Friendship Circle

In March 2007, then-FS Associate Editor Abny Santicola interviewed Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive director of the West Bloomfield, Mich.-based Friendship Circle, to talk about that organization's fundraising success. In "I'm Not a Professional Fundraiser," the rabbi discussed how Friendship Circle focused on one-on-one relationships with donors to "take the ask out of fundraising."

Jan. 20, 2010, West Bloomfield Township, Mich., The Detroit News — Friendship Circle has only a few days to widen its Internet social network to grab a seven-figure gift that could boost services for special-needs children throughout Metro Detroit.

Awards2007 Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards by Margaret Battistelli, February H **2007 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence by Margaret Battistelli and Abny Santicola, September H **BrandingNet Gain: The Young and the Restless by Nick Allen, February GFundraiser Confidential: The Pursuit of Brand Happiness by Todd Baker, May GTag(line)! You’re It! by Richard Deveau, September…

The Friendship Circle helps families of children with special needs and individuals and families struggling with addiction, isolation and other issues by offering programs and activities that foster relationships between community volunteers — many of whom are teenagers — and clients, regardless of their religious affiliation.

Founded in 1994 by Lubavitch Foundation of Michigan, a branch of Chabad-Lubavitch, an institution dedicated to the welfare of the Jewish people worldwide, The Friendship Circle has inspired the development of almost 30 similar programs in the United States, Canada and Australia.