by Marilyn Silverstein
NJJN Bureau Chief/PMB

July 22, 2008

When it comes to the task of raising sufficient funds to serve the community’s needs, the past year has been full of challenges, observed Andrew Frank, executive director of the United Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks.

“Are we where we want to be in terms of the dollars that were raised and where we want the campaign to be? No. We’re not where we’d like the campaign to be,” Frank said as he stood in the community room of Abrams Hebrew Academy in Yardley, Pa., on June 25.

Frank made his comments to the New Jersey Jewish News prior to the 2008 annual meeting of the federation, which drew about 35 community leaders to Abrams. The meeting included the election of federation officers and board members for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

To date, the federation’s 2008 annual campaign has raised, as of this article, $1,975,480, according to Frank. The current campaign reflects a 3.5 percent increase over where the campaign was at the same time last year.

Nevertheless, officials said the campaign is striving to improve upon the $2,147,920 raised last year, in a campaign that still remains open.

“We have much to be proud of when assessing the state of the federation, and we have much to achieve,” said federation president Daniel Brent. “We’ve swum upstream in the midst of an economic slowdown and the trend toward designated giving.

“Some of the downturn is attributable to major givers who have left the community. Frankly, that had a major impact. We’re working our way out of that, and the key to doing that is to excite and entice more people about federation.”

Frank also pointed to the year’s positive developments.

“The annual campaign dollars were not the only dollars we raised,” he said. Frank pointed to the more than $700,000 raised for the projected Jewish Community Campus of Princeton Mercer Bucks and the more than $4 million raised by the federation’s partner, the Jewish Community Foundation of Princeton Mercer Bucks.

“The economy has impacted us — how could it not? But the fact that so many people were involved and so many dollars were raised and so many people came out for events all point to positive things,” Frank said. “We have contributed mightily to the growth of this community this year. Overall, this is a year we can look back on in pride, and that will only spur us on to greater things.”

Emily Josephson, federation’s associate campaign chair, shared Frank’s positive outlook in her report to the gathering.

“This has been an exciting and productive year,” Josephson said. She pointed in particular to the $695,916 raised by Women’s Campaign — some 30 percent of the overall annual campaign. “Their track record marks them as one of the leading divisions in the country,” she said.

“It’s no secret that our campaigns over the last years have not met our expectations,” Josephson added. “However, we are on an upswing, and we fully expect this trend to continue.”

Given the state of the campaign, allocations to agencies will remain essentially flat, according to new federation board member Margie Aretz, with modest increases slated for Abrams Hebrew Academy and camp scholarships.

Federation plans a multimedia public relations campaign to explain its mission and to involve more young families, according to Brent.

“We must work smarter and harder and more efficiently,” he said, “so we can raise the level of the service federation provides.”

During the meeting, elections were held seating 36 members on the federation’s board of directors and electing officers to a second one-year term. In addition to Brent as president, the officers are Lisa Smukler, Seth Josephson, Mark Merkovitz, Howard Cohen, Rysia de Ravel, and Morton Cohen, vice presidents; Andrea Dedrick, treasurer; Karen Anderson, secretary; Darlene Paszamant, Women’s Campaign president; and Stacey Wasserman, Women’s Campaign chair.

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