INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS & JEWS
EIN: 36-3256096
Mission
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is the leading non-profit building bridges between Christians and Jews, blessing Israel and the Jewish people around the world with humanitarian care and lifesaving aid. The Fellowship has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to programs helping Jews from the former Soviet Union, India, Ethiopia, and elsewhere resettle in Israel, as well as funding programs that fight poverty in Israel and help impoverished elderly Jews and orphans in the former Soviet Union.
Ruling year
1983
President and CEO
Yael Eckstein
Main address
303 E Wacker Dr. Suite 2300
Chicago, IL 60601 USA
EIN
36-3256096
Religion
Interfaith
International relations
Population served
Christians
Jewish people
Immigrants and migrants
Economically disadvantaged people
Victims and oppressed people
NTEE code
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (X01)
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution (X12)
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution (Q12)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Tax forms
Communication
Affiliations
Programs and results
Reports and documents
Download annual reportsWhat we aim to solve
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews seeks to provide basic needs like food, heat, medicine, and security to Israelis and Jews in need around the world; to provide the opportunity for Jews living in poverty and threatened by anti-Semitism with the opportunity to find a better life in Israel by making aliyah (immigrating to Israel); to provide immediate and effective humanitarian response to those in need in times of emergency; and to build bridges between Christians and Jews by fostering dialogue, understanding, and active cooperation on issues of shared concern.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Guardians of Israel
Meeting the needs of Israel's poorest citizens remains a high priority for The Fellowship. Through its Guardians of Israel program, The Fellowship assists hundreds of thousands of impoverished people in Israel with basic needs as they struggle to overcome extreme economic hardship, find jobs, and provide for their families. The Fellowship is actively involved in 200 Israeli cities providing food, clothing, shelter, medical care, emergency funds, and other resources to those in desperate need. With more than 20 percent of Israel’s total population, including one in three children, living below the poverty line, and the Israeli government unable to provide for many of its poorest citizens, this assistance is absolutely essential. Through Guardians of Israel, The Fellowship also provides for Israel’s security needs.
On Wings of Eagles
Assists needy Jews in making aliyah (immigrating to Israel) from 25 countries from all over the world including the former Soviet Union, Argentina, France and elsewhere – to escape rising anti-Semitism, violent conflict and extreme poverty, and to realize the dream of living in their historic homeland. When they arrive in Israel, On Wings of Eagles provides them with klitah (resettlement) assistance in the form of temporary housing, job training, and financial assistance, to help them become full, productive citizens of their new home.
Isaiah 58
Throughout the former Soviet Union, tens of thousands of elderly Jews, orphans, and other desperately poor people struggle to survive. Survivors of both the Holocaust and years of Communist rule today still battle hunger, illness, and brutal cold. In war-torn Ukraine, the problem is compounded by continuous fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian separatists. Many innocent civilians have been displaced and have lost everything they had. Working with partner organizations and local Jewish communities, The Fellowship’s Isaiah 58 program provides these suffering people with essentials like heating fuel, food, medicine, shelter, and companionship, and helps improve their living conditions. Isaiah 58 also rescues orphaned and abandoned Jewish children from the streets, and provides them with homes where they receive the support and love they need to succeed.
Stand for Isarel
Through the Stand for Israel website, social media presence, and daily emails, Stand for Israel keeps people informed about events affecting Israel, the Middle East, and the US-Israel relationship, and trains them to become active, engaged supporters of Israel, working both spiritually and politically on behalf of the Jewish state and the Jewish people.
Where we work
Awards
One of the Top 50 NonProfits to Work For 2011 2011
The NonProfit Times
One of the Best NonProfits to Work For 2021
The NonProfit Times
NonProfit Organization of the Year 2021
ANA NonProfit Association
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total dollar amount of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Mission Services (allocations and disbursements)
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The Fellowship helped more than 2 million people in 2022 by providing basic needs to 1 million people, providing security to 800,000 people, and helping 9,000 Jews return to Israel.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Poverty: For a developed country, Israel has a very high poverty rate. According to Israel’s National Insurance Institute recent studies, 21.2% of the Israeli population lives in poverty, including almost 1 in 3 children. The elderly are also particularly vulnerable: among them, an estimated 1 in 4 Holocaust survivors live in poverty. Poverty in the former Soviet Union is likewise a serious problem, and Jews who live in rural areas – particularly those who are elderly and unable to take care of themselves – are among the ones who suffer most.
