Dear Friends,

        We are pleased to report to you the success of the 2002 Seattle Jewish Film Festival and outline our plans for the 8^th SJFF that will occur in the spring of 2003.  We are proud to say that the film festival achieved all of its goals - financial and artistic - in a year when the need to understand and heal was urgently important.

         One way to judge the quality of a community is through its arts and literature.  We presented XXX films over 8 days in three theme areas:  Binds That Tie, Homeland Insecurity, The Future of Memory.  Forums became powerful exchanges of information and opinions; students and seniors gained perspective about each other's generation; we had outright blockbuster opening and closing night crowds.

         In fact, the SJFF audience increased by 20% and revenue went up by 13%.   

        Given how rapidly world events occur and how deeply the Jewish community is affected, we are giving ourselves a head start in seeking the funding we need to produce the 2003 film festival.

We ask you to become an early lead donor for the 8^th Annual Seattle Jewish Film Festival.  Our invitation goes to 25,000 homes in the Greater Seattle Area.  As you know, your generosity will be conveyed to the community in many ways before, during and following the film festival.

     It's clear from the formal and informal evaluations we did that people came together in greater numbers and used activities of the film festival to begin to come to terms with our changed world as well as to explore Jewish heritage and experiences around the world.  It was also a week of tremendously enjoyable social events.  Our tradition of excellence and social responsibility is ours to improve upon.

     As a program of the American Jewish Committee, SJFF is more than just a great line-up of films.  With intent and purpose, we infuse our festival with programs, education, and events that enrich the community and serve the AJC's human rights agenda.  We annually partner with local senior service agencies, including the Kline Galland Home and Jewish Family Services, and host over 400 seniors for a free matinee.  We also provide hundreds of free tickets to community agencies that serve the less fortunate.  Each strategy of the film festival serves to increase our community's access to the Jewish experience and to explore universal human themes.  The SJFF is the largest annual Jewish community event in the Northwest. 

        Through the support of our donors we are able to include aspects of the film festival that have become synonymous with what the AJC stands for.  Ticket revenue accounts for only 30% of the total costs to produce this festival.  Our generous donors make the rest of it possible for the community.  We think of you as our honor guard.

        There are notable differences in fundraising results in this economy.  Corporate giving rose in 2001 but by a very small amount - 2.6%.  Practically negligible.  Foundation giving was ahead of that but not by much - 5.4%.  It will probably take three years of a strong stock market to recoup.  As usual, individuals accounted for the majority of the $212 billion given nationally - about $1 billion of that in response to 9/11. 

        There is a ladder of fundraising, which people often climb without knowing they are taking important steps to support their own community.  It's a logical process in which we identify people we believe will be interested in our work and we inform them and involve them in the project - in this case, the Seattle Jewish Film Festival and the AJC.  We may invite them to participate perhaps as a volunteer, by seeing a film, chairing a panel or committee.  We seek to involve them in a deeper way when we recognize that the desire is there.  The goal is to gain a donor who will believe in the organization with enough confidence to invest in its work.       

        We deeply value the relationship we have with our donors on every step of the ladder.  Thank you for your past support; please consider taking the next step with us.        

Sincerely,

Molly Sedlik            Miriam Sevy, Holly Redell and Lisa Mandel         Carol Gown

Festival Director       SJFF 2003 Co-Chairs                                        AJC Seattle President

P.S.  Your gift makes the difference between excellence and mediocrity.  You are our honor guard.

Please contact Molly S. Hasson, Festival Director at 206-622-6315 or...

Click Here for a printable form to fill out and mail or fax in with your sponsorship contribution

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