And the Winners Are ...

AJWS pumped up the final tally on donations to $258,470 by enlisting a group of rabbinical students who had recently traveled to the field with AJWS to direct their constituents to donate online at the organization's website — an additional $8,474.

Despite concern that the campaign might be negatively affected by its single focus and the restricted nature of the gifts, it met its match and raised only 5 percent less than in 2008 — "a much more narrow spread than expected," Berkman says.