Metro
Keeping It Whole
Federation boosts local allocations to help community needs.
Administration
$3,500,000 Shrinkage Reserve
$1,134,000
Additional Local Support
$9,664,762
Jewish Identity &
Continuity
$3,650,096
Israel & Overseas
$11,876,650
National Agencies
$276,026
Advocacy/Aid to At-Risk
Populations
$6,048,815
Jewish Education
$4,454,281
Alan Hitsky
Associate Editor
T
he board of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit has reduced funding to
national and overseas agencies in order to
increase grants to local Jewish agencies.
Despite a year-over-year decrease of $3 million in
receipts from Federation's Annual Campaign, two chal-
lenge funds and endowment income, the board has
increased local funding by $1.2 million for the fiscal year
ending May 31, 2010.
Howard Neistein, Federation's chief administrative offi-
cer, credits the local community for doing an outstanding
job of fundraising during "the greatest local emergency
since the Depression" of the 1930s. Compared to other
communities around the country, although down "our
Howard Neistein
Linda Blumberg
Campaign was excellent."
He said, "When you compare the unemployment rate
here vs. elsewhere and the foreclosure rate here vs. else-
where, we did pretty weir But, said Linda Blumberg,
Federation's director of planning and agency relations, "it
also points out the tremendous needs here."
She said some Campaign money was set aside the last
two years to help with this year's allocations.
Neistein and Blumberg said the lay leadership making
up the Planning and Allocations Steering Committee was
able to designate $6 million more than the Campaign
receipts to local emergency needs.
"We vowed to keep the local agencies whole," Neistein
said. National and overseas funds, dues to the national
United Jewish Communities and Federation's operating
budget took major cuts.
Israel and overseas cuts were carefully considered, they
said. "Few new programs were funded and others sunset
according to schedule," said Neistein, including emer-
gency programs for Israel that were established to offset
the effects of the 2006 Lebanon War.
The allocations were designed to help local agencies
offset declining funding from state and federal sources
and the United Way, Blumberg said.
❑
Keeping It Whole on page 16
August 20
6
2009
■
5