Determination to raise larger sums in 1955 and to strengthen central Jewish community organizations on a long range basis was expressed by 250 Jewish community leaders at the West Central regional conference of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds held here.
Top federation fund-raising leaders from 20 cities in the ten states comprising the region, agreed on the urgent need for immediate evaluation of fund-raising methods, to aid solid planning for the 1955 campaigns and the handling of independent campaigns. Philip Bernstein, executive director of the CJFWF, in a major address, traced the growth of central community organizations in the 60 years since the first Jewish federation was organized.
Considering more effective means for fund-raising in 1955, the delegates issued a call to communities to “immediately re-assess fund-raising methods employed in the past and manifest their determination to quickly and carefully plan 1955 campaigns: so that larger sums of money will be raised to meet urgent demands for assistance and services for our Jewish people in Israel, elsewhere abroad, nationally and in our local communities.”
Another resolution urged the communities to “forthrightly examine the problem posed by the growth of multiple appeals so that suitable action may be taken where-ever possible, to strengthen the positions of federations and welfare funds as central fund-raising, financing and community planning instruments; all needs may be met in accordance with the primacy of such needs; unity may prevail and Jewish community life flourish in a harmonious atmosphere.”
The delegates also reaffirmed the primacy of the central campaign and urged the establishment of effective policies for dealing with independent campaigns. They also noted the need for recruiting and developing new leaders, and urged all communities to institute and intensify programs for securing new leadership.
In addressing the conference, Mr. Bernstein declared that “there are today over 250 central Jewish community organizations embracing almost 800 communities serving every type of major need representing the common responsibility of all Jews. They are a great and unique contribution of American Jewry to America and to Jewry throughout the world–the forerunner of Community Chests and United Funds.” The conference also marked the 50th anniversary of the Omaha Jewish Federation, one of the pioneers in organized philanthropy in the West.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
