On March 1, ADL’s Pacific Southwest Region hosted a donor appreciation dinner at the home of Nicole and Allan Mutchnik. About 60 of the region’s major donors (of at least $10,000) attended the event. Guests were treated to a cocktail reception and intimate dinner featuring a fusion of flamenco, jazz, blues and classical music by Grammy-nominated, Mexican American guitarist Luis Villegas. During dinner, ADL’s Regional Board Chair Ivy Kagan Bierman and Vice Chair Steven Nichols thanked ADL’s cadre of devoted lay leaders for their tremendous support.
Regional Director Amanda Susskind gave an update about the recent wave of threats against JCC’s and day schools and ADL’s outreach to affected Jewish institutions. She also discussed the uptick in interest in and support for ADL since the November presidential election.
Both Susskind and Nichols shared interesting statistics about how important major donors are to ADL’s annual campaign. In 2016, 120 major donors raised $3.23 million of the $4.8 million raised. Put another way, 2.3 percent of the region’s donor base contributed over two thirds of the total amount raised.