Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund history

In 1947, the Chairman of the Princeton United Jewish Appeal (PUJA), Albert Einstein, reached out to our local Jewish community to raise funds and awareness.

In 1954, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles was established by a small group of Jewish leaders who, in a time of post-war prosperity, had the wisdom to plan for the community's future needs and build permanent resources for the community.

The Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Mercer was first established in 1963 as part of the Trenton Federation.

Our HistoryFounded in 1967, JCF is the oldest community foundation in the region.

With nearly 50 years, Jewish Communal Fund takes great pride in our mission of celebrating our tradition of exemplary service to our donors and commitment to support the Jewish community that Herbert M. Singer instituted back in 1972.

The "Making Marriage Work" program was developed in 1975 at Temple Adat Ari El, expanded thereafter with a Foundation grant.

In 1981, the JWF changed its name to the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties (the Federation) to better reflect its mission and the geographic area that it served.

In 1983, for the first time in JCF’s history, assets exceeded the $100,000,000 mark.

Beit T’Shuvah – “House of Return” – opened its doors in 1987, thanks to funding from the Jewish Community Foundation for the purchase of a house near downtown Los Angeles.

The Foundation was among 30 institutions which provided pooled funds to support the Los Angeles Urban Funders (LAUF) as a direct result of the 1992 Los Angeles civil unrest.

In 1993, as part of a comprehensive plan to build endowment and create greater flexibility in addressing the needs of the community, the Endowment Fund became an independent, self-supporting charitable entity.

At the start of the millennial in 2000, our growing endowment formally became the Special Gifts Fund, and it continues to be a critically important source of support for Jewish charitable organizations in the greater New York area.

In 2001, JCF was honored to be named one of the nation’s four most efficient charities according to Forbes.

And, in 2003, the Chronicle of Philanthropy rated JCF as the second largest grant-maker in the country and third largest in assets.

In 2006, The Foundation and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission launched a collaborative effort to fund over 150 arts residency programs in LA County public schools.

These guidelines were formally approved by the Federation's Board of Directors on Thursday, February 18, 2010.

In the summer of 2014, The Foundation created Voices of L.A.: The Krupnick Festival of the Arts, a city-wide, cross-cultural collaboration of music, dance, spoken word, and visual arts that was attended by thousands.

In 2017, The Foundation and its 1300+ donors and families distributed a record-high $100 million in grants to more than 2,000 nonprofit organizations.

In 2019, the East Bay Federation and the Jewish Community Foundation of the East Bay transferred its operations to the San Francisco-based Federation.