Design & Impact: Ziering

Center for

Designed philanthropy

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Design & impact profile

The Ziering Family

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Thanks to one family’s fresh approach to philanthropy, there’s cleaner air and water in our environment.

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Design

When Marilyn Ziering and her late husband, Sigi, established a fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles in 1995, their aim was to create a new family tradition of philanthropy.

Design:

Marilyn and Sigi aspired to engage their four now -adult children—Michael, Rosanne, Ira and Amy—in the design and implementation of effective grant-making to impact issues close to their hearts.

Over the years, the professionals at The Foundation’s Center for Designed Philanthropy, drawing upon their expertise in intergenerational philanthropy, have served as a thread that helps to bind the family’s philanthropic ambitions together.

Staff works closely with the members of the Ziering family to provide relevant involvement opportunities and help them fulfill their philanthropic goals.

Members of the Ziering family strategizing with the Center for Designed Philanthropy’s Amelia Xann.

The family’s grantmaking, supported by Center professionals, focuses on a variety of issues in Los Angeles and Israel, including brain cancer research and treatment; arts and culture; health and environmental protection; Holocaust education; and Jewish organizations, synagogues and schools.

impact: When Marilyn and Sigi established a fund with The Foundation, their children were truly inspired by their parents’ commitment to philanthropy. Now, it seems that Marilyn is the motivated one, as she has become a champion for one of her children’s favorite causes: protecting the environment.

The entire Ziering family is now strongly committed to improving the environment. In 2011, stimulated

by Robert Kennedy, Jr., senior attorney for Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Zierings hosted a Center event with Kennedy as the keynote speaker.

impact

Moved by the enthusiastic response to Kennedy’s remarks, the Zierings issued a challenge grant of $250,000, resulting in $525,000 for NRDC, to support its work in human health, environmental justice, sustainable communities and ocean protection. Through this gift, the family hopes to motivate new donors to support NRDC in its vital role as a global leader in environmental protection.

NRDC is just one of many diverse organizations that have been supported by the family. While the Zierings’ grants are varied, their process of grantmaking is always guided by the same principle: leveraging resources to create the deepest, most meaningful and lasting impact. This philosophy is evident in much of what they do, from their challenge grant, made in part to encourage new donors for NRDC, to their fund at The Foundation, created to inspire their children and future generations of their family to engage in philanthropy. The Zierings’ philosophy is most apparent in their partnership with the Center for Designed Philanthropy staff, who customize grantmaking strategies for the Zierings to ensure their philanthropic efforts achieve maximum impact.

The Zierings’ extensive portfolio of grants, as well as their approach to grantmaking, illustrate how one family can exponentially increase their impact and positively affect issue areas they most care about.

(L-R) Ira, Rosanne, Amy and Michael Ziering with their mother, Marilyn.

Effective philanthropy doesn’t just happen...

It’s designed.

The Center for Designed Philanthropy helps donors: • Shape meaningful, personalized philanthropic strategies • Build consensus among family members • Develop creative solutions to magnify the impact of their giving Start designing your philanthropy today for maximum impact and fulfillment through the Jewish Community Foundation’s Center for Designed Philanthropy.

Center for

Designed philanthropy (323) 761-8705 • www.jewishfoundationla.org/center

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