Periodically -- too often, in fact -- in the instance reflected here, at least annually -- we get to experience an Emperor's New Clothes Moment in almost real time. It's the annual exercise around the JFNA announcement of the Jewish Federations' annual allocations to the core budgets of the Jewish Agency, the Joint Distribution Committee and ORT.
As background, as you read what follows remember that these allocations are the lowest in recorded history. I repeat, these are the lowest allocations from the federations in recorded history. All else is commentary.
First came JFNA's letter announcing the allocations results:
"It is therefore with enormous pride that I write to share that we didn’t just meet our goal – we exceeded it! Our Federation and Network communities raised and allocated $72.8M for the Jewish Agency and $29.9M for JDC’s core unrestricted needs in 2020. In addition, World ORT will receive an unrestricted allocation of $1.9M, which also exceeded the projected amount. I cannot adequately express my thanks to our donors, our lay leaders and our professionals in each and every community who made this result possible."
Yes, in November 2019, JFNA had projected the allocation to, e.g., the Jewish Agency would be $72 million. This was a forecast made well before the plague was to afflict us and our work. Perhaps this is proof that if you set your goals low enough, you might even exceed them...and, so JFNA did.
And the Jewish Agency responded in kind -- in its annual fulsome (can something be "exceedingly fulsome?") response, JAFI's leaders literally gushed "... to see Federations step up so boldly is an awe-inspiring way to end this deeply challenging year."
This is a ritual that I have seen, heard, read year-after-year-after-year as these allocations have annually sunk from one new, historic low to another. My goodness, at the time that JFNA was created from the ashes of UJA and CJF and UIA, 22 years ago now, the allocation to the Jewish Agency alone was $185,000,000 (and, at that halcyon date of yore, that was an historic low). When I served as UJA's National Campaign Chair, I had the privilege of publicly sharing the allocations results -- then at over 40% of the aggregate annual campaigns (now 10% or less) -- and received the public thanks only to be raked over the coals in private for the reductions years-to-year. I don't know whether the public effusive thanks of today are accompanied with private reckoning any more.
A few days before this exchange of congratulatory messages between JFNA and JAFI (and JFNA's a self-congratulatory one), Abe Wasserberger, once a JDC fund-raising director and a senior JAFI professional published an article, a plea, for increased support for the overseas legacy partners in ejewishphilanthropy: https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/making-overseas-agencies-relevant-back-to-the-future/utm_source=Jan+18,+2021+v.2&utm_campaign=Mon+Jan+18&utm_medium=email While Wasserberger has some of his history wrong (e.g., JFNA, having effectively absorbed UIA's functions into itself, it abandoned allocations and needs advocacy to JAFI itself. There is no present hope that the federations' umbrella will once again see overseas advocacy as its responsibility.), the article is an important undercoring of what once was and could...could...be again.
The fortuity of this ejp article -- on the cusp of the JFNA disclosure of the 2020 allocations -- brought a formal response to Abe Wasserberger in the form of a retort from the Chair of JFNA's Israel and Overseas Committee, again in ejp -- Don't Believe Everything You Read. https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/dont-believe-everything-you-read/?utm_source=Jan20,+2020&utm_campaign=Wed+Jan+20&utm_medium=email If you read the Chair's opinion piece, join me in being concerned that JFNA is truly satisfied with the allocations results or whether the leaders on both sides are just painting lipstick on a pig.
Friends, no one should be satisfied with what has happened to the collective under JFNA's stewardship -- knowing Mark Wilf, he cannot be. 2020 was a horrible year; 2021 may be better. JFNA should be at work planning advocacy for the collective in ways that may restore it; that advocacy must again be a priority For it has forever been the case that our system's collective response which has distinguished it from all other Jewish philanthropy.
At the rate we are going as a Continental Jewish polity, soon there will be nothing that distinguishes us. More's the pity.
