THE YEAR IN REVIEW
by Todd Leonard, Minneapolis Jewish Federation President

Before I start, I want to thank each of you for your ongoing support of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation; additionally, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Jim Cohen, our CEO, and all the Federation staff, they have worked overtime in relentless pursuit of how best to deal with our Minneapolis Federation and all of our community’s issues during this time of crisis.

Our lives have been turned upside down. Our community has been significantly impacted by COVID. I am extremely proud and humbled to be the president of our organization is such a time of crisis.

COVID-19 EMERGENCY RESPONSE
Federation took immediate action when COVID first hit our community. The Federation board created a COVID response team and since March of this year set aside $3.6 million from unrestricted resources to allocate to local and overseas organizations in need.

The COVID team has responded to 57 requests and has already distributed almost $2.8 million of the funds to meet PPE, safety, technology needs for remote operations, and loss of revenue needs throughout the greater Minneapolis Jewish Community covering all streams of Judaism and all Jewish organizations in our community.

Prior to COVID, Federation had many plans and goals for the last 12 months. Last fall, the board adopted a strategic plan with ten overarching objectives to achieve by 2025. Little did we know that COVID would condense the first two and a half years of the plan into less than three months. It is a tremendous source of pride that despite the crisis we have faced, and in some cases because of it, we have made tremendous strides in advancing our aims. Our strategic plan’s primary goal calls for collaboration with our community and between Jewish organizations, additionally, it calls for the development of shared services.

COLLABORATION
Our COVID-19 emergency response provided on the opportunity and frankly the necessity to accelerate our plans. By offering significant assistance to our partners in the preparation of PPP loans applications, providing shared legal counsel for organizations seeking to redirect designated funds for emergency purposes and by provided shared and free, cash flow analysis for organizations seeking emergency funding, we demonstrated what we could do in this area and the power of the collective. Thanks to our application assistance, and the incredible lobbying of our colleagues at the JCRC, our community organizations received over $3 million in PPP funds which were urgently needed. The PPP funding offset the need for our Jewish community to make another $3 million investment and came just in time to save may of our community organizations and synagogues from financial ruin.

As part of the COVID recovery discussions, conversations have emerged about shared educational resources, buying collectives, community-wide nursing positions, and a whole host of other collaborative ventures. Again, shared services and collaboration are the cornerstones of Federation’s future.

JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
We often refer to the Jewish Community Foundation as a jewel. And we certainly have added polish to our jewel over the last 12 months. As part of our commitment to promoting and inspiring Jewish philanthropy, despite the COVID crisis, we launched the Network of Philanthropic Advisors…this group was established to help initiate and elevate current conversations about philanthropy with clients.

We also increased the number of donor-advised funds under management by offering the DAF challenge, which added $134,234 into our community’s philanthropic coffers, 75% over the minimum we expected.

And to promote philanthropy in this age of COVID and civil unrest, we strengthened our match-making capability—working with our fundholders to match them to crisis-related need. To date, just over $328,000 has been funneled from the Foundation directly to COVID and crisis-related programs and needs. This is an increase of 24% over the same period last year.

While speaking about these accomplishments, I must pause for a moment and thank our outgoing Foundation Chair David Parrish. Many of these successes have his fingerprints on them. Because of his foresight and good nature, we will reap benefits long past the conclusion of his term.

PHILANTHROPY & JEWISH LIFE
Bridging the space between philanthropy and Jewish Life, we recently launched a Twin Cities Giving Circle—a partnership between our Young Adult Leadership Action platform and one of our overseas partners—JDC. Through this program, young Jews are learning about the Jewish world around them and making their first significant gifts simultaneously.

Enriching Jewish life and engagement has certainly been a challenge during the pandemic. But we didn’t let that stop us. When the cancellation of camp put our beloved overnight and day camps at risk of financial ruin, Federation stepped into action, allocating $1 million in emergency funds within 48 hours of the camps’ closing announcements so that the camps could offer refunds and pay their immediate bills. We know how vital camp is to the future of our community and we will continue to do all we can to support our camps.

Despite the pandemic, we also moved forward with our plans to launch G2—a program for bnei mitzvah aged kids and their grandparents, to learn about and hopefully, some-day soon, experience Israel. Over two dozen individuals in our community are reaping the benefits of this program and we hope to expand it in the years to come.

Though it seems a distant memory, this past winter we sent a second group of recently married Minnesotans on a Honeymoon Israel trip. Accompanied by our amazing YALA manager Emma Dunn and Adath Jeshurun’s very own Rabbi Aaron Weininger, twenty couples, most of them intermarried, same-sex, or new to the organized Jewish world, gained experiences and insights and a sense of belonging which will tie them to our community for decades to come.

In an age where the notion of federated giving and the power of the collective has been intensely scrutinized and perhaps unfairly criticized, Minneapolis Jewish Federation’s accomplishments over the past twelve months demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt our organization’s purpose, as well as its promise.

I think you will agree with me that added to everything else we have achieved in the past 12 months, we have much to be proud of.

Please everyone, social distance, take minimal health risks, and hopefully, we will all be meeting together next year. Thank you.

90 is the new 18! (Part 1—The Year in Review)