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