The Ziv Tzedakah Fund was started by Danny Siegel in 1981. A recognized 501(c)(3), Ziv is an exciting and unusual non-profit organization that is dedicated to the collection and distribution of funds to various little-known Tzedakah projects (we define “Tzedakah” as pure, decent caring or, simply put, “just doing the right thing”.)

Based upon Jewish tradition, Ziv funds both Jewish and non-Jewish programs. Ziv is also devoted to bringing the educational message of Tzedakah to communities and to Jewish and secular schools throughout the United States, Canada and Israel. Since its inception, Ziv has raised and distributed more than $12,000,000.00, while operating with an overhead of less than 9%.

Ziv’s two paid employees - the Managing Director and a part-time agent in Israel - are positions underwritten by funds specifically given for their work.

What follows are the basic tenets of the organization:

• Our primary interest is seeking out Mitzvah heroes, individuals making things happen, who — with a minimum of operational procedures and bureaucracy as well as a record of exceptional fiscal responsibility — make these things happen in a most striking manner. We realize that some ways to do Tikun Olam-Repairing the World are complex to the extreme and beyond Ziv’s reach. We consider the other simple, direct solutions, be they on the small, medium, or grand scale, to be our forte.

• We are devoted to working with people who have a vision of what is right and good and just. They have no personal agenda other than to benefit others. We offer these Mitzvah heroes whatever funds we may have available, and the opportunity to tell their story to others. We hope that those who hear the stories will support the Mitzvah heroes directly. We know that more than 20,000 people read our reports and updates, and our friends, contributors, and readers, do, indeed, often get involved with our Mitzvah heroes directly.