The Jewish Communal Fund is a community foundation and administrator of donor-advised funds that promotes and facilitates charitable giving within the Jewish community in the greater New York City area. The organization was founded in 1972 and since has grown to serve donor-advised fund holders across the United States and in several foreign countries, particularly Israel. The foundation provides over $520 million in annual giving to a variety of Jewish-specific nonprofits and charities as well as other community originations and national charities. The foundation also provides funding to many left-of-center nonprofits and was listed by Candid as a “foundation funding U.S. democracy” thanks to grants from or through donor-advised funds at the Fund to left-of-center election advocacy groups and voter projects including the Voter Participation Center, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation, the Equal Justice Initiative and the Barack Obama Foundation. ^{1 2}

Background

The Jewish Communal Fund was founded in 1972 by Herbert Singer, a New York City-based attorney who created the organization to manage giving for members of the Jewish community in the area. Singer was president of the fund from its inception until 1987. In the early days of the foundation, it managed $4 million in assets for less than 200 donors with under $700,000 in annual grants. As of 2022, the foundation managed over $2.4 billion in assets and distributed over $520 million in grants in 2021. The organization has been a longtime supporter of Israel-based charities and has given over $300 million to 712 Israeli nonprofits over the years. The organization also has a close partnership with the UJA Federation of New York, a Jewish federation in New York City that has received over $270 million in unrestricted funding from the Fund since its inception. ^{2 3}

While much of the JCF’s giving is directed by the holders of its donor-advised funds, the foundation operates an endowment called its “special gifts fund” which consists of unrestricted funds that can be donated to groups at the discretion of the foundation’s board of directors. ²

According to the JCF’s 2021 annual giving report, the foundation distributed over 70,000 grants through its over 4,000 donor-advised funds that totaled over $520 million in annual giving for the year. ³

Grantmaking

While much of the Jewish Communal Fund’s giving is directed by the holders of its donor-advised funds, the foundation operates an endowment called its “special gifts fund” which consists of unrestricted funds that can be donated to groups at the discretion of the foundation’s board of directors. ²

Candid lists JCF as a “foundation funding U.S. democracy” due to donations from the foundation to largely left-of-center election advocacy groups and voter projects. Candid’s Foundation Funding for U.S. Democracy Database lists 100 grants from the JCF to these organizations. The largest of such contributions in 2020 included $5.1 million to Results for America, $2 million to the Barack Obama Foundation, and $1 million to the Immigrant Justice Corps. ⁴ The JCF also gave over $700,000 to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in 2021. ³

The foundation also contributed over $400,000 to the Foundation for National Progress (the publisher of far-left media outlet Mother Jones) and the Voter Participation Center, and over $300,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation. The foundation also gave contributions to the Sunlight Foundation, the Center for Political Accountability, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the Protect Democracy Project, the Jacobin Foundation, Democracy NOW! Productions, the Equal Justice Initiative, the Common Cause Education Fund, the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, the Millennial Action Project, the National League of Cities Institute, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Media Matters for America, the Brennan Center for Justice, and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. ¹

The foundation also provided funding to a handful of right-of-center organizations including the Independent Women’s Forum, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, the Institute for Justice, and Judicial Watch. ¹

Following the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks by terror group Hamas against Israel, foundation CEO Rachel Schnoll announced the Fund would no longer allow members to donate their contributions to Jewish activist group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). Schnoll claimed that the JVP had violated at least one of three criteria needed to qualify for making donations through the Jewish Communal Fund. She explained, “If an organization is antisemitic, denies Israel’s right to exist, or engages in illegal activity, it is ineligible.” ⁵ According to the JVP website, the group, ““unequivocally oppose[s] Zionism.” ⁶

Financials

According to the Jewish Communal Fund’s (JCFs) 2023 giving report, more than 9,200 individuals (many of whom were from New York City) held assets in JCF’s donor-advised funds and had donated $909.7 million to roughly 10,607 nonprofits. Of the $2.8 billion in assets under management, 7% of accounts had more than $1 million while 50% of accounts were under $25,000. ⁷

The JCF’s 2023 giving report claimed that $317 million in donations went to education groups, $113 million went to “community organizations and human services,” $109 million went to Israeli-based organizations, $81 million went to religious organizations (with an additional $59 million going to Jewish schools), and $65 million went to health organizations. The two nonprofits that received the most funding from JCF were UJA-Federation of New York, Inc. and the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association. ⁷

Starting in 2021, the JCF began offering contributors JLens, an advisory service that provides investment advice based on adherence to “Jewish values.” ⁸

Controversy

In 2015, JCF was criticized for allegedly contributing several pass-through donations to the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), a nonprofit group led by right-wing anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller. JCF was also criticized for providing donations to the Clarion Fund, which has produced several films critical of Islam, including Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West. ⁹

