NEW LOWS

Just when one believes that the failures at 25 Broadway can get no worse, they do. The allocations figures are in and core budget cash to JAFI and the JOINT from the federations have fallen to lows that none of these could have ever imagined when these organizations, these legacy partners agreed to merge and put the federations in charge. 

I recall being at a meeting in Jerusalem a decade ago when the Jewish Agency Board Chair said core allocations from the federations falling below $95 million would be "crossing a red line." And, like other "red lines," that line was crossed again and again and again. And what were the results of JFNA's feeble cash collection effort as at calendar year-end 2018? Read these and weep with me:

Unrestricted Core Allocations:

• To JAFI: in 2018 -- $79,200,000 reduced from $89,600,000 in 2015 a 12% reduction of $10,400,000.

• To JDC: in 2018 -- $29,700,000 reduced from $30,800,000 in 2015 a 4% reduction of $1,100,0000.

JFNA, in presenting these grim numbers includes, among other things, designated gifts/electives (generally raised by the organiizations themseves) and, in the Jewish Agency's case -- the U.S. Refugee Grant. Yet, these data included, the comparative numbers are even worse:

• To JAFI: in 2018 -- $120,300,000 reduced from $144,600,000 in 2015 a 17% reduction of $24,300,000

• To JDC in 2018 -- $44,400,000 reduced from $54,300,000 in 2015 an 18% reduction of $9,900,000.

If past be prologue, at the earliest opportunity, Joint and JAFI leaders will publicly express their appreciation while, in private, these leaders know that these reductions are doing great damage to the organizations basic ability to perform the roles assigned to them by, among others, JFNA for the federations.

What has been proved over the past decade, perhaps since the merger itself, is that the federations have breached their fiduciary obligations to the overseas partners. If the JFNA Global Operations Review Committee Recommendations are followed, among them you will note is the assigning of overseas advocacy (presumably including cash allocations advocacy) will be vested in JFNA-Israel -- the silo within JFNA that has already proved itself incapable, especially in implementing an overseas advocacy intensive effort. 

Listening to the presentation of these abysmal numbers to the JFNA Board boggled the mind. Though the "process" of cash collections is identical today as it was when UJA was collecting 44% of gross campaigns, JFNA staff, its current CFO, had the chutzpah to state that this December's cash collections were somehow different, the results surprised them. 

What has been allowed to happen without JFNA meeting its moral obligations is this: To paraphrase: JFNA took the passion and commitment of the predecessor organizations and ground those into debris, into dust. And, worse, serious questions are being raised as to how JFNA deals today with unpaid allocations from the federations. More on this issue to follow.

On these pages we have recommended time and again that JAFI/JDC recapture the advocacy effort. They should do so NOW. And, these partners should joint venture the cash collections effort, JFNA haviing proved it has no interest in doing so.

Rwexler