Wrestling Match
Federations grapple with budgeting between local and national systems.
RACHEL POMERANCE
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
New York City
n undercurrent of tension
pervaded last week's annual
gathering of the North
American Jewish federation
system over the relationship between
local federations and the national sys-
tem.
Beyond the workshops and plena-
ries in Philadelphia that drew 4,000
people to address topics of Jewish
concern, delegates grappled with the
resistance of some member federa-
tions to comply with the financial
directives from the national system.
Many federation leaders call the ten-
sion a growing pain for the United
Jewish Communities, the three-year-
old umbrella group of North
American federations.
"We are approaching a fork in the
road in the maturation of the UJC,"
said John Ruskay, CEO of the UJA-
Federation of New York. "Will it be a
network of federations where there
are expectations about financial par-
ticipation that we have collectively
agreed to, or will we be a decentral-
ized system in which federations par-
ticipate at will in each national proj-
ect?"
Which path is taken could deter-
mine whether the national system
holds together or falls apart under the
weight of conflicting needs and prior-
ities.
The UJC, a merger of the Council
of Jewish Federations, the United
Jewish Appeal and the United Israel
Appeal, has weathered a series of
logistical and leadership challenges.
The organization was created to
help streamline the Jewish communi-
ty's central fund-raising and social
service agency into one that was more
responsive to local federations' needs
while effectively directing dollars
abroad for overseas needs. And it was
intended to stave off the trend of dis-
enchanted federations, by making
them the owners of the new system,
said UJC's president and CEO,
Stephen Hoffman.
But the disenchantment among
some has persisted, centered mostly
on the question of whether federa-
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tions should be required to con-
tribute their share to keep the nation-
al system going.
The issue of noncompliance by fed-
erations to contribute to a variety of
things — from UJC dues to
Birthright Israel — permeated the
gathering, known as the General
Assembly. The issue culminated in
discussion of a resolution to oust fed-
erations that do not pay their dues.
The resolution, approved by the
Board of Trustees in June, was con-
ceived after Jewish federations in
"That, in part, is what just stimulates
the whole discussion."
Growing Tension?
The controversy has been exacerbated
by a new dues formula implemented
July 1, officials say. The formula is
based on the ratio of each federation's
annual campaign to the total cam-
paign, rather than a formula based on
both local Jewish population and its
campaign.
Hoffman said the dues issue is the
Steve Selig, UJC's national campaign chairman, Robert Goldberg, chariman of
UJCs executive committee, and Stephen Hoffman, president and CEO of UJC, take
part in a session at the General Assembly.
Tidewater, Va., and San Francisco
questioned their payments.
Federation members, who discussed
the. issue at the Delegate Assembly
Nov. 22 are expected to vote on the
resolution by conference call within
the next 30 days.
But Hoffman downplayed the issue
of dues compliance and other acts by
the federations. Until the creation of
the UJC, "the actual costs of running
the national system weren't fully
understood by most folks. Today,
everything's transparent," Hoffman
said, referring to an itemized bill fed-
erations receive for UJC's costs for
adniinistrative and overseas needs.
only one in dispute that requires com-
pliance. And San Francisco has now
agreed to pay its portion, he added.
Other contributions from local fed-
erations are based on a "best-faith"
effort — and nonparticipation by
some federations has always plagued
the system, he said. "I believe it's actu-
ally better today than it's ever been.
But we had this ideal vision that if the
federations were going to vote on
something, that they would all come
through, and it's not happening in
exactly that way, so the challenge is
how to get us closer to the ideal."
Some federations are still clearly
choosing to go their own way. These
issues surfaced at several points during
the G.A.:
• At a meeting of the National
Funding Councils, a body of 45 feder-
ations that helps to fund nine national
agencies like Hillel: The Foundation
for Jewish. Campus Life, Jewish
Telegraphic Agency and the Jewish
Community Centers Association, four
federations declared that they would
not pay their portion for the remain-
der of the year, a total of $41,000.
The National Funding Councils will
dip into reserves to make up for the
shortfall, officials say, but the same
federations have agreed to replenish
the reserves.
It was the first time members of the
National Funding Councils unilateral-
ly withdrew pre-designated funding.
• Noncompliance also struck the
Board of Trustees meeting Nov. 20
over a discussion of overdue payments
to Birthright Israel. Officers discussed
a proposal to pay the UJC's unfulfilled
portion of the program that sends 18-
to 26-year-olds who have never been
to Israel on an organized trip.
The five-year program was con-
ceived as a $210 million partnership
among the Israeli government, several
major philanthropists, the UJC and
worldwide Jewish communities. The
UJC initially committed to $39 mil-
lion over five years.
The proposal would reduce UJC's
portion to $23 million, and ask the
Jewish Agency for Israel to pay the
balance. Robert Aronson, CEO of the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, was aggravated that some
communities don't pay their share,
while Detroit does. He called on UJC
to expose the noncompliant commu-
nities, thereby pressuring them to pay.
• Several member federations have
not implemented the second year of
the Israel Emergency Campaign,
despite the fact that the UJC passed a
resolution calling on the federations to
do so.
• Federations are increasingly falling
short on what they are being asked to
pay for overseas needs. In the first two
years of the UJC, the Overseas Needs
Allocation and Distribution
Committee (ONAD) saw an increase
in allocations.
But it still fell short of its goal .for