Employing Strategy and Innovation to Support our Jewish Ecosystem and Build Connection to Jewish Life

The Federation’s Impact by the Numbers in 2016-2017

San Francisco, CA – The Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties (the Federation) has concluded a strong 2016-2017 year of impact (July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017), realized through meaningful collaboration with its partners – organizations, synagogues, donors, foundations, and community leaders – to sustain and build Jewish life and community in the Bay Area, Israel, and globally. During the new fiscal year (July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018), the Federation will continue to emphasize collaboration as it plans to invest $22.7 million in the Jewish community through a mixture of direct grants and programs, capacity building, and other forms of support.

“The role of the Federation is not simply raising funds and granting dollars,” said Danny Grossman, CEO of the Federation. “We connect people and solve Jewish communal challenges – locally, in Israel, and globally – by mobilizing the passion, wisdom, and resources of our partners and funders. Thanks to a truly communal effort, we are able to holistically support Jewish life in a profound way. Our goal is for every Jewish person in the Bay Area to feel a sense of connection and belonging to our dynamic and welcoming Jewish community.”

The Federation’s projected community financial investment of $22.7 million for the 2017-2018 fiscal year is divided into three primary areas of impact: Caring through Community, Inspiring Jewish Life and Learning, and Strengthening Israeli Society. These dollars support the community through strategic grants to outstanding organizations and through the Federation’s own programs, both of which provide direct services or address communal needs. This work is funded by $20.24 million in philanthropic resources raised during the 2016-2017 fiscal year, as well as other business revenue sources.

Highlights of the Federation’s impact during the 2016-2017 fiscal year:

Convening, researching, strategic planning, and community building – including:

  • Sharing the practice of Community Building among partners in order to increase the sense of belonging, interconnectivity, and impact.
  • Developing a Portrait of Bay Area Jewish Life & Communities to assess community needs, demographics, and key aspects of Bay Area Jewish life.
  • Assessing and addressing the security needs of the community through the Community Security Program, formerly managed by JCRC, and by raising and distributing funds to organizations most directly affected by the bomb threats earlier in the year.

Strategic grantmaking, programs, and initiatives – including:

  • Serving 10,000 Bay Area kids through Jewish early childhood education programs; supporting 400 teachers; distributing free PJ Library® books to more than 5,000 local children; and, providing intensive Jewish curricula and family engagement support at 15 schools.
  • Awarding 2,000 scholarships to kids, teens, and young adults, including: 523 scholarships for Jewish overnight camp, 170 One Happy Camper grants (for first-time campers), 638 scholarships for Jewish day schools, and, hundreds of individual scholarships for religious schools, preschools, day camps, and specialty camps.
  • Engaging 85 local teens in the Federation’s Jewish Teen Foundations – who personally raised and allocated $195,000 in grants to 18 different organizations.
  • Sending more than 500 teens and young adults to Israel through Birthright, Diller Teen Fellows, Israel with Reach, and other programs.
  • Engaging more than 3,500 Jewish young adults through service projects, professional development events, and other local Federation programming.
  • ​​​​​​​Engaging hundreds of college students on 12 campuses through the Campus Initiative on Israel Engagement, in partnership with Hillels and other Bay Area Federations.
  • ​​​​​​​Supporting 13,000 Bay Area seniors with financial assistance, vital care, kosher meals, transportation, and other services.
  • ​​​​​​​Helping 19,500 young Israelis from all backgrounds join volunteer and leadership programs, empowering them to promote social cohesion in their own communities.
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Ensuring that thousands of Jews in Eastern Europe and the FSU have a chance to be part of a vibrant Jewish community through our global work in partnership with JDC.

Capacity Building – including:

  • Launching an Affordability Pilot Initiative to identify and address affordability challenges to building a talent pipeline for Jewish organizations.
  • Undertaking a Jewish Media Design Process in partnership with J. The Jewish News to re-imagine Jewish media for the Bay Area for the 21st century.
  • ​​​​​​​Providing pro bono Real Estate Consulting to nonprofits on real estate development and transactions.
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Advising nonprofits on generating earned income through our Jenerator program.

Leadership Development – including:

  • Engagement and training for 400 lay leaders, 40 Fed Fellow participants (doubling the last three cohorts), and other programs, resulting in numerous placements on boards, committees, and professional positions in our community.

Personal Philanthropy:​​​​​​

  • In addition to direct grantmaking and programs, the Federation also stewarded and administered some $176 million in donor-directed grants to both Jewish and secular organizations through personal philanthropic vehicles under Federation management (during the 2016-2017 fiscal year), including:
    • ​​​​​​​$87 million in grants to 407 organizations, with 26 Supporting Foundations under management at the Federation.
    • $89 million in grants to 2,578 organizations, with 901 Donor Advised Funds under management at the Federation.
###
The Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund connects people of all ages, backgrounds, and perspectives to the power of the Jewish community to improve the world. We partner with donors, organizations, and foundations to address pressing issues facing our community, and develop innovative strategies that result in deep and lasting impact locally, in Israel, and around the world. Learn more at www.jewishfed.org.

For immediate release

August 10, 2017

Share