The fiscal year 2012 funding plan of THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore reflects the remarkable strength of our Annual Campaign in very difficult economic times, and the leadership of our community in responding to Jews in need in Baltimore, in Israel and around the world.

Although Baltimore continues to have one of the strongest campaigns and endowments in the country, we too are challenged by the lasting impact of the economic downturn. As a result, our lay and professional leadership have been forced to make difficult decisions on where to invest our limited resources to ensure we are maximizing our ability to strengthen and support the Baltimore Jewish community.

In hard times, it is especially important to remain focused on the future. Our funding plan is very much informed by data emanating from the 2010 Greater Baltimore Jewish Community Study.  The data showcases for us the need to provide services that respond to the growing number of community members who are economically at risk, provide an array of supportive services to the growing number of seniors and ensure the delivery of social and human services to families in crisis.  At the same time, we recognize the need to invest in the next generation by making Judaism relevant and meaningful to 18–34 year olds, engaging families with young children and ensuring cost is not a prohibitive factor to participation in Jewish life. 

For fiscal year 2012, more than $43.7 million is being invested in our strategic priorities.  While this represents a slight reduction from the previous year, we made the decision to maintain our commitment to our local agencies by providing 100 percent funding in the aggregate.  In order to sustain this level of funding to our local agencies, allocations to Israel and overseas had to be reduced by 1.7 percent and funding to national agencies decreased by 12 percent.  Our partnerships with our national and overseas providers continue to be of critical importance to the mission of THE ASSOCIATED and these reductions were made reluctantly.  In light of these reductions, we should not diminish the important role our partners play in building a vibrant Jewish life locally, nationally and around the world.

Looking at fiscal year 2013 and beyond, we expect social service needs in our community to continue at a high level, while we face reduced public funding and a difficult resource development environment.  While there is no doubt our community and our Federation remains strong, we must continue to focus on a business plan that enables us to realize our mission, fulfill our values and advance our vision for the future of our community.

View the complete FY12 Allocations Report>>