In May 2019, the Council on Islamic American Relations (CAIR) published a report claiming that JCF and other Jewish foundations had donated to a group of organizations the group characterized as an “Islamophobia Network.” ¹⁰

Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks against the State of Israel, JCF CEO Rachel Schnoll claimed the group would no longer allow members to donate their contributions to Jewish activist group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a left-of-center, anti-Zionist activist group that opposes U.S. assistance to the State of Israel. Schnoll claimed that the JVP had violated at least one of three criteria needed to qualify for making donations through the JCF, alleging, “[i]f an organization is antisemitic, denies Israel’s right to exist, or engages in illegal activity, it is ineligible.” ¹¹  According to JVP’s website, the group, “unequivocally oppose[s] Zionism.” ⁶

Leadership

Rachel Schnoll is the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Jewish Communal Fund (JCF), serving in the role since June 2022. Before JCF, Schnoll worked in several positions for Goldman Sachs, including managing director and the head of FinLife Partners at Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management. Scholl previously worked at Penguin Random House U.K., while also working as a trustee for the Union for Reform Judaism Eisner/Crane Lake Camp Board. She previously worked as vice president of the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue. ^{12 13}

1. “Foundation Funding for US Democracy: Jewish Communal Fund.” Candid. Accessed May 19, 2022. https://maps.foundationcenter.org/?_gl=1*1m8mcoj*_ga*MTEwNDA4Njk5Mi4xNjUxNjkzMTg5*_ga_5W8PXYYGBX*MTY1Mjk3MjE3MS4yLjEuMTY1Mjk3MjE5Mi4zOQ..#/list/?subjects=all&popgroups=all&years=all&location=6252001&excludeLocation=0&geoScale=ADM0&layer=recip&boundingBox=-188.7890625,-66.65297740055277,189.140625,76.10079606754579&gmOrgs=all&recipOrgs=all&tags=all&keywords=&pathwaysOrg=&pathwaysType=&acct=democracy&typesOfSupport=all&transactionTypes=all&amtRanges=all&minGrantAmt=0&maxGrantAmt=0&gmTypes=all&minAssetsAmt=0&maxAssetsAmt=0&minGivingAmt=0&maxGivingAmt=0&andOr=0&includeGov=1&custom=all&customArea=all&indicator=&dataSource=oecd&chartType=bars&multiSubject=1&listType=gm&zoom=0&_ga=2.214543959.1743185778.1652972174-1104086992.1651693189
2. “Our History.” Jewish Communal Fund. Accessed May 19, 2022. https://jcfny.org/our-history/
3. “2021 Giving Report.” Jewish Communal Fund. Accessed May 19, 2022. https://jcfny.org/2021givingreport/
4. Foundationcenter
5. Grim. Ryan. “BILLION-DOLLAR JEWISH COMMUNAL FUND BARS DONATIONS TO PROGRESSIVE JEWISH GROUP.” The Intercept, March 14, 2024. https://theintercept.com/2024/03/14/jewish-communal-fund-jvp-donations/.
6. “JVP’s Approach to Zionism.” Jewish Voice for Peace. Accessed July 24, 2019. https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/zionism/.
7. “2023 Giving Report.” Jewish Communal Fund. Accessed November 6, 2024. https://jcfny.org/app/uploads/2024/04/2023-JCF-Giving-Report.pdf.
8. Chernikoff, Helen. “Investing in stocks with ‘Jewish values’.” eJewish Philanthropy. February 3, 2021. Accessed November 6, 2024. https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/investing-in-stocks-with-jewish-values/.
9.  Clifton, Eli. “Why Is a Mainstream Jewish Charity Funding Pamela Geller?.” Forward. November 21, 2015. Accessed November 6, 2024. https://forward.com/news/324670/why-is-a-mainstream-jewish-charity-fund-bankrolling-pamela-geller/.
10. “CAIR report claims Jewish funders supporting ‘Islamophobia Network’.” The Jerusalem Post. May 27, 2019. Accessed November 6, 2024. https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/cair-report-claims-jewish-funders-supporting-islamophobia-network-590747.
11. Grim. Ryan. “BILLION-DOLLAR JEWISH COMMUNAL FUND BARS DONATIONS TO PROGRESSIVE JEWISH GROUP.” The Intercept, March 14, 2024. https://theintercept.com/2024/03/14/jewish-communal-fund-jvp-donations/.
12. “Rachel Schnoll.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 6, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-schnoll/.
13. “JCF Appoints Rachel Schnoll as CEO.” Jewish Communal Fund. Accessed November 6, 2024. https://jcfny.org/blog/ceo/.