Danielle Franks who launched "myisrael"

7 p.m. You’ve just maneuvered yourself home through the traffic, thrown dinner into a pot, stuffed the dirty clothes that were in the kitchen into the washing machine, kissed the kids, checked the emails, chopped up a salad, poured the wine … and finally you sit down and slice your steak. And then the phone rings.

‘Geveret Cohen/Smith/Van de Merwe?’ says a too-friendly voice, one that you don’t recognize. ‘How are you?’

Your steak goes cold and glutinous as you tell the poor student in the call center that, no, you really, really don’t want timesharing in Cyprus, or a free facial, or even the newfangled Plasma TV that you have miraculously won (on condition you sit through ten hours of lectures). You have been known to slam the phone down when it rings again, no apologies offered.

But what if the caller is asking for money? To feed the hungry, to heal the sick, to house the homeless? Discussions rage about the rights or wrongs of giving charity on the phone; a whopping percentage of your money is lopped off to pay overheads and salaries and staff. The argument goes that without the trappings there would be no money raised. But the genetically tightfisted have a tailor-made excuse not to be generous; they declare they will not give hard earned cash to causes that only see a little bit of it. But now there is no excuse; direct those donors to www.myisraelcharity.org and they can rest assured – every shekel given goes directly to their project.

Money given in pounds sterling, paid in England, is even more astonishing – for every personal donation, the UK government adds on another 28% Gift Aid. You set aside £100 and the charity of your choice receives 128. How cool is that?

The website is the brainchild of walking dynamo Danielle Franks, a young British immigrant who launched “myisrael” in March 2008. The aim is to bring grassroots projects with insufficient funds in Israel (and not registered in the UK), to the attention of British donors. Visitors to the website encounter categories: Children, the Elderly, Disabled, Ethiopian, Women – Rape Crisis, Health, Poverty, Education, etc. Click on the category that is close to your heart and a world of wonders appears on your screen – projects to make life easier for children whose lives have been impacted by cancer in their homes, adolescent drug addicts who are helped to rebuild themselves, dental care for struggling Ethiopian families, trained dogs who nuzzle up and provide love to Holocaust survivors. Birthday Angels is there – an organization that helps hundreds of children who have never had a party to celebrate a birthday bash that makes them feel special. Girlfriends IDF provides grief counseling and support for girls who have lost boyfriends or fiancés in the army. Gan Hayeled is a warm solution for 200 children who have no-one at home when they get back from school. MTova has a mobile computer unit as well as fixed centers giving computer access to kids who would otherwise not be able to surf the net. Click encourages the elderly to stay active and alert by creating handicrafts that are later sold.

The beauty of this website is that it enables you to donate even the smallest amount directly to a fund, and be sure that you are making a difference:

￡108 buys one child 4 dental treatments at a clinic.

￡100 feeds 20 youths at Beit Eli hostel in Neve Tsedek, a last-resort hostel for homeless kids.

￡33 provides a rape victim with a therapy session.

Donors can donate anything – ￡5 in lieu of flowers for a host who has invited you to dinner in London or Manchester will buy two hungry residents of Beit She’an a hot meal on Shabbat. And there’ll be a little bit of change towards the third meal.

The statistics, of course, are just statistics. And then there are the stories. Hama, an organization of Animal Assisted Therapy, encountered two brothers who were hysterically afraid of water. Gradually and gently they were encouraged to wash the ‘doggie psychologists’ and bit by bit the reason for their trauma emerged. These little boys had once witnessed their father trying to drown their mother.

Danielle Franks goes around the country hearing these stories. “It is a humbling experience,” she says. “But as depressing as all the deprivation is, so is it amazing to meet all the incredible people in Israel who are making a difference. And now people all over the world can make a difference too – our website is geared to accept donations of any kind; from the smallest to the largest.”

Franks, who has a psychology degree and experience in marketing from England, visits and vets projects throughout Israel. She favors ideas that aim to break cycles, and promotes them on her website. “Hungry people need to eat,” she concedes, “and we’ll feed them; but we prefer helping them to earn their own food.” Olim Beyachad, for example, takes sixty high achieving Ethiopian students and teaches them to write CV’s, prepares them for interviews, brushes up their English, and provides mentoring when they find work. As 85% of Ethiopian university graduates are currently unemployed, according to Franks, this is a worthwhile project indeed.

Since the website was launched in March 2008, it has raised more than half a million dollars. As Franks’ overheads are covered by a few benefactors who support her cause, every single dollar/pound/yen donated through the site goes directly to the charity. So spread the word – a simple click can save you running to buy a bottle of wine for your host. Instead of yet another bouquet of roses for a special anniversary – tell your friends that you have put it towards buying a minibus to transport kids to a nursery school instead.

For more ideas on how to make your money perform miracles, go to www.myisraelcharity.org today.

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