July 13, 2008
Up 4% from last year’s distributions It’s been a record-breaking allocations year for Jewish Federation of St. Louis, the 60,000 member Jewish community’s central fundraising, planning and community building agency. The organization distributed $10.6 million in 2008-2009 allocations to local, national and international social and human service agencies, programs and services.
This allocation is 4% higher than the 2007 allocations of $10.2 million and reflects Federation’s continued annual community campaign and endowment growth. The 2007 community fundraising campaign set a new St. Louis community record, raising $11.04 million. “With more funds to distribute we enable Federation agencies to continue to offer our community the highest-quality services,” said Robert Millstone, Federation vice president of Planning & Allocations.
Over the next year, Federation will distribute another $100,000 to agencies, individuals and congregations for such programs as interest-free loans, cash assistance and children’s daycare scholarships. This is income generated from trusts and endowments.
The majority of allocations (more than 70%) provides ongoing, core support to 48 local, national and international agencies, programs and services. The balance is targeted to specific programs that support Jewish Federation’s three major priorities:
- Integrated senior services, such as the Jewish Community Center’s and Crown Center’s Social Nutrition Program where 200 hot kosher meals are served daily to seniors;
- Jewish identity and engagement, such as eight family education programs offered in seven St. Louis congregations that will engage hundreds of parents, children and teens and support Israeli youth travel such as Taglit Birthright Israel. Since 1999, 1,257 young adults in St. Louis participated in Birthright trips;
- Global Jewish unity (includes Focus Israel), which is designed to integrate Israel in St. Louis’ community’s programming and services. Four St. Louis congregations are participating which represents about 10,000 people or 1/6th of the region’s Jewish population.
The current Jewish Federation allocations process went into effect three years ago to review local agencies and distribute funds in three-year cycles. This is the final year of that first cycle. The Jewish Community Center, Jewish Community Relations Council and five day schools (Block Yeshiva, Epstein Hebrew Academy, Reform Jewish Academy, Solomon Schechter and Torah Prep) were reviewed this year and received funding ranging from no change to a 7.7% increase over three years. The allocations process this year involved the input and hard work of a cross section of 60 local lay leaders from stay-at-home Moms to corporate leaders, Millstone said.
To determine local distributions, each agency submitted information. A Local Agency Standards and Capacity Building Subcommittee, chaired by Mark Levin, examined the agency’s management and financial standards. A Local Core Allocations Subcommittee, chaired by Jayne Langsam, reviewed the agencies to determine the degree to which they are obtaining efficient and effective outcomes to meet Federation’s vision of an inspiring, caring and united Jewish community, explained Millstone.
Federation funds are distributed locally two ways. Some $4.65 million was earmarked as annual unrestricted allocations that provide ongoing, core support to our agencies. “Overall, funding levels change, reflecting evolving priorities and varied levels of performance. For some agencies, Federation dollars represent a majority of their annual budget. For others, it’s a smaller portion,” Millstone said.
More than $769,000 was distributed as “targeted funding” to specific programs and an additional $466,000 will be available to Federation’s three new commissions: Senior Services Integration, Jewish Identity and Engagement and Jewish Unity and Peoplehood.
Sheila Greenbaum, Jewish Federation president, explained that “Federation’s two-track allocations system will enable Federation to support a broad network of services while increasing focus on several of its highest priority needs.”
Overseas funding follows a similar model. The Israel and Overseas Allocations Subcommittee, chaired by Patricia Croughan, recommended $3.4 million for the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).
Another $481,000 will be used for discretionary overseas funding. Of that amount, $352,000 will go to St. Louis’ Partnership 2000 sister-city region in Yokneam-Megiddo, Israel, to support families and their at-risk children. “This reflects our commitment to supporting programs that best address the challenges in our sister-city region and foster people-to-people connections through a number of programs,” said Millstone.
In addition, funds have been earmarked for JDC and JAFI for services for seniors in Yokneam-Megiddo and for summer camps in the Former Soviet Union (FSU), to meet the ongoing needs of elderly Jews in the FSU and for the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, all part of Federation’s mission of global Jewish unity and peoplehood.
Federation’s $216,000 national allocation goes to a variety of agencies such as the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Community Centers Association and more. This year, for the first time, funds were earmarked for the Secure Community Network, which coordinates the American Jewish community’s response to heightened security concerns.
The allocations were approved by the Federation Planning & Allocations Committee and then by the entire Jewish Federation Board.
Jewish Federation of St. Louis, established in 1901, is one of the area’s oldest and largest philanthropic organizations.