Profile makes sure that philanthropy
in Israel is effective and efficient.
Profile Investments Helps Donors Invest Their Tzedaka
Following an increase in the charitable activities in Israel, Profile Investment Services has recently hired Yoram Ohana as Manager, Special Services, of the Profile Family Office Division. The Family Office helps clientele with many of the tasks and responsibilities often associated with significant family wealth. This may include coordinating tax and legal advisors to structure a large business deal, coaching younger family members to handle the responsibilities of controlling the family’s fortune, facilitating lines of communication between the generations as they design the strategies for their legacies, or simply helping to structure a system for handling the intricacies of day-to-day personal cash-flow operations. Now, with additional demand surfacing for assistance in monitoring expanding philanthropic activities, the Family Office has added a new specialist to the team.
“Many donors view the money that they give to charity as an investment in that cause,” explains Ohana. “They want to know that, just like their investment advisors keep a close eye on their securities portfolios, someone is watching over the money that they’ve invested in a charity.”
With a background in business and sales, Ohana’s well-tuned skills in human relations allow him to liaise comfortably between donors and charities. “Some people think that you can pressure charities to perform by waving money in front of them,” he explains. “But that’s not the right way to get the job done. What you need to do is work with the charity; help them to develop a business plan for using your donation; work with them on hiring the appropriate staff and acquiring the right materials; and then follow through with them that they actually reach your objective.”
For those that don’t have time to get so intimately involved, the Profile Family Office represents the donors, which may include foundations as well as individuals, by overseeing their donation every step of the way, understanding their ideals as well as the limitations of the charity. “Money doesn’t solve problems,” says Douglas Goldstein, CFP, owner and director of Profile Investment Services. “People must solve them.” He explains, “Many serious baalei tzedaka (charity givers) are frustrated by making donations to large organizations that spend more on bureaucracy and management perks than they spend on the ultimate goal. We all understand that the people that work for these huge organizations deserve to be paid. But there’s a limit.”
As a financial planner, Goldstein has watched many of his high net-worth clients refocus their energies on smaller charities. “If you give a lower-budget program a gift of $100,000,” he continues, “ they won’t know how to handle it well. Sure they can spend it – but can they utilize those funds in the best possible manner?”
Since 1997, Profile Investments has helped investors with their international investment portfolios. The senior members of the Profile team include a certified financial planner, a former bank manager, and the founder and former head of the Citibank Private Banking office in Israel. Now, with the addition of Yoram Ohana, Profile is the premier financial and family office service provider in Israel.
For more information email Yoram Ohana,
or contact us.
Where Does All the Money Go?
Jerusalem, Israel, January 8th, 2006
Profile Family Office, a division of Profile Investment Services in Jerusalem,
has developed a dynamic new project making sure that charitable donations reach their intended targets.
In today’s high-tech society, where everything is computerized, recorded, logged and filed, donors are far more
interested than they were in the past in exactly where their money is going. Profile provides an expert service
benefiting donors and charities alike, ensuring that donations are used in the most efficient way for the exact
purposes for which they are given. At the same time, Profile helps the charities organize their resources to become
more cost-effective, improving the services they provide.
Although giving charity is an investment of the most worthy kind, most charitable organizations cannot run on idealism alone. There are still costs to cover, salaries to pay and resources to allocate. And unfortunately, corruption has also reared its ugly head even within the world of charity. Too many recent prominent corruption and mismanagement cases have made potential donors more wary than ever before. For this reason, most donors and philanthropists want detailed reports of where their money is going. It is not enough to say that the money will go to “help orphaned children.” Will it be spent on a school building, hot meals, or on remedial teaching for those with learning disabilities? How much of it will go on salaries or bureaucracy?
Knowing the details can make a tremendous difference. When Mrs. A. of New York heard that the former residents of the Gush Katif bloc still lack many of their basic needs, several months after being evacuated from their homes, she decided to do something about it. Her dream was to send every family a sum of money so that each one could get what it really needed. And she did not want any of this gift, which was dedicated to the memory of a close relative, to be swallowed up by a black hole of bureaucracy or salaries.
For this reason, Mrs. A. immediately contacted the Profile Family Office. Manager Yoram Ohana stepped into the picture at this point. He organized a list of the 300-400 former residents of Gush Katif families who are now living at the “caravilla” site in Nitzan in temporary accommodation under very basic conditions. A trust account was set up in Israel under Profile’s guidance, and Mr. Ohana himself, along with a driver, delivered an envelope of cash to each of 150 of the most needy families. Inside the envelope was also a card bearing a dedication to Mrs. A.’s departed relative and a form for each family to send back their details and any comments. Mrs. A. realized her dream of sending a donation that would go directly to the former residents of Gush Katif, and each family received some much-needed help.
This is only one example of the vital assistance that the Profile Family Office gives to charities and donors alike. Profile’s expert team of lawyers, accountants and financial advisers are constantly at the service of the donors and the charitable organizations, helping the donors to realize their dreams and the charities to run their finances in the most efficient manner. With such assistance, the charities, their donors and, most importantly, their beneficiaries, can only gain.
For more information email Yoram Ohana,
or contact us.
Articles of Interest
Patron and Wholesaler Link to Feed Katif Refugees
Profile Family Office - Emergency Charity Response
Ensuring Continued Quality Leadership
The Generation That Donated Without Questions is Gone
Accountability and Transparency in Israel's Non-Profit Sector
Returns on Philanthropic Investments
PFO's Charitable Assistance Service
A Model Family Office
Small Charity Helps Mrs. A Aid Gush Katif Evacuees
