Forty-six national and overseas Jewish agencies which are major beneficiaries of Jewish welfare funds in this country had an income of $180 million in 1954, including $64 million in special loans for the United Jewish Appeal raised by the Jewish communities. Local Jewish institutions had an income of $118 million during the same year.
This was reported today by the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds in an analysis of developments affecting Jewish philanthropy in the United States during 1954. The report established that Jewish federations and welfare funds raised about $105 million last year. It emphasized that the welfare funds also borrowed the $64 million for the UJA special loan project. The report highlighted the following facts:
1. After deducting costs of local Jewish services in their home communities for activities not financed by community chests, costs of administering their own activities as central community agencies, and normal allowances for adjustments in pledges, welfare funds were able to provide over $56 million to the UJA and 45 other overseas and national agencies. In addition, welfare funds distributed about $250,000 to some 150 agencies, three-quarters of them yeshivoth in Israel in the United States.
2. Contributions from membership sources, from independent campaigns and from earnings on invested funds resulted in income of $33 million to the 46 agencies.
3. In addition, allocations equivalent in value to about $27 million from the proceeds of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany were available for the most part to two major UJA beneficiaries, the JDC and the Jewish Agency.
4. UJA income and expenditures fell by about $15 million in 1954, reflecting in part the reduction in 1954 campaign proceeds of welfare funds. There were also delays in transmission of ordinary funds arising from organization of the special loan project. UJA income of $48.6 million in 1954 was 54 percent of total income of the 46 agencies.
5. Other overseas agencies raised $18.4 million in 1954. Together with UJA income, overseas agencies received 75 percent of the total income of the 46 agencies.
6. About $5.5. million was raised by the agencies in each of the following three fields: Community Relations, Health and Welfare, and Religious. Cultural agencies secured $4.4 million while National Service Agencies raised $1.3 million.
7. Agencies other than UJA spent $40 million in 1954 compared with $37.4 in 1953. All fields, except Community Relations and National Service shared in the rise with major increases for Overseas Agencies, Health, Cultural and Religious Agencies.
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