Federation carves up financial pie

By Deborah Moon Seldner

article created on:

The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, which had raised $4,050,783 by the May 3 allocations meeting for its 2005-06 Annual Campaign, has divided those funds among its constituent agencies and national and international beneficiaries.
Since the May allocations meeting further donations have brought the campaign total to $4,071,515. An additional $86,000 was pledged for Hurricane Katrina, with all funds going directly to hurricane relief, bringing total donations to $4,157,515.
"We had a wonderful cross section of community members who spent many hours struggling and probing and discussing the important values and trying to balance the needs of those the community serves," said Allocations Committee Chairman Marshal Spector.

"The process was done with dignity and patience," he added. "We recognize and understand that every single life federation touches is important. With that, we did our best to allow the local and national and international agencies we support to continue to do the work they do helping Jews in need here and around the world."
Not all of the more than $4 million raised during the Annual Campaign is available for allocation.

Expenses, set-asides, designated gifts and JFGP board-approved allocations resulted in an allocable balance of $1,729,100. Recommendations for the distribution of this sum were made to the federation board by its Allocations Committee and were approved at the May 11 board meeting.
The Mittleman Jewish Community Center, which has been restructured in the face of financial difficulties, also received support outside of the standard allocations process this year, as it has for the past two years. The above-the-line set-aside for the MJCC was $420,000, the same as last year.
The board approved $186,149 prior to the allocations process for five direct-service programs including the Teen Israel Experience, the mikvah, missions, the Portland Area Jewish Educators and community chaplain, and the work of the Community Relations Committee.
The JFGP board also approved an operating budget for the federation in the amount of $976,086.
Above-the-line set-asides for financial services, deficit reduction, amortization and depreciation totaled $257,450.
Designated gifts—those whose donors specify the beneficiary agency—are outside the allocations process and not revealed to the allocations committee until after their deliberations. They totaled $420,913.
The remaining funds were divided between seven local beneficiaries, four national organizations and United Jewish Communities.
The annual allocation to UJC, used largely for overseas needs, remained at $657,408, the same as last year, which was down about a third from the previous year.
Last year, Spector said the decision to trim the overseas allocation was very, very difficult, but necessary in the short term to allow the community to address local needs.
National agencies receiving funds were Jewish Education Services of North America ($500), University Services ($3,400), Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society ($500) and Birthright Israel ($13,500).
Locally, the largest allocation went to Jewish Family and Child Service. JFCS received $310,127.Robison Jewish Health Center received $306,127. Portland Jewish Academy's allocation was $256,171.
Hillel at the University of Oregon and the Oregon Jewish Museum each received slight increases in their allocation, the only two agencies to see an increase. Hillel received $48,757, an 8.6 percent increase. OJM received $10,710, a 10.3 percent increase.
Both the Jewish Review and Colleges received the same allocation as last year—$151,660 and $2,990 respectively.