Cathrine Fischer Schwartz

I want to take this opportunity to share additional information about the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford’s new funding model.
The nature of Jewish affiliation is changing – a decline in participation in Jewish life is a national trend that is having an impact here in greater Hartford. When the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, as part of a strategic community planning process, decided to move to a new allocations model, we did so in order to support and strengthen a positive sense of Jewish identity within our local Jewish community.
The new process has been robust.  We received 51 funding requests for specific programs or activities in furtherance of our community priorities. In prior years, we received approximately 25 requests to fund general agency operations.  One of the benefits of this new model is the enhanced engagement of our volunteers in the allocations process. This year, we have involved 50 volunteer evaluators and planning team members, representing a diverse cross-section of the Jewish community. The evaluations are ‘hands on’ as teams visit the programs for which funding is being sought. Volunteer evaluators jointly discuss and make funding recommendations for the programs within their priority area.
We have received positive feedback from both our volunteer evaluators and potential funding recipients. One evaluator stated, “I have been involved in the Jewish Community for two decades and I have never visited Jewish Family Services. I was very impressed with their professionalism and the wide range of services they provide.”  Similarly, the head of one of our day schools noted, “Having Federation leadership visit our school is a real plus. They saw first hand the quality of our education and the happiness of our students. Hopefully, they will be ambassadors for our school.”
While the funding priorities Federation adopted are broad enough to adapt to the changing needs of our community in the future, the primary activities that will be funded include: Jewish education and other programs that have a positive impact on Jewish identity and continuity; outreach and engagement activities which seek to increase the number of Jews and their families/significant others who participate in the community; and services that protect the most vulnerable members of our community, locally and globally. Our overarching goal remains to INCREASE the number of community members who identify as Jews, participate in the community and are committed to the perpetuation of our Jewish community.
Another benefit of this approach is that funding specific projects will help us, at Federation, identify gaps in service and promote the development of programs to meet emerging needs as the demographics and needs of our community change. In addition, we believe that more clearly identifying the programs that the Federation is funding will allow us to be more responsive to our donors’ interests, thereby increasing the overall funds available to support the Jewish community.
By providing opportunities for community members to work together to better understand and support Jewish life, and by allocating resources to organizations that support the education, heritage and social commitment of the Jewish community, the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford builds stronger Jewish leadership and ensures the continued growth, vitality and preservation of our Jewish community as a whole.
Catherine Fischer Schwartz is president and chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford.