By Leyna Krow, Assistant Editor, JTNews
Ken Weinberg, CEO of Jewish Family Service of Greater Seattle, is not inclined to sugarcoat the situation.
“I’ve been here for 33 years, so I’ve been through a few recessions. But this is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Every day it seems to get a little bit worse than the day before,” Weinberg said when asked how his organization is fairing in light of the country’s recent economic downturn.
JFS, which provides a wide range of services to local Jews in need, is struggling to meet an increased demand for assistance on tighter budget.
“Our food bank usage is up by 22 percent in the past two months. General services are up by 12 percent and we’ve seen a 67 percent increase in the number of people asking for emergency financial assistance and housing over last year during the same period,” he said.
At the same time, a number of major commitments that people have made that they are unable to keep have increased as well. Weinberg said that larger donations to JFS often come in the form of stock, but right now people simply don’t have any that has appreciated in value to give away.
Weinberg was careful to note that though these donors are having trouble fulfilling their commitments, they are stretching the time frame to meet their pledge as opposed to reducing their promised amount.
Still, the combination of less money to meet an increased need is a troubling one for JFS.
The story is the same at other large local Jewish organizations. The reason is not hard to find: With home prices plummeting around the country and thousands newly unemployed, philanthropy is a luxury fewer and fewer Americans can afford.
Stroum Jewish Community Center executive director Barry Sohn said his organization will see a $150,000 decrease in its budget in the coming fiscal year. This, he said, is primarily the result of decreased allocations. The JCC received $57,000 less from the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle than it did in 2007 and $23,000 less from the United Way of King County.
Sohn noted that, in speaking with colleagues at other Jewish Community Centers, the situation is the same, if not worse, throughout the country.
“When I talk to colleagues, they’ve been dealing with this for a year already,” he said. “We’re really just feeling it in the last several months.”
He added, however, that despite public concern about the economic climate, membership is down less than 1 percent from last year and that the JCC does not have any immediate plans to cut programming.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle began its annual community campaign in August. Keith Krivitzky, vice president for the Federation’s Center of Jewish Philanthropy, said that although the Jewish Federation won’t know the true impact of the recession on the campaign until it wraps up next July, there has already been a notable decrease in donations when compared to previous campaigns.
“What we’re seeing is a number of people are hesitant about their giving, deferring until they get a better sense of where the economy is going,” he said.
Krivitzky said that the Federation is taking steps to brace itself for a more challenging fundraising season. In an e-mail sent out in November to partner agencies, Krivitzky recommended launching supplemental campaigns, asking for money through “multiple channels” (such as e-mails and direct mail pieces rather than just phone calls) and encouraging donors to take part in corporate matching programs.
“If people are cutting their own spending, why wouldn’t they cut giving as well?” Krivitsky said. “This isn’t a situation where we can put on rosy glasses and say, ‘Oh, charitable giving won’t be impacted.’”
Individual donors aren’t the only ones cutting back. As companies around the country are downsizing, laying off employees, and, in many cases, going out of business entirely, corporate giving is down as well.
JFS lost a significant corporate partner with the failure of Washington Mutual in September. WAMU was the major underwriter for JFS’s annual fundraising luncheon. Now, JFS is scrambling to find someone else to fill the void.
“It’s scary,” Weinberg said. “But you can’t let being scared paralyze you. I think it’s moving us to greater action. Trying to talk to donors, submit as many grant requests as possible and not just throw our hands up.”
The news isn’t all bad for JFS, however.
Last month, JFS was designated as one of 10 local organizations to receive an unsolicited grant of $5,000 from the Safeco Foundation.
“These two people just showed up at our door with a check,” Weinberg recalled. “So there have been some pleasant surprises.”
Smaller Jewish organizations seem to be weathering the storm with comparative ease.
Rob Jacobs, regional director for the one-year-old Israel advocacy organization StandWithUs Northwest, said that his budget for the coming year, $150,000, will stay the same as it was for last year.
The reason, Jacobs suggested, is that while larger organizations often receive donations of stocks or other forms of assistance from corporations, which are closely linked to the health of the general economy, smaller organizations rely instead on donations from individuals, many of whom may still be inclined to give moderate amounts despite an unfavorable financial forecast.
“Organizations looking at six and five-figure donations will struggle more than people like us where someone just writes a check from their checking account,” he said.
Rabbi Anson Laytner, executive director for the Seattle chapter of the American Jewish Committee, told a similar story. He cited the outpouring of enthusiasm the AJC saw for its Dec. 4 fundraising gala. Like Jacobs, Laytner said that a decrease in donations has not, as of yet, been a concern for the AJC. However, he did note that the AJC is anticipating a smaller budget for its annual Seattle Jewish Film Festival, set to begin at the end of April.
The AJC is also taking more aggressive steps in soliciting sponsors and donors, knowing that money is going to be tighter for everyone this time around.
“We’ve made corporate support more affordable,” Laytner said. “We’re also taking a page from the Obama fundraising school — lots of little donations add up to lots of money. So that’s what we’re going after.”
Depending on how early efforts go, however, the AJC is prepared to cut the film festival’s budget by as much as 25 percent, most of which, Laytner said, would come out of marketing.
“It’s not anything most people will notice,” he said. “In terms if quality of films, you definitely won’t see a difference.”
Although small Jewish organizations have not felt the brunt of the recession as clearly as their larger peers, when asked what the coming year will hold, both Jacobs and Laytner were hesitant to speculate.
“I don’t know if organizations are really hitting the worst of it yet,” Jacobs said. “We will probably see the true toll of the down turn in the months to come.”
Representatives from JFS and the Jewish Federation expressed similar sentiments, saying that the early part of 2009 will determine how well they will whether the storm.
But right now, it’s just too soon to tell.