Leaders from Temple Beth Shalom attend the Legacy PREP series. Credit: Andrew Holmes

By Jennifer Kohn Koppel

The Shalom Austin Jewish Foundation is proud to celebrate the success of Legacy PREP, a capacity-building series designed to strengthen local organizations with endowment and investment funds at the Foundation. Five institutions participated: Congregation Agudas Achim, Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Tiferet Israel, Hebrew Free Loan of Austin, and Temple Beth Shalom.

Over the course of the program, participating organizations gained critical tools and strategies to build and enhance sustainable legacy giving programs — ensuring their missions can thrive for generations to come.

Legacy PREP focused on empowering professional and lay leadership alike. Through a series of interactive sessions co-designed by Jennifer Koppel, Shalom Austin Jewish Foundation director & philanthropic advisor and Christina Gorczynski, founder of Evergreen Impact Advisors, participants explored how to position their organizations for long-term sustainability by identifying legacy prospects and integrating planned giving into broader donor conversations. Debbie Cohen, operations director of Hebrew Free Loan of Austin was “grateful for the opportunity to assess our organization’s internal readiness and develop the essential support materials to launch legacy work in a way that is thoughtful and professional.”

Led by seasoned philanthropy professionals, the sessions featured real-life success stories from both individuals and organizations, sparking inspiration and practical takeaways for participants. In reflecting on the program, Mitch Levinson, the director of philanthropy at Temple Beth Shalom commented, “We are excited to be planting seeds and educating the whole community about the diverse ways legacy gifts can be made for our collective future.”

A unique highlight of the series was the opportunity for organizations to meet between sessions during dedicated office hours. These one-on-one consultations allowed teams to address specific organizational dynamics, refine their strategies, and apply learnings in real time.

Ms. Gorczynski noted that, “The magic of this program is that we are growing legacy giving as a community – we may be at different places in developing our programs, but that all of us are striving to ensure a thriving future for Jewish life in Austin is awesome.”

Beyond the content, Legacy PREP created a valuable space for professional staff and lay leaders to learn and collaborate. Jennifer Failla, current co-chair of the capital campaign at Congregation Beth Israel and Shalom Austin philanthropy leader found that, “The program fostered meaningful dialogue, strengthened partnerships, and deepened the community’s commitment to long-term planning and sustainability. It was well worth the time.”

As a result of the series, participating organizations are now better equipped to steward their most loyal supporters, build stronger legacy pipelines, and ensure their missions continue well into the future. The Shalom Austin Jewish Foundation extends its gratitude to all who participated in this inaugural program and looks forward to seeing the lasting impact these organizations will make through legacy giving.

To learn more about legacy giving or future capacity-building initiatives, contact [email protected].