The need for security: As the world sees an alarming spike in anti-Semitism, Jews and Jewish institutions around the globe are at risk of attack. In Israel, the threat of terrorism and war is ever-present, particularly for Israelis who live near the borders of Gaza and Lebanon.
The need for aliyah: Many Jews around the world long to make aliyah (immigrate to Israel) in order to escape poverty and anti-Semitism, start a new life, and fulfill their dream of living in their ancestral homeland, but they lack the means to do so.
The need to build bridges of understanding: For millennia, the relationship between Christians and Jews has been characterized by misunderstanding and animosity. The Fellowship fosters cooperation and understanding between members of these two great faiths by teaching Christians the Jewish origins of their faith, educating Christians on Jewish faith and life, and bringing Christians and Jews together to support humanitarian causes in Israel and the former Soviet Union.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
- Grow our support and contributions by increasing our reach and impact through efficient and effective fundraising efforts
- Expand through development and cultivation of new geographic markets and new innovative programs
- Optimize and strengthen the implementation of our programs through key partnerships to effectively address the needs in key program areas
- Stay focused on our core mission of alleviating poverty, providing security, facilitating aliyah (immigration to Israel) and klitah (resettlement), and bridge building
- Unite as a global organization, creating efficiency and operational excellence
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Along with our programs of direct assistance, since its founding in 1983 The Fellowship has established longstanding working relationships with other NGOs and Israeli governmental agencies that have built a reliable and durable infrastructure to distribute aid in Israel. Our wide network of partners and volunteers allows us to deliver aid efficiently and effectively to those who need it most. As the largest provider of humanitarian aid in Israel, The Fellowship is a trusted non-profit with decades of experience supporting the nation’s infrastructure and needy population segments.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since our founding in 1983, The Fellowship has raised more than $2 billion to help Israel and her people. Today, The Fellowship provides humanitarian aid – essentials like food, medicine, and heating – to more than 1.7 million people in need worldwide each year, including the elderly, Holocaust survivors, children, and victims of terror. The Fellowship’s support of aliyah (immigration to Israel) has enabled more than 750,000 Jews to immigrate to and establish successful lives in the Holy Land. Thousands more are helped through dozens of security projects funded by The Fellowship around the world. Many of the poorest Jewish families in the world live in the nations of the former Soviet Union and small Jewish communities worldwide, where The Fellowship helps more than 230,000 of these people by providing vital food and supplies each year.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
• The Fellowship serves all of the citizens of Israel and Jews around the world. • The Fellowship's programs in the field of poverty and social welfare serve Israel's neediest citizens and needy Jews in the former Soviet Union. • The Fellowship's programs in the field of aliyah (immigration) and klitah (absorption) serves olim (immigrants) from 44 countries. • The Fellowship's programs in the field of emergency and security serve all of the citizens of Israel.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
SMS text surveys, Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To inform the development of new programs/projects, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
Following feedback from beneficiaries and caretakers of beneficiaries of the With Dignity and Fellowship program, the amount of monthly food support to the needy elderly beneficiaries was raised by 50%.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board,
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How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?
