UJC makes tough decisions in challenging year for fund-raising

by Robert Wiener
NJJN Staff Writer

Still confident about collecting last-minute donations to the 2005-2006 United Jewish Appeal campaign, fund-raisers at the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey have been emphasizing the accomplishments of a challenging year.

Among the year’s highlights was the support for NATIV, a Jewish education program for immigrant Israeli soldiers, and Youth Futures, an educational enrichment program for at-risk youth in the Ofakim/Merchavim region of Israel.

Nevertheless, said Arthur Sandman, associate executive vice president for program services at UJC MetroWest, the philanthropy “has allocated less money for 2006-07 than we did in 2005-06 — about $300,000 out of a total of $23.9 million.”

Cuts will be felt by most of the local beneficiary agencies of the umbrella philanthropy; allocations to Israel and other overseas beneficiaries will decline by 2 percent, down about $170,000 from last year’s overseas allocation of $8.8 million. Some agencies and programs, however, received an increased allocation.

To Lori Klinghoffer, the Short Hills resident who chairs the federation’s UJA campaign, the shortfall “is disappointing. The process was as challenging as it was because we didn’t quite raise enough money, and that’s a really hard pill to swallow.”

However, more than $400,000 was raised for special projects, a record amount. “This year, we had more volunteer fund-raisers than ever before, and in a year when we lost some giants in our community we did amazingly well, finishing almost even with last year’s efforts,” Klinghoffer said. “Increased giving outnumbered decreased giving by four to one. Our recent investment in the campaign department is a work in progress. Over the next few years we expect to see more positive fund-raising results.”

One new entity that will receive an increased allocation is The Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life, a free-standing body that replaced the Jewish Education Association of MetroWest on July 1. The Partnership will receive $65,000 more than the $919,000 the JEA received last year, Sandman said.

“The allocations council expressed a commitment to increasing the budget for the partnership, so that it can begin its life with new programs and a higher level of impact than we’ve seen,” Sandman said. “We need to express our commitment to its success.”

“We are delighted by the vote of confidence the community is placing in the new entity,” said Robert Lichtman, who heads the Partnership as executive director of Jewish education and identity initiatives.

“We realize that the funding environment this year is very difficult, and therefore we are very grateful for the courage that it took to enable us to get off to a good start. But we are looking forward to finding other sources of funds and to have donors throughout the MetroWest community support our efforts,” Lichtman added.

One year after disbanding the Pathways program that provided advice and outreach to intermarried couples, Sandman said the federation is “continuing the commitment to serve interfaith families” by providing $25,000 for January-June 2007 for individual programs based at Conservative and Reform synagogues. Currently, federation-funded programs are taking place through the end of 2006 at four congregations.

“We are excited by the marketing of those programs and the early reports of participation and [their] success…,” he said.

The NATIV program, meanwhile, received an allocation of $75,000. The program, a partnership of the Jewish Agency and the Israel Defense Force, provides Jewish education for non-Jewish soldiers and helps them through the conversion process. “This has been the most effective program in existence to help large numbers of non-Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union become Jewish,” said Sandman. “This also reflects the values of our religious pluralism efforts, which we have also increased funding for in 2006-07.”

UJC MetroWest also doubled its support for Youth Futures, an intervention program for at-risk youth in the Negev towns of Ofakim and Merchavim, two of MetroWest’s Partnership 2000 sister communities. “Our support for Youth Futures is matched by the Jewish Agency and again by Israeli philanthropists to create a $300,000 project in 2006-07,” said Sandman. “So while painful reductions are made, we are continuing to innovate.”

A community challenge

Considering the impact that the reduction in allocations would have on local agencies, Kenneth R. Heyman of Short Hills, president of UJC MetroWest NJ, said the result should be read as a challenge to the entire community.

“I wish we had more money to share with our agencies,” said Heyman. “We have an open and transparent process that allows many voices to be heard. But the bottom-line solution for us to allocate more money is for us to raise more money.”

