Federation grants $600,000 in allocations

By Jay Weiss, Allocations Committee Chair

Federation’s 2024 allocation process has been completed and — thanks to you — we created 21 grants totaling $600,000 to protect and nurture Jewish lives locally, nationally, in Israel and overseas. The grant recipients were notified in June.

We define “allocations” as the annual campaign dollars that are directed to our agency partners that directly provide Jewish services, programs, education and assistance. These allocation dollars do not include money directed to Naples programming, Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center operations, Federation staff and Israel Emergency Funds. Thanks to your generosity and a spectacular annual campaign, we were able to fund $600,000 in grants — up 9% versus last year — funding 82% of the grant requests that we received. Your Federation gift will touch the lives of and support more than 200,000 Jewish people here and abroad.

I have had the privilege of leading the Allocations Committee, a 12-person team of very diverse community volunteers, for four years. Our task is large and extremely challenging as we have to make very difficult decisions among so many critical and deserving Jewish community needs. Each agency that we consider funding is vetted and analyzed for viability, efficiency and need. We do this by reviewing their submissions which give extensive detail on the specific needs and uses of the proposed funds, agency financial statements and historical analyses of how last year’s funds were used.

We have healthy debates to ensure we maximize the impact we can make with the allotted budget from the board, which was $600,000 this year. As in prior years, we prioritize our grant allocations based on need and the impact they can make. This year, we felt it important to also factor in rising antisemitism, particularly on college campuses.

Every single dollar goes to the betterment of the Jewish community, locally, in the U.S. and abroad. This year, 65% of the funds went to domestic needs here in Naples and in the United States, while 35% went to Israel and helped internationally. Again, these allocations do not include the additional $1 million we raised here expressly for Israel Emergency efforts. Every single grant will make a huge impact in the Jewish community.

To me, some particularly moving examples are:

• The Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center whose mission is to teach the lessons of the Holocaust and to inspire action against bigotry, hatred and violence to more than 15,000 students and 5,000 visitors this year.

• Our youth programs that promote Jewish identity: Camp and religious school scholarships at Temple Shalom, BBYO, Chabad at FGCU, and Hillel International that touch more than 150,000 young people

• Our programs that protect and save at-risk Jews: Baker Senior Center Holocaust Survivor Program, Ethiopian National Project, Sapir KFar Saba Community Center, and Yad LaKashish Food Program for the Elderly, protecting more than 50,000 needy people

• Our partners that actively fight the critical issue of antisemitism: AntiDefamation League and Jewish Federations of North America, both influencing millions of people

2024 Allocations: $600,000

Local

Baker Senior Center

Beth Tikvah Congregation

B’nai B’rith Youth Organization Naples (BBYO Naples)

Florida Gulf Coast University Chabad

The Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center

Jewish Congregation of Marco Island

Jewish Education Loan Fund

Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida

Jewish War Veterans

Temple Shalom

National, Overseas and Israel

Anti-Defamation League

American Friends of Leket Israel

Ethiopian National Project

Friends of the Arava Institute

Hillel International

Jewish Federations of North America

Jewish National Fund

Neve Michael

Sapir Community Center, Kfar Saba

World ORT

Yad LaKashish

At the Federation, our allocations work is never “done.” We continue an annual cycle that has proven to be straightforward and productive for our partners. We are already planning to send out our grant request packages to potential partners in November 2024 which will be due in February 2025. The Allocations Committee will then review and make allocation determinations in May 2025, with the 2025 grants being awarded by December 2025.

On behalf of the Allocations Committee and Board of Trustees, I thank you for your generosity and entrusting us to make these impactful and inspiring Jewish financial commitments. We hope you are as proud and excited as we are to do so much tangible good in our Jewish community. Indeed, no gift touches more Jewish lives.