“The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles is proud of its 54 years of
commitment to the L.A. Jewish community and beyond, and sees innovation and
social entrepreneurship as essential to its grantmaking process,” said Marvin
I. Schotland, president and chief executive officer of the Foundation.
The Foundation facilitates the charitable gifts of individuals and families
and leverages grant dollars to support needs within the Jewish community and
well beyond. Through charitable funds that they establish at The Foundation,
donors are able to recommend grants to nonprofits of their choosing. In 2009,
The Foundation and its donors distributed $61 million in grants locally,
nationally and in Israel for a wide range programs spanning the human
lifecycle. Of this amount, $20 million, or 33%, was designated specifically to
non-sectarian causes serving the broader community, including social services,
education, health, arts and culture, and the environment.
Through the auspices of its Family Foundation Center, The
Foundation is able to help its donors and other philanthropists in the
community increase their charitable impact and ensure the effectiveness of their
giving. The Center offers funders, among other services, guidance in developing
funding goals and strategies, consultation about intergenerational family
foundation issues and solutions, as well as administrative support for
grantmaking (screening prospective grant recipients; establishing grant
agreements; ensuring performance accountability).
The Foundation distributes community grants to support selected initiatives
in the greater Los Angeles area as well as in Israel. The Foundation's Cutting
Edge Grants Initiative, which has awarded nearly $4.5 million since 2006,
exemplifies The Foundation’s interest in supporting innovation and creativity
among community-based nonprofits and social entrepreneurs.
For example, when the nonprofit organization 30 Years After approached The
Foundation about connecting young people in the Persian Jewish community to
Jewish activism and the political process, the organization was seeking modest
support. The Foundation, however, recognized significant potential in the
organization’s objectives, and worked with them to develop a more comprehensive
proposal and apply for a substantial Cutting Edge Grant. The fledgling
organization subsequently received a grant of $250,000 and is now impacting thousands
of Persian Jewish young people and helping to transform activism within the
region’s Jewish communities.
“We designed the Cutting Edge Grants to inspire social entrepreneurs and
creative thinkers to explore fresh approaches to solving social problems and
enriching the community’s quality of life,” said Schotland. “In addition, the
process encourages grant recipients to forge valuable new partnerships with
other community organizations.”
The Foundation also recognizes the added
value of providing capacity building support, technical assistance and program
evaluation to nonprofits that receive its grants. It believes that guidance,
support and encouragement to think creatively and strategically are essential
to sustaining the flow of new ideas and innovation among nonprofits and
ensuring the vibrancy of the greater Los Angeles community.
Commitment to meeting greater demand for basic needs and services during the
current economic downturn also remains a high priority to The Foundation. In
2009, The Foundation provided more than $1.1 million in relief grants for
greater Los Angeles residents adversely impacted by the economic downturn. Part
of this funding targeted immediate, basic needs including such things as food,
clothing, medicine and temporary housing and went to such organizations as the
Los Angeles Jewish Federation, L.A. Family Housing, Venice Family Clinic, Meet
Each Need with Dignity and Proyecto Pastoral to support their critical work in
the community. As an additional aspect of this relief effort, The Foundation
brought together five other community agencies and established the Jewish
Family Relief Network to support individuals and families impacted by the
economic downturn with a range of services, including counseling, job search
assistance, loans and educational support.
“Many of the agencies who have received Relief Grants from The Foundation
have a long history of serving people in the community who are in need, and all
are experiencing a dramatic increase in requests as a result of the economic
downturn,” said Amelia Xann, vice president of the Family Foundation Center and
Grant Programs. “The Foundation is gratified to be able to support their
critical work during these very difficult times.”
For more information about The Foundation, visit www.jewishfoundationla.org.