Holly Weiss and Michelle Glazer have common goals for Women's Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County.

Weiss, the 2007-08 campaign chair, and Glazer, the cochair, are committed to increases: They want to increase the total amount of Women's Philanthropy donations as well as the number of donors.

Weiss and Glazer and other philanthropy cabinet members are working in conjunction with Stephanie Ackerman of Marlboro and Joseph Hollander and Sheri Tarrab, both of Holmdel, the federation's 2007-08 general campaign cochairs.

"Fund-raising is always a challenge, regardless of how worthy the cause may be," said Weiss, who lives in Freehold with her husband, Len, and the couple's four children, ages four to 13 (their son will become a bar mitzva on Oct. 6 at Temple Beth Shalom in Manalapan). "But I think we can determine an approach that will illustrate the importance of the federation's work and why it deserves the generosity of its donors."

Weiss and Glazer said they hope to spread the message of the 20-member Women's Philanthropy cabinet, which meets several times throughout the year.

The federation supports an array of projects, including ongoing and emergency aid to Israel and the provision of food, medical attention, and other social services to members of the Jewish community in the county and abroad.

"The necessity for donations is as critical as ever," said Weiss. "The needs for certain types of services may change, but the needs themselves never really disappear — it's the scope and focus that change."

Weiss has been involved with the Monmouth federation efforts for the past seven years. Among other activities, she has served on the overseas allocation committee and as a Super Sunday volunteer, and she participated in federation missions to Ethiopia and Israel in 2000 and 2007.

She has followed the philanthropic examples that were a basic part of her life as a child and young adult in East Brunswick. Her parents were active in the Middlesex County federation, and her mother was a longtime member of National Council of Jewish Women.

"I think I learned about Jewish philanthropy through osmosis, and I hope my children learn about it from me in the same way," she said. "My parents taught me to feel a sense of obligation to the Jewish community, and I know that I'm very fortunate to have the means, opportunity, and ability to give my time and financial resources to Women's Philanthropy."

Glazer, who lives in Marlboro with her husband, Jeffrey, and the couple's two children, ages nine and four, grew up in Ocean Township. The family attends Congregation Ohev Shalom-Marlboro Jewish Center.

She also learned about the importance of philanthropy from her parents, both of whom were Holocaust survivors, and the concept has been a driving force in her life.

"My father survived the war in Budapest, and my mother survived the Nazi horrors in Vienna," Glazer said. "They taught me how fortunate I was to live in a country in which the Jewish population cares about its own."

She observed the many ways in which her parents supported their synagogue and Jewish causes in America and accompanied her father on several trips to Budapest, where she saw the cellar in which he hid from the Gestapo and the marketplace where he narrowly escaped capture and certain death.

"My desire to help and support the Jewish community is a result of the persecution my parents endured," Glazer said.

She became engaged in federation activities in 1998. She chaired the Young Women's Division for three years and was the chair of the Women's Philanthropy Main Event in 2005 and 2006.

"I'm trying to set an example for my children," said Glazer. "If I give of myself, if I follow through with my commitments, they'll understand the importance of my activities. I really think they have already begun to understand this concept — the process has definitely begun."

And she's discovered that women are particularly adept at fund-raising.

"I think the enormous reserves of strength that women possess are often channeled into charitable causes," Glazer said. "It combines with a need to take care of things and to make things better. It's a striking example of tikun olam."