Jewish Communal Fund

MISSION:
The Jewish Communal Fund (JCF),http://www.jewishcommunalfund.org/,
was incorporated in 1972 as an independent, public charity
serving the philanthropic community of Greater New York.
Through “donor-advised funds”, the Jewish Communal
Fund offers individuals and families a way to simplify their
charitable giving and to plan their philanthropy over time.
We honor our commitment to donors by providing services
that make their charitable giving administratively efficient,
economically advantageous, and personally rewarding. In the
thirty odd years that the Jewish Communal Fund has been
facilitating the charitable giving of philanthropists, over $2 billion
has been contributed to thousands of worthy causes in
communities around the world. These funds have been used to
support activities ranging from medical research to child care to
wildlife conservation. Because charitable giving is at the core of
what we do, in addition to distributing funds to qualified charities
at the recommendation of our donors, each year the Jewish
Communal Fund makes a community gift from its fees and
endowment income to the Annual Campaign of UJA-Federation
and to causes that support the welfare and security of the Jewish
community at home and overseas.

Donor Advised Funds are funds owned and maintained by
public charities that receive contributions from a single
donor or from a group of donors. Donor advised funds are
offered primarily by charities like the Jewish federations,
financial companies like Fidelity Investments, community
foundations, and universities. Donors can donate cash, stock,
bonds or other assets to the funds. The donation is
irrevocable and the donor can claim an immediate federal
income tax deduction. The donor can then recommend how
much, when and to which charities money in the accounts
should be distributed. The donor advised fund then makes a
grant in thedonors name to the charity chosen by the donor. Thus,
donor advised funds allow individuals to act like a
foundation without the hassles of being a foundation and
without having Bill Gates type wealth.

FINANCIAL EFFICIENCY EVALUATION:
According to Charity Navigator (http://www.charitynavigator.org)/
America’s leading charity evaluator, the JCF has an overall rating of
four stars (four starts is the highest rating.) CharityNavigator
provides the following breakdownof the JCF based on 990 tax
returns through 2006:

Overall Rating ****

Organizational Efficiency:
Program Expenses 98.4%
Administrative Expenses 1.3%
Fundraising Expenses 0.2%
Fundraising Efficiency $0.00
(JCF spends $0.00 to raise $1.)
Efficiency Rating ****

Organizational Capacity:
Program Revenue Growth 12.1%
Program Expenses Growth 6.8%
Working Capital Ratio (years) 3.23
(JCF can sustain itself for 3.23years
without generating new revenue.)
Capacity Rating ****

Organizational Capacity refers to an organization’s
ability to sustain itself over time. Charities that
exhibit consistent revenue and expenses growth
are more likely to sustain its programs and services
over the long haul.

RECOMMENDATION:
Donor advised funds are the future of philanthropy for
Individuals and families with less than foundation level
wealth. The Jewish Communal Fund is a highly efficient,
non-profit, donor advised fund. with as little as $5,000,
an individual or family can set up a donor advised fund
with the Jewish Communal Fund. With as little as $1,800,
an individual can give a special gift to a child by setting up
a donor advised fund in the child’s name as a way of
introducing the child to the world of philanthropy. This
gift would make an excellent bar or bat-mitzvah present.
The telephone number for the JCF is 1-866-580-4523.


The Jewish Communal Fund has net assets of $723,170,966.
Compensation for its Executive Vice President, Susan Dickman,
was $221,461; this represents 0.09% of expenses. Compared
to other non-profits, this is a very small percentage of expenses.

Next week’s blog: Anti-Defamation League

UJA Federation New York

MISSION:
UJA-Federation of New York (http://www.ujafedny.org)
"cares for those in need, rescues those in harm's way,
and renews and strengthens the Jewish people in New York,
in Israel, and around the world. We reach out to the poor,
the elderly, and people in need, providing social and
humanitarian services in New York and around the world;
connect communities worldwide by aiding Jews in distress
and by strengthening and sustaining Jewish communities
from Belarus to Buenos Aires; and we support programs
to make Jewish education more meaningful, to deepen
Jewish identity, and to recruit and train dynamic
professionals to serve the community."

RECENT NEWS:
In 2002, the UJA Federation established and funded the
Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC.) The ITC is an alliance of
trauma-related service providers working to improve the
trauma-response capacity of the Israeli mental health system.
The ITC runs a workshop entitled Helping the Helpers.
The workshop provides essential psychological support and
training for professionals who serve trauma victims in Israel.
It recently ran a special Helping the Helpers workshop for first
responders who had responded to the terrorist attack at the
Mercaz Harav Kook Yeshiva. The attack had left many of the
first responders with severe psychological distress preventing
many of them from being able to return to their daily routines.