Nearly all of the federation’s major beneficiary agencies sustained reductions for the upcoming year, said Sandman. Jewish Family Service of MetroWest faced a $37,500 cutback; the Daughters of Israel skilled nursing facility allocation will decline by $41,500.

The Jewish Vocational Service of MetroWest allocation will decline by $62,000, and that of JCC MetroWest by $125,000.

Efforts are being made by UJC and JVS to secure additional funding for Maturity Works, designed to help older workers return to the job market. “We’re not going to stop the program, but if new funding is not secured, there is no question it will hurt pretty badly,” outgoing JVS executive director Ron Coun told NJ Jewish News.

Coun said he was pleased to receive $80,000 in new grants from the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey to work with people facing physical and mental disabilities. News of the grants reached him on June 28, two days before he began his retirement.

All four agencies, however, will receive a $3,000 payment to serve as initial contributions toward sustaining the MetroWest CARES initiative, a new effort to coordinate and strengthen services to the elderly.

The Jewish Historical Society of MetroWest, which dodged a cut last year when the federation’s executive committee restored some of the funds the allocations council had trimmed from the JHS budget, will receive a $15,000 allocation — $10,000 less than in 2005-06.

“The JHS has substantial other funding sources — memberships, fund-raising, and grants they receive,” Sandman explained.

It was Sandman’s fourth year of deep involvement in the budget planning, and he smiled as he reflected on its difficulty.

“I think it’s human nature to always feel that this year was the toughest year. It has been a period of austerity, so the choices get more painful each year. But it has been a relatively smooth process,” he said. “Our agencies may not be entirely happy with the results, but I think they have felt they have been informed of what’s going on, and they understand the situation. It is helpful on a communal level and on a psychological level to know that everyone is pulling in the same direction.”

Seeking younger donors

UJC officials said they are experiencing structural and generational challenges felt by Jewish federations across North America.

As Sandman put it, MetroWest is working hard “to raise money against a backdrop of an aging donor base.”

The past year saw the deaths of such major donors as Jerome Waldor and Herbert Iris, both of whom represented a generation for whom support of the local Jewish federation was central to their Jewish lives. “Their loss really epitomizes the exposure we have as our older contributors and older volunteers pass on,” said Sandman. “The federation is hunting for younger donors, and relationships are not built overnight. The kind of commitment that a Herb Iris or Jerry Waldor had was built over a lot of time.”

Klinghoffer suggested that “snowbirds,” who spend winters in Florida and warmer seasons in New Jersey, have begun dividing their contributions between UJC MetroWest and the federations in their winter communities. They include donors who could once be counted on for gifts of $10,000 and over, she said.

“But the good news is we are speaking with more donors, we have more volunteers, and we are building from the bottom of the campaign,” she said, indicating a growth in donations in the $1,000 to $10,000 range. “But it’s a tougher nut. You need a lot more $1,000 gifts to make up the differences. Some of the older members of the community are no longer supporting us at the level that they had been in the past. We need to focus on the younger generation and improve their philanthropic spirit.”

The budget recommendations were made by task forces, hammered out by the United Allocations Council, and ratified earlier this month by the federation’s executive committee and the board of trustees of UJC MetroWest.

“The decisions about allocations are made through a thorough process involving many members of the community who hopefully reflect the priorities set by the community,” said Lawrence Gotfried of Randolph, chair of the allocations council. “Substantial amounts have been allocated to support those priorities and we understand that the decisions are painful, especially since all our supported agencies and overseas programs deserve more.”

At the same time, said Sandman, the council “is prepared to meet again over the summer if in fact the campaign succeeds in raising more dollars. Some pledges get made at the last minute, so it will be a couple of weeks before we really know what this campaign has made. The gifts people make or are sitting on the fence about making can literally make a difference in the level of support to our agencies for next year. If we close this campaign strongly, we will improve the allocations we’ve made.”

“It ain’t over ’til it’s over,” Klinghoffer added. “Our positive hope is that we will remain constant this year.”