The Fellowship receives feedback from partner organizations and adjusts its services accordingly. An example is the provision of Teff flour to needy elderly Ethiopian-Israeli beneficiaries of the With Dignity and Fellowship program following this request.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We act on the feedback we receive,
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to identify actionable feedback,
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2020 info
4.02
Months of cash in 2020 info
3.3
Fringe rate in 2020 info
32%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS & JEWS
Revenue & expensesFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS & JEWS
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS & JEWS
Financial trends analysis Glossary & formula definitionsFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
This snapshot of INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS & JEWS’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
Created in partnership with
Business model indicators
| Profitability info | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | $4,988,719 | -$11,006,448 | -$4,434,832 | $7,137,325 | $27,998,888 |
| As % of expenses | 3.8% | -8.2% | -3.8% | 6.2% | 21.3% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $4,932,807 | -$11,088,677 | -$4,527,705 | $7,013,315 | $27,883,064 |
| As % of expenses | 3.7% | -8.2% | -3.9% | 6.1% | 21.2% |
| Revenue composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $131,121,389 | $121,344,142 | $119,972,709 | $118,135,872 | $157,576,361 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | -1.3% | -7.5% | -1.1% | -1.5% | 33.4% |
| Program services revenue | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.6% |
| Government grants | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| All other grants and contributions | 99.0% | 98.6% | 98.1% | 97.4% | 99.2% |
| Other revenue | 0.3% | 0.6% | 1.0% | 2.0% | 0.2% |
| Expense composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $132,064,067 | $134,343,488 | $116,565,528 | $114,764,531 | $131,531,811 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | 5.5% | 1.7% | -13.2% | -1.5% | 14.6% |
| Personnel | 13.4% | 9.4% | 11.5% | 11.6% | 10.2% |
| Professional fees | 6.7% | 3.2% | 3.8% | 6.0% | 6.2% |
| Occupancy | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.7% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Pass-through | 49.6% | 63.4% | 53.6% | 51.2% | 53.8% |
| All other expenses | 29.4% | 23.3% | 30.3% | 30.4% | 29.0% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $132,119,979 | $134,425,717 | $116,658,401 | $114,888,541 | $131,647,635 |
| One month of savings | $11,005,339 | $11,195,291 | $9,713,794 | $9,563,711 | $10,960,984 |
| Debt principal payment | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed asset additions | $137,303 | $112,521 | $124,189 | $135,668 | $155,818 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $143,262,621 | $145,733,529 | $126,496,384 | $124,587,920 | $142,764,437 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 3.3 |
| Months of cash and investments | 4.2 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 6.9 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 3.1 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 4.9 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $11,899,054 | $10,866,137 | $14,785,010 | $11,461,847 | $36,488,599 |
| Investments | $34,863,232 | $32,365,299 | $30,031,838 | $39,921,296 | $39,501,111 |
| Receivables | $282,200 | $58,819 | $584,122 | $272,905 | $1,069,498 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $1,198,298 | $1,310,699 | $1,412,738 | $1,548,501 | $1,704,319 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 79.8% | 79.2% | 78.5% | 79.6% | 79.1% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 29.3% | 45.8% | 47.3% | 39.8% | 22.9% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $34,328,389 | $23,239,712 | $18,712,007 | $25,725,322 | $53,608,386 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | $0 | $625,153 | $5,404,293 | N/A | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | $503,144 | $503,144 | $506,800 | N/A | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $503,144 | $1,128,297 | $5,911,093 | $6,376,118 | $7,326,879 |
| Total net assets | $34,831,533 | $24,368,009 | $24,623,100 | $32,101,440 | $60,935,265 |
Key data checks
| Key data checks info | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material data errors | No | No | No | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
President and CEO
Yael Eckstein
As President and CEO of The Fellowship, Yael Eckstein oversees all ministry programs and serves as the international spokesperson. Prior to her present duties, Yael served as Global Executive Vice President, Senior Vice President, and Director of Program Development and Ministry Outreach. Based in Jerusalem with her husband and their four children, Yael is a published writer and a respected social services professional.
She has contributed to The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel, and other publications, and is the author of two books: Holy Land Reflections: A Collection of Inspirational Insights from Israel, and Spiritual Cooking with Yael. In addition, her insights into life in Israel, the Jewish faith, and Jewish-Christian relations can be heard weekly on The Fellowship’s radio programs Holy Land Moments which air five times per week on over 1,500 radio stations around the world.
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS & JEWS
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS & JEWS
Highest paid employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS & JEWS
Board of directorsas of 01/18/2023
Board of directors data
Bishop Paul Lanier
Suzanne Peyser
Community Volunteer
J. R. Dupell
Community Volunteer
Steven Hefter
Community Volunteer
David Clark
Community Volunteer
Keith Frankel
Community Volunteer
Paul Lanier
Community Volunteer
Jacob Schimmel
Community Volunteer
Johnnie Moore
Community Volunteer
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Contractors
Fiscal year endingProfessional fundraisers
Fiscal year endingSOURCE: IRS Form 990 Schedule G
Solicitation activities
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