"Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WE AND THEY HAVE REACHED ROCK BOTTOM":If any of you, chevre, believe that New York UJA "...can no longer keep their head in the sand or look in another direction" -- just watch them do exactly that.
Your last few weeks of comments have been quite trenchant, disturbing and distressing.
How can any Federation, especially a big city Federation, defend the tens of millions of dollars wasted by this organization?
Heck, they can't even provide financials within six months.
http://cdn.fedweb.org/fed-42/2432/Annual%2520Report%2520JFNA%25206-30-16%2520FS.pdf
If they were a public company, they would be sued by the SEC and delisted from trading!
Don't the Large Federations have an obligation to fix it now or forever renounce any claim to being a true and faithful fiduciary of their donor's funds?
Why should I give another dime to my Federation unless they stand at the front of the line to demand accountability and change?
Otherwise, another 5% of my donor funds are completely wasted on top of whatever admin and fundraising costs my donations cover.
And shouldn't New York - with $8 million wasted on JFNA annually - lead the way? They can no longer keep their head in the sand or look in another direction."
Rwexler
I'm not sure NY's head is in the sand, but it's clear they currently have no interest in dealing with the problem. Shame on their CEO.
ReplyDeleteWhat's with NY-UJA. Are their lay leaders part of the "buddy system" that dictate that all lay leaders ignore what's right in front of them? Is the clearly irresponsible NY-UJA's Jodi Schwartz, who ignores the Budget abuses against which she is supposed to protect the federation system telling her professional leader, Eric Goldstein, to "lay off" JFNA? We'll probably never know but we can surmise that that's a big part of it. The fact that NY-UJA continues to throw millions at JFNA should concern every donor.
ReplyDeleteMany federations -- I don't think New York is one of them -- bury their JFNA Dues in the "Overseas Allocation" line item the communities' leaders knowing full well that if the Boards knew how much is going to (and being wasted by) JFNA, there would be an immediate revolt and a demand that these payments be explained or stopped. Then again, If New York or Chicago or Cleveland or Miami or LA do disclose the multi-million dollar Dues they just throw at JFNA with no accountability required, what does it say about the docile nature of these local so-called leaders, those so willing to look the other way while those millions are being totally wasted? Shame on the whole damn crowd.
ReplyDeleteAs an attorney my sense is that any federation which hides its Dues to JFNA in uts Overseas allocations is committing fraud. It has a duty of full disclosure to its Members and its donors. If Federation leaders are embarrassed by the amount of Dues being charged the communities, the answwer isn't to bury them, it's to either disclose them or to stop paying them.
ReplyDeleteIronically, its Richard’s Federation that created the “burying dues” in overseas!
ReplyDeleteI am not on a federation board, but judging from my experience at GAs and reading the posts here, I would be shocked if many federation board members could answer the question of how much does your federation pay in dues to JFNA?
ReplyDeleteI can't say why that statistic is being hidden, but I agree with the Anon who said that if it were widely known, local board members would revolt, that is if they felt that they had a fiduciary responsibility to their communities by being on the federation board.
Isn't it about time that a whole bunch of you just reach out to the New York State Attorney General's Charities Fraud Division?
ReplyDeletePhone: (212) 416-8401
Questions about charities?
Phone: (212) 416-8401
Email: charities.bureau@ag.ny.gov
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Phone: (212) 416-8401
Email: charities.trusts@ag.ny.gov
Questions about fundraising?
Phone: (518) 776-2160
Email: charities.fundraising@ag.ny.gov
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