OVERVIEW: The San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund supports a broad array of Jewish organizations. Grantmaking clusters in Israel and the Bay Area of California.
IP TAKE: The Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund serves the Bay Area of California with philanthropic services for donor-advised funds, foundations and giving circles focused on Jewish issues and organizations. It also makes discretionary grants, most of which serve Jewish organizations in the Bay Area and Israel. This funder appears to accept applications, although there are no opportunities at this writing. The federation is accessible, however, and invites grantseekers to email them directly to find out about opportunities and fit. With over $200 million in grants going out the door each year, this is an important funder for Jewish organizations anywhere to know. This funder is also an important source of aging grants that support senior citizens.
PROFILE: The Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, also known as the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Marin, Peninsula and Sonoma Counties, was established in 1921 in San Francisco. Its stated mission is to “mobilize innovation, collaboration, and investment that shapes diverse and dynamic Bay Area Jewish communities, fostering meaningful connections to Judaism and one another.” The federation’s grantmaking adheres to the traditional Jewish values of kehilla, tzedek, tzedakah and tikkun olam, or community, justice, caring for the needy and “repairing the world.”
This large federation typically makes over $200 million in grants and loans a year through its donor-advised funds, affiliated foundations and federation-directed grantmaking programs. Its giving is global in scope, and about 39% of all giving supports Jewish organizations. Federation-directed giving accounts for less than 15% of its total giving, and focuses on strengthening Jewish life and identity, combating antisemitism, responding to crises, caring for people in need and promoting justice and inclusion. This funder also coordinates security resources for Jewish organizations in the Bay Area, a number of giving circles for community needs and interests and the Diller Teen Fellows Program, a leadership development opportunity for Jewish teens in 11th grade.
Grants for Jewish Causes
Jewish causes are the main focus of the federation’s discretionary grantmaking. About half of these grants support organizations in Israel, with an additional 35% supporting organizations in the Bay Area. Two of the federation’s five impact areas specifically concern Jewish causes.
- The Strengthening Jewish Life and Identity focus area aims to help “families and young adults cultivate curiosity and explore and strengthen their Jewish identities.” Specific areas of interest include Jewish educational programs, camps, JCCs, Hillels and more.
- Recent recipients in Israel include the American Friends of Bar-Ilan University, Israel Gay Youth, the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism and Israeli Scouts.
- In the Bay area, the federation has supported dozens of Jewish congregations and Chabads, including the Chabad of San Francisco, Congregation Rodef Sholom of Marin and Congregation B’nai Shalom of Contra Costa County.
- Schools also number significantly among the federation’s grantees. Grantees include San Francisco’s Bais Menachem Yeshiva Day School, Contra Costa Jewish Day School, Oakland Hebrew Day School and dozens of Hillel organizations at several colleges and universities.
- The federation also supports Jewish cultural organizations. Recipients include the Jewish Film Institute, the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at Berkeley and the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.
- Combating Antisemitism is another major concern for the federation. Areas of focus include security, support for college students and efforts to “combat hatred and build community strength.” Grantees include Bend the Arc, the East Bay Holocaust Education Center and A Wider Bridge, a New York City-based organization that “mobilizes the LGBTQ community to fight antisemitism and support Israel and its LGBTQ community.”
Grants for Homelessness, Mental Health and Aging
Caring for People in Need is another one of the federation’s main giving areas. Federation-directed grants support an array of Jewish and other human and social service providers, mainly in the Bay area and Israel.
- Services for the elderly are a main focus of this work, with grants supporting housing and long-term care facilities for the elderly and infirm. Grantees include Jerusalem’s Byer Home for the Aged, Jewish Home and Senior Living Foundation of San Francisco and the Shmuel Harofe Geriatric Center in Tel Aviv.
- Grants also support organizations and agencies that work with other vulnerable groups. One grantee, Maslan, is a support center for victims of sexual and domestic abuse in the Negev region of Israel. Other grantees include Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay, San Francisco’s Jewish Vocational & Career Counseling Service and Jewish Family and Children’s Services of San Francisco.
Grants for Racial Justice, Civic Engagement and Economic Opportunity
Promoting Justice and Inclusion appears to be a somewhat smaller area of giving and is “rooted in Jewish social justice traditions.” Grantees include Tel Aviv’s 121 Engine for Social Change, Bend the Arc and the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development.
Grants for Disaster Relief
The federation names Responding to Crises as one of its main focus areas and aims to provide “urgent” relief in response to conflicts and natural disasters. Grantees include the Charities Aid Foundation of America and IsraAID,
Important Grant Details:
The Jewish Community Federation’s grants range from about $5,000 to $2.5 million, but the exact range of its federation-directed grants is obscured by its donor-advised and other administered grantmaking.
- Federation-directed grantmaking accounts for about $28 million or 13% of the federation’s overall giving.
- Jewish organizations account for a majority of this funder’s discretionary grantmaking, with organizations in Israel and the Bay accounting for 90% of its giving.
- While the federation supports organizations of all sizes, most of its grantees are well-established organizations with strong reputations in the Jewish communities they serve.
- This funder posts grantmaking opportunities here. It also invites grantseekers to reach out via email at info@sfjcf.org to learn more about the grantmaking process.
- For additional information about this funder’s past giving, see its impact page or its annual reports.
Submit general inquiries to the federation via email at info@sfjcf.org. The organization’s main phone number is (415) 777-0411.
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