NEWS RELEASE

One of the area’s oldest and largest nonprofit organizations, Jewish Federation of St. Louis, has allocated a record-breaking $10.2 million for 2007-2008 to its 48 local, national and international agencies, programs and services.

“This reflects continued Annual Campaign and endowment growth,” reported Sherri Druck and Sanford Neuman, co-vice presidents of Jewish Federation’s Planning and Allocations Committee. “These allocations provide ongoing support for social service and humanitarian agencies that fulfill Federation’s mission. It enables them to continue to offer our community high-quality services,” they said.

Over the next year, Federation will distribute an additional $2 million, income generated from endowments, government and foundation grants and special gifts.

Last year, Jewish Federation began a new allocations process to review local agencies and distribute allocations in three-year cycles. This year, five local agencies were reviewed and received funding ranging from no change to a 12.5% increase over three years.

“The increases reflect a particular commitment to senior services. But overall, funding levels change, reflecting evolving priorities and varied levels of performance. For some agencies, Federation dollars represent a majority of their annual budget. For others, it’s a smaller portion,” explained Druck and Neuman.

Federation funds are distributed locally two ways. The majority (some 70 percent) are given as annual unrestricted allocations that provide ongoing, core support. The balance is targeted to specific programs that support Federation’s three major priorities: integrated senior services, such as the Jewish Community Center’s Social Nutrition Program for seniors; Jewish identity and engagement, such as family education programs in St. Louis congregations, and global Jewish unity that includes funding for Israeli youth travel such as birthright israel — free first-time trips to Israel for young adults.

“We expect targeted funding to increase as specific projects arise that require special fundraising efforts, as we shift dollars from ‘core’ to targeted allocations,” said Barry Rosenberg, Jewish Federation executive vice president. “Federation’s two-track distribution system will enable us to support a broad network of services while increasingly focusing around several of our highest priority needs,” added Rosenberg.

Federation’s overseas funding follows a similar model. Some 90 percent of funds are allocated to two agencies, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). Yet, two years ago, Federation set aside 10 percent of the funds to support the special needs of 170 families with children at risk in St. Louis’ sister-city region in Israel.

Jewish Federation, founded in 1901, is the central fundraising and planning address for the 60,000-member St. Louis Jewish community.