JChoice.org cannot honor prior pledges that you have made to an organization. This is a personal obligation that you have entered into and cannot be honored through your JChoice.org account.

 You cannot receive anything of value in return for your donation.

A: There are well over a million charitable causes available online these days, a rather daunting figure when asked to make a “choice.” The mission of our JChoice Causes Department is to primarily help the most overlooked and underfunded causes acquire their necessary funds through JChoice.org, in order to continue their work of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world).  JChoice will also help “well known” causes if they are considered “meaningful” to the next generation of donors.

A: An overlooked cause may include one that is not well known or is relatively new to the non-profit world. It may have a small staff, limited budget and/or facilities, or be mainly staffed by volunteers.

A: At JChoice, there are very detailed and thoughtful evaluation criteria all causes must pass that look at their impact and effectiveness as well as  projects and programs offered. You may view a Cause application on the “Becoming a JChoice Cause” page from the About JChoice link.

A: There is no fee to be approved as a cause on JChoice.

A: Sometimes a larger organization (like a synagogue) is acting as an umbrella organization over a smaller program for which funding is being requested. They are providing the administrative support so that 100 percent of the donation goes to the program itself.

A: An organization’s budget usually consists of two parts: Program Expenses and Overhead Expenses. “Program Expenses” are those costs directly related to the running of the organization’s program. “Overhead Expenses” are those costs involved in running the organization itself including administration and fundraising.

A: Any charity, program, or organization may download and complete a Tzedakah grant application from our website at any time. We have rolling admissions and intend full capacity to be 10 causes for each of our 18 cause categories.

Once approved, the organization will be notified of their acceptance and profiled on our site. Over the next year, we will follow up on a regular basis with phone calls and visits to monitor the organization’s use of provided funding. We want to make sure the received funding is being used directly for the profiled program.

Every organization will be reviewed on an annual basis, plus additional reviews if they have reached their funding potential, or $18,000 cap. At these reviewing milestones, JChoice retains the right to continue the cause, ask the organization to switch to another program within its organization, or remove the cause to give another compelling Cause the opportunity to be profiled.

If you know of an organization that is seeking help, please contact us and we will be happy to consider their cause for JChoice inclusion.

A: Causes are required to regularly communicate about their program’s effectiveness as well as news and events from the cause. These actions will be taken only within the context of the JChoice website.  

Additionally, causes will only know the identity of donors by their JChoice screen name. Causes are not allowed to solicit the donor directly through mail and phone calls.

A: We understand that a parent could be concerned about privacy and security, as JChoice features the use of the Internet and social networking as a method of community building. However, we have found a way to alleviate that fear by utilizing a principle found in Jewish tradition, namely that giving anonymously is a higher level of giving.  As a result, each member of JChoice is encouraged to choose their own screen name, which should not be an identifiable real name.

A: In order to send and receive emails and messages within JChoice, each member must set up a JChoice account by entering and confirming their real identity. This data is kept in confidence by JChoice and will not be discoverable outside of our organization.

A: Should there be any abuse in the system or inappropriate correspondence or postings, we can be notified immediately and we will hold the individual accountable, up to and including termination of their account if they are found to have engaged in objectionable behavior.

A: The JChoice.org website is intended for people of all ages. We recognize the concerns of parents, however, and the importance of protecting the privacy of information we collect from minors under the age of 13 on our site. As a result, everyone under the age of 13 must provide permission from a parent or guardian to participate in the JChoice social network.

A: Although Causes are required to regularly communicate with donors and the JChoice community about their Cause, they are not allowed to solicit the donor directly through mail and phone calls.

A: A JCard is a customizable gift card that can be purchased in any multiple of $18.00. JCards are among the most convenient ways to honor any person or life cycle event. JCards can be redeemed for any JChoice Cause.

A: There is no fee to purchase a JChoice Gift Card.

A: No, but we will send out regular email reminders for donors to allocate their Tzedakah funds if they leave a balance for a length of time.

A: Jewish tradition has a long history of taking oaths and pledges very seriously. Once donations have been allocated to a Cause, they are not easily retracted. We do have a customer service department, however, and donors and Causes are encouraged to discuss any issues with us. All efforts will be made to make a speedy resolution in any cases of misunderstandings.

A: As a policy, one of our customer service representatives will get back to the person within 48 hours.

A: Anyone can donate money through JChoice.org.  Those under the age of 13 must have parental consent.

A: A Donor Group is a community of donors who support a favorite cause. By establishing a Donor Group, one person can multiply the power of his or her donation and increase the impact by having friends and family join in supporting a JChoice cause.

A: Membership means an individual has given a donation of a multiple of $18.00 to a cause through JChoice, and thus created an account on our website, JChoice.org.  A person must be registered as a member to direct funds to a cause and use the social networking tools on the site.

A: Please be advised that JChoice.org is not responsible for any decisions made, or actions taken,  by Donor Groups, including but not limited to, allocation of funds, member requests, and favorite Causes.

A: Nudity and other sexual content is not allowed anywhere on JChoice, for any reason.  Posting photos or videos with nudity or sexual content will get your account immediately suspended or banned.  If you are unsure whether your picture or video is inappropriate, don’t post it.

A: We respect your right to speak your ideas freely.  However, we draw the line when it comes to harassment and hate speech.  Your comments are not okay if they are meant to harm someone else personally, or if they promote hatred against a people because of their race, religion, or gender.

A: JChoice is meant to be a friendly environment for all ages and types of people.  Don’t post photos, videos, or comments with violent or disgusting content that may offend others, and don’t use swear words in your posts.

A: Posting multiple identical or meaningless comments clutters up our pages and makes JChoice less enjoyable for the rest of the community.  Please help keep JChoice clean by posting content that is meaningful and to the point.

A: Don’t post photos or videos on JChoice unless you created them or you have permission from the creator.  If you are referencing someone’s statement in a comment, be sure to use quotation marks and cite who made the statement.

A: JChoice reserves the right to remove any posts we deem inappropriate without advanced notice. This includes photos, videos, and comments. We also will not hesitate to suspend or ban accounts permanently if the offence is great enough. If your content has been removed and you are not sure why, feel free to email us at info@jchoice.org.