FINANCIAL EFFICIENCY EVALUATION:
According to Charity Navigator,
(http://www.charitynavigator.org)/
America’s leadingcharity evaluator, UJAFNY has an overall rating
of two stars (four stars is the highest rating.) Charity Navigator
provides the following breakdown of UJAFNY based on
990 tax returns through 2006:


Overall Rating **

Organizational Efficiency:Program Expenses 78.0%
Administrative Expenses 6.9%
Fundraising Expenses 15.0%
Fundraising Efficiency $0.15
(UJAFNY spends $0.15to raise $1.)
Efficiency Rating **

Organizational Capacity:
Program Revenue Growth 5.2%
Program Expenses Growth 0.5%
Working Capital Ratio (years) 1.99
(UJAFNY can sustain itself for 1.99 years
without generating new revenue.)
Capacity Rating ***

Organizational Capacity refers to an organization’s
ability to sustain itself over time. Charities that exhibit
consistent revenue and expenses growthare more likely
to sustain its programs and servicesover the long haul.

UJAFNY has net assets of $907,989,000. Compensation
for its Executive Vice President and CEO, John Ruskay
was $455,00 which was 0.22% of expenses. Percentage wise,
the 0.22% is a very low figure.

RECOMMENDATION:
UJAFNY had total revenue of $334,335,000. It gave
$156,925,000 to program expenses (78% of expenses.) It
operated with an excess of $133,305,000 which explains the
large working capital ratio. In order to improve its financial
efficiency rating with Charity Navigator, UJAFNY would
need to reduce its operating excess and devote more of its
revenue to its targeted programs.

For comparison purposes, Charity Navigator gave an overall
rating of four stars to both the Combined Jewish Philanthropies
of Massachusetts and tothe Jewish Federation of Palm Beach
County (Florida.)

Next week’s blog: Jewish Communal Fund

American Friends of Tzohar

MISSION:
American Friends of Tzohar (AFOT) www.tzohar.org
is the American fundraising arm of Tzohar. Tzohar is
a school for children with special needs in Israel.
“Founded in 1986, Tzohar works to determine and
develop the potential of each student. Tzohar fosters the
student's independence so that he/she will be able to
maintain a quality of life and to interact productively with
society. Tzohar provides a very special educational
curriculum and productive learning environment for over
100 children and offers support and guidance to their families.
Our newly renovated and specially equipped campus services
children with difficulties ranging from the mildly
dysfunctional, to complexly brain-damaged, with special
accommodations for the terminally ill.”

RECENT NEWS:
AFOT is currently building a new sports complex that is
slated to open in 2008. It has been designed to accommodate
the needs of its special children. It will include a large
hydrotherapy pool with wheelchair ramps, a multi-purpose
gymnasium and a fitness room. It will also include an individual
hydrotherapy pool for its severely disabled children.

FINANCIAL EFFICIENCY EVALUATION:
According to Charity Navigator,
(http://www.charitynavigator.org)/ America’s leading
charity evaluator, AFOT has an overall rating of three
stars (four stars is thehighest rating.) Charity Navigator
provides the following breakdown of AFOT based on
990 tax returns through 2006:

Overall Rating ***

Organizational Efficiency:
Program Expenses 83.8%
Administrative Expenses 8.5%
Fundraising Expenses 7.5%
Fundraising Efficiency $0.09
(AFOT spends $0.09to raise $1.)
Efficiency Rating ****

Organizational Capacity:
Program Revenue Growth 6.7%
Program Expenses Growth 5.7%
Working Capital Ratio (years) -0.02
(AFOT can sustain itself for-0.02 years
without generatingnew revenue)
Capacity Rating **

Organizational Capacity refers to an organization’s
ability to sustain itself over time. Charities that
exhibit consistent revenue and expenses growth
are morelikely to sustain its programs and services
over the long haul.

AFMO has net assets of $-106,720. Compensation
for its chairman, Jerry Cohen, is $0.

AFMO is operating at a deficit and had negative net
assets. From a financial perspective AFMO is highly
efficient. Its chairman works without compensation.
This is most unusual in the non-profit world. AFMO
needs to advertise its financial efficiency and its four
star efficiency rating from Charity Navigator.

For purposes of comparison, Charity Navigator has
given the Association to Benefit Children, which
provides family services to disadvantaged children
in New York City, an overall rating of two stars.