The late Melvin S. Zaret, former executive vice president of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, was fond of quoting U.S. novelist William Faulkner’s observation that the past “is not even past.”
The effects of the recession that began in 2008 are not yet past, both in the country at large and in the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s allocations for the 2011-12 fiscal year.
In the allocations recommendations report that was approved by the MJF board of directors on June 22, the “Executive Summary” states:
“Fiscal Year 2010-2011 saw slow but steady recovery from the financial challenges that began in the fall of 2008. Although our major income streams are stronger, we have still not returned to pre-downturn circumstances.”
Therefore, the “Executive Summary” continues, “We continue our adjustment to the ‘new normal,’ identifying opportunities for increased efficiency and exercising prudent stewardship in the allocations process. The budget proposals recommended by the executive committee for 2011-2012… reflect this continuing approach.”
That means, as MJF Executive Vice President Richard H. Meyer wrote in an email, “Our goal this year was to continue the process of stabilizing our community allocations. The theme of the 2011-12 allocations is to maintain our funding based on the real ongoing economic challenges facing our direct service partners both locally and abroad.”
Total community allocations decreased from $8,029,555 in 2010-11 to $7,164,504 ($865,051, or approximately a 10 percent, decrease). However, only $158,800 had a direct effect on agencies and programs.
The allocation to the Local Agencies and Programs and to the Israel and Overseas categories both decreased 3.5 percent, or $158,800 in total.
An accounting change for Jewish Community Foundation administrative fee revenue reduced the MJF Operations allocation by $560,000, as the revenue was included directly in that budget rather than in community allocations.
Other allocations totaling $160,156 are no longer necessary due to various reasons such as a reduction in national fair share dues and less required campaign reserve.
The Local Agencies and Programs allocation decreased from $2,634,060 to $2,542,560 ($91,500, or 3.5 percent, decrease). The Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center “stepped forward to assume $75,000 of the reduction on behalf of the community, once again showing leadership during a difficult time,” according to the allocations report.
The Israel and Overseas allocations decreased by 3.5 percent, from $1,933,200 in 2010-11 to $1,865,900 in 2011-12.
These funds go primarily to the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee ($1,655,289), while smaller amounts go toward local projects like Partnership 2000 ($113,000) and the MJF’s Israel Center ($104,332).
The MJF Operations allocation decreased from $2,370,000 to $1,791,600 ($578,400, or 24.4 percent decrease). As stated earlier, $560,000 of this decrease resulted from a change in accounting for JCF fee revenue with the remaining $18,400 returned to overall community allocations.
However, MJF Operations receive income from more sources than the annual campaign and some funds from the Jewish Community Foundation, the MJF’s endowment development program. These other sources include revenues from programs and events, some JCF restricted endowments, and corporate sponsorships.
As a result, the actual overall budget for MJF Operations has increased by 10.4 percent from $2,623,652 in 2010-11 to $2,895,285 for 2011-12 — and about half of that increase is due to the MJF Reimagining Project (see May 2011 issue). A number of MJF local partner agencies also increased their operating budgets for 2011-2012.
In the category of “Other Allocations,” the allocation decreased from $1,058,850 to $964,444 ($94,406, or 8.9 percent decrease). Other Allocations includes an allocation to MJF direct service programs (Jewish Museum Milwaukee, Coalition for Jewish Learning, and the Israel Center), fair share dues to the Jewish Federations of North America, and campaign reserves.
As noted above, the allocation for dues and campaign reserves decreased and, therefore, a decreased allocation resulted. The Other Allocations category also includes an allocation to continue to build funds toward repayment of capital finance debt initially established in 2010-2011 and maintained in the 2011-2012.
(One of the reductions in this category was the complete elimination of an allocation to the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, “due to the positive cash flow The Chronicle has generated and management’s confidence that this will continue,” according to the allocations report. That allocation was $19,560 in 2010-11.)
According to Sheryl Primakow, MJF director of community planning, determining the allocations is “a year-round process,” involving meetings of three groups: the Agency Review Council, the Fiscal Steward Committee, the Community Planning and Allocations Committee.
“All three committees work to better understand the vision, programming, financial situation, and needs of each constituent partner agency of the Federation,” Primakow wrote in an email.
The 15-member Agency Review Council, chaired by Susan Lubar Solvang, this year finished the third year of a new, three-year review process, wrote Primakow.
“The goal of this process was to review each agency in-depth once every three years, in order to better understand the breadth and depth of each constituent agency’s work on behalf of the Jewish community,” Primakow wrote. “The new process showed the strength of each agency, as well as areas for improvement.”
The 10-member Fiscal Steward Committee is chaired by David Werner. “They look at the budgets and finances of each agency as a group, and then invite individual agencies to come and share their financial situation in more depth in order to provide support and better understand how each agency is meeting any financial challenges,” wrote Primakow.
The Community Planning and Allocations Committee is chaired by Marlene Lauwasser. It is “the overarching body for … allocation decisions,” wrote Primakow. It also “oversees any major initiatives that are important for community planning,” such as the Jewish Community Study now underway, wrote Primakow.
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