Jewish Communal Fund, one of the largest donor-advised funds in the country, released its third annual Giving Report on Giving Tuesday, providing insight into the make-up, demographics and charitable trends taking place among its generous funder network of more than 8,000 people. With fundholders living throughout the United States, JCF’s data offers a rare look into the funding preferences and giving trends of American Jews.
“The 2019 JCF Giving Report highlights the extraordinary generosity of our fundholders and their profound impact on strengthening the Jewish community and addressing broader societal needs,” said Sue Dickman, the executive vice president and CEO of Jewish Communal Fund.
One of the longest-serving donor-advised funds in the country, JCF is now facilitating charitable giving for many third-generation JCF fundholders—showcasing the passion for philanthropy that they learned from their parents and grandparents before them. Now entering its 48th year, JCF plays a critical role in facilitating charitable giving for a wide spectrum of Jewish philanthropists of varying means, ages, interests and religious affiliations.
Here are highlights from the report, which shed light on some of the parallel philanthropic trends among American Jews and other Americans, as well as areas in which the JCF funder community is unique:
- JCF fundholders make an average of 16 grants per fund per year, with a median grant amount of $500.
- JCF fundholders distributed 23% of charitable assets, as a collective, in FY ’19.
- More than one-third of funds distributed 50% or more of the balance in their funds to charities in FY ’19.
- The sectors that received the largest number of dollars from JCF fundholders in FY ’19 were education, community organizations/human services and Israel (these same categories topped the chart in previous years, too).
- JCF fundholders made 44,000 grants (70% of all grants) to Jewish organizations, totaling nearly $200 million.
- JCF fundholders granted nearly $20 million to UJA-Federation of New York in FY ’19, in addition to JCF’s $2 million annual gift to UJA.
- JCF announced $985,000 in Special Gifts Fund grants in FY ’19.
To delve into this report and learn more about the JCF philanthropic community, charitable giving trends and the ways in which JCF fundholders are collectively making our community and the world a better place, visit https://jcfny.org/2019-giving-report to download the report.