Rwexler
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9 comments:
Richard, JFNA has an Israel & Overseas Committee and a Chair of that Committee? Are you sure? I think all of your readers would like to know: if it exists, what does it (and its Chair) do? Obviously, they do no advocacy. Obviously they njeither manage nor supervise the jfna-Israel Office. The Chair has appeare4d in public only to offer the opinion piece you cited -- otherwise, what purpose does he serve?
Maybe JFNA ought to retain you to study JFNA's Israel & Overseas operations.
They even have a very senior and very overpaid "manager" running a very bloated and very worthless but expensive office and "operations" in Israel. The Chair and his Committee are supposed to be overseeing this but in reality do nothing but receive and distribute the fake news that they are fed from Jerusalem.
This has been going on for ages and keeps being renewed every time JFNA goes through a strategic planning and zeeo based budgeting process. For some reason they keep thinking that zero based budgeting means they should continue budgeting the activities that produce zero results.
What choice does JAFI have other than to issue ridiculous "thanks for nothing" letters to the organization that was supoosed to and promised to support their work?
Everything is relative and the JFNA allocation is a lot relative to nothing but very little relative to what it once was and should be. The same is of course true for JDC and World ORT.
JFNA has stopped its advocacy and actually bears most if the respinsibility for the dwindlibg allication stream.
But everything is relative, so thank you so much to the I&O Chair, his commitee and to the I&O professional in Israel for all that they do relative to what they should be doing.
Thanks for nothing!
I know that you seem to like JAFI. I do as well and I like Boogie.
However, I cannot help but feel that in the past few years, JAFI has become increasing wasteful and political.
Two years ago, it "bragged" about a few thousand Jews making Aliyah from France.
Many of my friends in Israel feel that it has lost a good bit of its reason for being.
Therefore while I usually agree with you, I am not sorry that the JAFI allocations have decreased.
I wonder that you might be seeing JAFI though a lens that it over 20 years old.
Touche'
Um, Richard, don't you think maybe local needs were pretty high in 2020? Shouldn't Federations thoughtfully allocate their resources without JFNA telling them what to do? Why do you focus on ORT/Agency/JDC funds as a primary indicator of system health? Might it be time to think differently?
The system and movement has changed for sure. I know our partners are raising money locally here in the US as well and so a more apt question is how have their budgets changed not just their allocations to them. My donors want my federarion to invest more and more in our partnership region directly. While I’m not a fan of all the independent fundraising enterprises that compete for the same dollars, seems that ship sailed many years ago and is a reality today. Back seat driving and recalling the golden days of yore isn’t entirely helpful. Should I go to JDC and JAFI and say ‘don’t raise any money in San Diego anymore so we can raise it and grant more of it to you’? Not likely anyone is looking to reclaim The glory of what once was. Time’s have definitely changed. I could be wrong.
Sorry, 1/21 Anon, those "good old days" have great relevance to today -- today, when the collective has been abandoned for "every agency for itself," when lay and professional federation leaders no longer are willing to ut in the work -- the work necessary to make a collective difference; when the international agencies (starting with you, JDC) have given up on JFNA HAVE GIVEN UP ON JFNA (and rightfully so -- its earned it) other than to thank them with hitting rock bottom again and again.
Yes indeed, everyone now needs go it alone in order to survive, except that the resulting disorder and confusion will make it difficult for almost all of our organizations to meet the needs - domestic and/or overseas.
The "good old days" were indeed good. Today, not so much.
The destruction and loss of the collective system exemplified by "We Are One" didn't just happen. We let it happen while our self serving "leadeeship" and self interested "professionals" made it happen.
It may be too late to restore what once was but we must do something to unify our "community" and restore joint communal values and decision making.
The alternative is everyone for him or herself and that is not the Jewish way. Without community there can be no Jewish People - only a few Jews here and there.
JFNA has proven itself to be probably the most negative and destuctive force in North American Jewish communal life ever.
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