Jewish Philanthropies in an Era of Change: A Structural Analysis

In the United States, Jewish philanthropies include federations, community foundations, family and corporate foundations. They play a key role in sustaining Jewish life in the Diaspora. These philanthropic organizations operate in an increasingly turbulent environment characterized by growing competition for resources and a growing number of local and international organizations seeking support. Perhaps in response, there has been shift in the structure of Jewish communal philanthropy away from a central public organizations to a decentralized system dominated by large private philanthropies. This presentation will assess the nature of the organizational changes and their implications. The presentation will be framed by data drawn from an analysis of grant making patterns for over 800 U.S. philanthropies that support the Jewish community. Data, going back to the 1990s, have been retrieved from a systematic analysis of data provided to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS Form 990s) and, as well, foundation annual reports have bene examined. The research questions explore diverse types of Jewish grant making organizations, sectoral differences between their missions and goals, the services they fund and provide, and their decision making processes. The research aims to explain the evolution of the mission of philanthropic organizations and assess its impact on Jewish communal organizations.