JCF Announces the Debut of Clink!: Making Change by Giving, a Tzedakah (Charitable Giving) App for Teens

Celebrate Chanukah by devoting at least one night out of eight to giving back to those in need

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Dec 05, 2014, 08:45 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Jewish Communal Fund (JCF), the leading Jewish donor advised fund in the United States, has announced the debut of Clink!: Making Change by Giving, a new app to help teens and tweens discover their very own giving style. Clink! is the perfect app to download this Chanukah as part of an effort to encourage teens and tweens to focus one night out of eight on giving back to those in need.

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Available to download for free on iTunes, Clink! is an interactive app designed to help young adults determine which issue areas are most important to them when it comes to making a charitable contribution and volunteering their time.

Clink! presents teens with 27 topics ranging from poverty, hunger and bullying to Jewish education, women's rights and substance abuse. Users swipe the screen of their device until they are left with the top three categories of need that resonate most with them. Teens then shuffle a range of activities (such as organizing a food drive for a local food bank or participating in a walkathon to raise funds for juvenile diabetes) in each of their three target areas to reflect their own personalized giving style. Last but not least, young donors learn how closely they are aligned with the "Giving Ladder" – the eight levels of charitable giving recommended by the 12^th Century sage Maimonides. Upon completion, teens receive a fun badge they can share on social media platforms and via email, which showcases their preferred charitable giving style.

"Philanthropy and community activism may be something in which a family has been involved with for years," noted Susan F. Dickman, Executive Vice President and CEO of Jewish Communal Fund. "But in order for giving to be meaningful to the next generation, teens have to chart their own course and uncover what is important to them specifically as individuals. Clink! is a fun and exciting new way for the next generation to explore, identify and prioritize their values."

Clink!, which was produced in partnership with G-dcast, a new media production company dedicated to raising basic Jewish literacy, is the latest in a series of resources JCF has created to help its fund holders of all ages be strategic and thoughtful about their giving. JCF has hundreds of donors and family members under the age of 18, and the app is a 21^st Century way to engage teen fund holders in the meaning and joy inherent in playing an active role in charitable giving.

The app can also serve as a useful tool for parents, grandparents and educators to spark meaningful conversation with their children and grandchildren this holiday season around charitable giving priorities. To learn more about the Clink! giving app, please visit www.jcfny.org/clink.

Link to download Clink! on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=941230072&mt=8

About Jewish Communal Fund:
Jewish Communal Fund (JCF), the largest network of Jewish funders in the country, facilitates charitable giving for more than 6,000 fund holders through donor advised funds. JCF has been designated a "Top 50" Charity in the U.S. by the Chronicle of Philanthropy on its 2014 Philanthropy 400 list. Learn more about JCF's innovative philanthropic resources and how a JCF teen giving fund can help simplify charitable giving while maximizing impact by visiting www.jcfny.org. Visit JCF's Company Page on LinkedIn, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Tamar Snyder
646-843-6894; Email

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SOURCE Jewish Communal Fund