Cuts own budget to absorb drop in donations, fund increased need
DEBORAH SUSSMAN SUSSER
Associate Editor
The Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix will distribute nearly $3.8 million to local, national and overseas agencies and programs for the fiscal year that runs from August 2009 through July 2010.
The federation's 2008 Campaign for Jewish Needs, which provides the money for allocations, posted results totaling $5.2 million - down by more than 13 percent compared with the 2007 campaign. The community's needs, however, have increased, as evidenced by additional scholarship requests for preschool and day school, more requests for counseling services and increased requests for emergency financial aid for food, medicine and other life necessities.
In spite of the drop in funding, federation is reducing allocations for local needs by just 1.1 percent and making up the difference by shrinking its own budget through a reduction in staff, a freeze on hiring, changes in employee benefits and the elimination of salary increases for the coming fiscal year.
"It was a very difficult process," said federation President and CEO Adam Schwartz. "Money is very tight."
"I was tremendously proud of and gratified by the way in which the folks on the (allocations) committee conducted themselves," Schwartz said. "They took into consideration to the best of their ability what was in the best interest of the community and how to ensure that our community's most critical needs were addressed," Schwartz said, knowing that "very difficult decisions were going to need to be made."
Steve Gubin serves as the federation's chairman of the board; Julee Landau and Donald Schon co-chaired the allocations committee.
Funds will be distributed as follows:
Local agencies and programs: $1.9 million
National/overseas agencies and programs: $1.6 million
Supplemental giving: $314,339.
Local allocations
For the coming fiscal year, the allocations committee tried to reduce the amount of money allocated to what it calls "duplicative services."
"If there are two organizations providing similar services with two separate overheads," said Gubin, "obviously it makes sense to bring them together."
Whereas last year, Kivel Campus of Care and the Jewish Family & Children's Service (JFCS) were allocated money separately, this year the two organizations are grouped together under the heading of "Community Services." The committee concentrated community chaplaincy, for example, within Kivel, and removed chaplaincy funding from JFCS.
"We do understand that it's a hard year for everyone in terms of raising funds," said JFCS President and CEO Michael Zent. But, he said, "From our standpoint we were disappointed in the amount that we received."
Zent said he disagrees with the assessment that certain services are duplicative, and that JFCS sent the federation a letter to that effect.
"Rabbi (Robert) Kravitz visits 14 hospitals every week in the Valley. He saw more than 2,100 individuals last year. Most people in the Valley are unaffiliated, so for somebody to be able to go out is a very valuable thing.
"I think the real issue," Zent said, "is that there's a higher need for these kinds of services, period. We are going to try to find people who are interested in sponsoring the chaplaincy services. Frankly we'll just be out looking for donor support and for people who value that service and want to contribute to it."
At press time, Zent said JFCS was still talking to the federation about support for the JFCS Center for Senior Enrichment. Last year, the center received $136,773; this year's allocation was reduced to $33,589.
Other significant changes this year include the decision to redirect local allocation funds directly to the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, rather than to the agencies on campus, in order to offset operating costs.
"We looked at the three program agencies (the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, the Bureau of Jewish Education and the Council for Jews with Special Needs), and we looked at the percentage of the rent that they carry relative to one another, excluding the federation and the (Jewish Community Foundation)," explained Schwartz. "We then prorated the $500,000 as a rental offset using those percentages. Instead of (the agencies) paying the campus the total amount of the rent, we're going to make payments to the campus on their behalf - which significantly decreases the expenses for the three program agencies on the campus."
National and overseas
The federation's overseas allocation funds humanitarian relief and social services to Jews in Israel and 65 other countries.
Last year, the federation distributed $1.97 million to overseas agencies and $1,000 to national agencies, compared with $1.59 million for the coming fiscal year.
In addition to its national and international partners - the UJC, Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and World ORT - the allocation funds the TIPS Partnership program, scholarships for Israel travel and the federation's Israel Center and shaliach program.
The TIPS program, which partners Tucson, Phoenix and Seattle with the Israeli communities of Kiryat Malachi and Hof Ashkelon, received less money this year in part because last year, the program was the beneficiary of $50,000 raised by the Phoenix branch of the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) during "A Night to Honor Israel."
Looking ahead to local, national and overseas allocations for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, Schwartz said the campaign is "trending in a direction that is different from the way we'd like it, but we are doing everything we can and will continue to do between now and the end of the campaign to bring in every dollar that is available."
So far the campaign has raised $3.1 million, with about five months to go; Schwartz said while he does not have an exact figure to compare that with, he knows "we're running behind last year, probably because a number of donors have asked us to speak to them later this year than they normally do."
