The vision

Two decades ago the leaders of the San Francisco Federation pioneered our work in Israel. Traditionally, 40% of the funds raised have been sent to Israel through our global work with our institutional partners, United Jewish Communities, Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Joint Distribution Committee. In 1985, we explored the opportunity to work directly in Israel on projects which are reflective of the vision and values of our Jewish community. This vision has been implemented by creative and dedicated people — the Federation’s Israel and Overseas Committee and the Israeli Amuta, a committee of deeply dedicated Israeli lay leadership who reflect a broad spectrum of Israeli society.

The Amuta works with the Israel & Overseas Committee to set priorities and evaluate grant recommendations for community funding for Israel. The Amuta was established in 1985, when the Federation began to directly fund projects in Israel. Our Jewish Community Federation is the only such community in the United States that has such an advisory board in Israel.

The values

With our Amuta we share values of democracy, education, equality of opportunity for all of Israel’s citizens and Jewish pluralism. Over the years, we have helped promote the values that our two communities share through programs targeted at the diverse populations that make up the mosaic of Israeli society — including immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia, residents of the Upper Galil on the Lebanese border, Bedouin Arab women and children, and young adults who wish to explore and enrich their Jewish identity. Through our direct funding in Israel, we have had a demonstrable effect on Israeli populations: newly arrived immigrants, new business owners, and children with special needs.

The strategy

In 2002, JCF adopted a new transformative philanthropy model for our work in Israel. This model is implemented through large scale strategic, projects that enable us to leverage funding with other partners to create greater impact. Today, 80% of our direct work in Israel is based on this strategic model with the remaining 20% allocated to small initiatives in our areas of focus. Now that we are three years into our strategic philanthropic model, we really see that it is transformative and are looking into new ways to refine and expand upon it.

Partners — When we work in partnership it’s not just the resources that are pooled but the knowledge, expertise and the amazing connections.

Leverage — Leveraging does not include only financial but also human resources, skills and networks. When you add this up, the benefits are enormous. With the leverage of our partners, our $1.325 million creates investments in our projects of more than $3 million.