07/21/2022
Federation Allocates More Than $31M From Campaign
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Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
By Courtney Byrnes
After a highly successful 2022 Campaign for Jewish Needs, many Jewish agencies saw increases in support from the Jewish Federation of Cleveland during its 2022-23 allocation process.
“We’re very fortunate to live in Cleveland,” Michelle Hirsch, Federation’s allocation committee chair, told the Cleveland Jewish News July 8. “It’s one of the most caring and compassionate Jewish communities in the entire world. Our community raised $34,023,524 in the 2022 campaign, and it’s because of this amazing, generous community that we had increased dollars, and we had additional dollars to put to work for our community this year.”
After setting aside $1,275,885 for shrinkage, $3,062,117 for campaign and collection expenses, and adding $1,291,000 from United Way and $450,000 from prior year collections, the total funds available for distribution by the Federation are $31,426,522. This is an increase of $682,286 over the 2021-22 total of $30,744,236.
Of this year’s total, about 55% or $17,377,550 will go to local agencies and programs; 41% or $12,948,972 will go to national and overseas endeavors; and 4% or $1.1 million will go toward security.
“The needs are growing everywhere, so we found it important to provide increases everywhere, from security to human services,” said Hirsch, a resident of Orange and member of B’nai Jeshurun Congregation in Pepper Pike.
As COVID-19 still has an effect on the community in ways like staffing shortages and concerns over mental health, the allocation committee continued to partner with the Federation’s Coronavirus Response Oversight and Distribution Committee to understand the impact and needs of the agencies. The Federation also set up a Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund in February to help global partners stockpile food and medical supplies.
Hirsch said while the COVID fund and Ukraine relief fund helped the community address immediate needs of local agencies and global partners, the allocations from campaign dollars are critical to everyday operation budgets to keep the agencies running and providing services.
Hirsch
“These allocations ensure that the programs and services our community needs right now are delivered without any interruption,” she said. “So, it helps us prepare for the future, it creates the critical scale necessary to dive meaningfully into social change and provide relief in times of crisis.”
All allocated funds continue to be unrestricted, meaning agencies can use the dollars where they are needed most. To ensure funds are fairly distributed to meet local, national and overseas needs, Hirsch said the “allocations committee uses a very intensive, thoughtful, deliberate process,” which includes subcommittees and liaisons that ask questions of the agencies to understand their strategies, needs, effectiveness and financial position.
The allocations committee recommended a base allocation to each agency and program equal to what they were allocated last year, and the $682,286 in additional funding to be divided among community security, overseas, national and local needs. Community security will see an increase of $100,000, while an additional $261,143 for overseas will be divided between the Jewish Federations of North America core allocations and the Cleveland Overseas Projects. National agencies will receive an additional $10,000 from last year, and local agencies will see an increase of $154,074 to human services and $157,069 to education.
Allocations Committee Recommendations for 2022-2023 Distribution
“The generosity of the Jewish Cleveland community is tremendous,” Daniel N. Zelman, Federation board chair, told the CJN in an emailed statement July 10. “This is evident in our 2022 campaign total, which surpassed the $34 million mark, resulting in additional dollars to put to work for our community this year. These additional dollars are essential to address growing needs in our community – from security to human services, and so much more. I appreciate the allocations committee’s dedication to this thoughtful and deliberate process of allocating available funds for local, national and overseas needs.”
Community organizations receiving 2022-23 Federation campaign funds
- Jewish Family Service Association - $2,678,337
- Fund for the Jewish Future (Family) - $2,106,054
- Mandel Jewish Community Center of Cleveland - $1,950,865
- Bellefaire Jewish Children’s Bureau - $1,167,085
- Jewish Federation of Cleveland - $1,457,182
- Jewish Education Center of Cleveland - $1,443,942
- Hebrew Academy - $1,298,564
- Fund for the Jewish Future (Campaign) - $1,131,265
- Menorah Park - $843,262
- Cleveland Hillel Foundation - $649,472
- Joseph and Florence Mandel JDS - $567,470
- Fuchs Mizrachi School - $557,086
- Gross Schechter Day School - $476,679
- Yeshiva Derech Hatorah - $287,844
- Hillel at Kent State University - $238,255
- Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage - $230,304
- JEC - Akiva High School - $180,173
- Hebrew Shelter Home - $83,711
