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Friday April 23, 1999

American Friends of Hebrew U. closing S.F. office

JOSHUA SCHUSTER
Bulletin Staff

Despite generating a steady rise in annual donations that peaked at nearly $3 million last year, American Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is closing its local branch office of 22 years to save money and administrative time.

Daphna Noily, who has logged 14 years of service and said she raised over $20 million for the university, will leave her position as regional director when the San Francisco office closes April 30. AFHU offered Noily another job but she declined.

The organization, which functions as the American fund-raising arm for the Jerusalem-based university, will continue to reach out to local donors, said Adam Kahan, AFHU's executive vice president.

Stanley Bresh, a Marin resident, started last week in the new position of regional development director. Working from home, he'll focus solely on raising money in the Bay Area and the Northwest coast.

AFHU will also endeavor to continue -- but give lesser priority -- to its university-sponsored community programs and guest speakers. The organization will be farming out the planning of those events to a Los Angeles office, Kahan said.

While Kahan maintains that Bay Area residents won't notice the shift at all, Roy Calder, Noily's predecessor as regional director, said the move "is a terrible idea" and "an insult to Bay Area donors."

Calder, who first opened the San Francisco office and served for 11 years as regional director, said the local branch was created in 1977 because the Los Angeles office could not meet the needs of the region.

"I don't think you can raise funds in a community unless you are close to that community," Calder said. "I still support the university, but what the American Friends are doing is a very poor decision."

AFHU will close several offices throughout the nation as the organization simultaneously tries to reach its goal of raising $350 million nationally in a five-year campaign.

"Rather than having an office based in every city that we have donors, we think the new way to do business in the country is to have a central administration office," said Kahan. "Our intention is only positive and we hope to have a greater inreach into the community."

By freeing the organization's Bay Area representative from running an office, the local point person can spend more time campaigning in the community, Kahan said.

The Bay Area will still see a wealth of visitors and special dinners, said Michael Halpern, senior development director in the Los Angeles office.

"Events get the attention of the community, and we have to keep our name out in the community if we want to attract new people."

Although the local AFHU office has seen annual donations more than double in the last four years, Halpern says those numbers are misleading in estimating future gifts.

He predicts much difficulty in unearthing new major donors to keep the contribution tide rising in the coming years, hence "the need for change."

With much of her Market Street office now in boxes, Noily said she's "not angry but rather delighted to now have the opportunity to explore new things."

While she's mingled with luminaries from Yitzhak Rabin to rock concert promoter Bill Graham, who were guest speakers during her tenure at AFHU, Noily said that most of all, she'll miss those she's worked with over the years.

"We built a vibrant and knowledgeable organization that really established the university's reputation here," she said.

Now that she has a chance to go on hiatus from office life, Noily plans to spend the summer in Israel working on an archaeological dig. On her return to the States, she'll look for a new job.

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