Jewish Federation of Chicago

JUF/Federation gives help and hope to the most vulnerable through a network of local agencies and programs, transforming the lives of 500,000 Chicagoans of all faiths who are in need at every stage of life.

JUF/Federation stands in solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people worldwide, advocating on key issues, supporting humanitarian assistance for 2 million Jews in Israel and 70 countries around the world, and rushing aid to communities in crisis in Israel and beyond.

JUF/Federation advances Jewish learning and identity, funding the best in formal and informal Jewish education and connections to Israel.

JUF/Federation builds Jewish community and fosters a sense of peoplehood, engaging Jews of all ages and backgrounds in Jewish life and community.

JUF/Federation cultivates Jewish continuity from generation to generation, helping to transmit a vibrant Jewish heritage that honors the past and looks with hope to the future.

JUF/Federation brings the community together from across the spectrum of Jewish life to take part in collective action and ensure the Jewish future.

Through a combination of annual allocations and directed grants, we mobilize more than $200 million in financial resources, which we allocate to more than 70 affiliates, beneficiary agencies and programs that provide wide-ranging direct services and programs to populations in need across the metropolitan area and around the globe.

Among our local partner agencies are Jewish Child & Family Services (JCFS), Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) , Jewish Community Center of Chicago (JCC,) CJE SeniorLife, Mount Sinai Hospital, Associated Talmud Torahs, The ARK, EZRA Multi-Service Center, Maot Chitim, JUF Uptown Café, Response, Keshet, the Hillels of Illinois, SHALVA, and many more. Overseas partners include the Jewish Agency For Israel (JAFI) and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

Additionally, we work closely with the United Way, other sectarian and non-sectarian social service organizations, and many government-supported programs and agencies.

We have a sophisticated planning and allocation process, led by a partnership of staff and lay leaders, involving nearly 200 board and community members and four standing commissions and committees. This planning and allocations process is informed by periodic local population studies that examine the demographic composition of the Chicago-area Jewish community, identify unmet needs, and help us understand the status of community access to existing services. The demographic information gleaned—including population growth and suburban migration, household structure, the intermarriage rate, effects of the recession on local households and congregational membership—informs JUF/Jewish Federation and its agencies in designing and delivering needed community services going forward.

Since 1900, the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago has proudly served as Jewish Chicago's central source of hope and help for people in need. Rooted in a commitment to Jewish collective responsibility, we provide for the most vulnerable members of our community.

JUF/Federation has a 90-member volunteer Board of Directors, thousands of volunteers for our programs and fundraising activities, 250 paid professional staff of the highest caliber, and some 36,000 gifts to our annual campaign. We are led by a President who has been at the organization's helm for more than 38 years and has won national and international acclaim for his leadership in the field of Jewish philanthropy.

We have an efficient infrastructure in place to raise and allocate funds. Our fundraising costs are less than a nickel per dollar. We are rated ""Aa3 with stable outlook"" by Moody's.
The Jewish Federation maintains offices in Springfield, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., to monitor and apply for government funding opportunities and to advocate on a variety of other issues important to our community.

JUF/Federation currently serves 500,000 Chicagoans of all faiths and 2 million Jews in Israel and 70 countries worldwide. We provide an aggregate $200+ million in funding to a network of humanitarian services encompassing 70 agencies and programs that care for people at every stage of life, regardless of their ability to pay. JUF/Federation's leadership role and centralized support services for our network of Jewish communal agencies offers tremendous cost-efficiencies. With combined fundraising expenses of only 4% of total income, we offer a return on investment that is broadly trusted.

With the vast array of needs that JUF addresses, there always will be more that could be done. Our constant objective is to assure that the infrastructure and resources always are in place and prepared to meet and adapt to whatever circumstances arise, and to be proactive in identifying them in their earliest stages.

We know there are tens of thousands of individuals who rely upon the services and programs offered by our affiliate and beneficiary agencies for daily support - and in many cases, for survival. Our goal is to continue increasing the allocations for our affiliate and beneficiary agencies, and to allow them to expand the services and programs they can provide—with the ultimate goal of eliminating wait lists for services.