The Wall Street Journal

Over 700 young philanthropists gathered at Capitale on Thursday evening for the UJA-Federation of New York's annual "Generosity" event.

UJA-Federation's Generosity division, chaired by Peter Stern and Aaron Zises, is New York's society for "socially conscious young leaders in their 20s and 30s," according to a representative for the organization. (UJA-Federation is a central force for philanthropy in the New York Jewish community.)

Many of the young philanthropists who turned up were Jewish singles, who spent part of the evening networking and dining on a seemingly endless bounty of sushi.

Mark D. Medin, senior vice president of the UJA-Federation of New York, said he has become a mentor to young philanthropists.

"My basic advice to them is to be entrepreneurial, be creative, and take risks," he said. "Understand what your community needs in order to engage them."

The UJA event planners engaged this particular audience with a video on where various young people "do it," referring to donating. Party-goers were given the chance to text donations to the UJA-Federation of New York, and their donations appeared on a big screen. (The event raised nearly $230,000, $85,000 of that from texts.)

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