The North American Jewish federation system raised $2.4 billion last year.
Its umbrella organization, the United Jewish Communities, made the announcement Thursday for the system of 155 Jewish federations and 400 non-federated Jewish communities.
The local fund-raising branches raised $900 million through their annual campaigns and $1.3 billion in new contributions to endowment funds and planned giving programs. In 2006, UJC brought in $898.1 million from the branches and $2.3 billion in endowment funds and planned giving programs.
The system now has more than $13 billion in endowment funds, which yield approximately $1 billion per year.
The UJC also collected $90 million in 2007 through the Israel Emergency Campaign, which it started in 2006 after Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. The campaign has collected more than $360 million.
The UJC raised another $52 million through supplemental giving campaigns.
“When the day is done, we all care about the bottom line,” the UJC’s president and chief executive officer, Howard Rieger, said in a news release. “Well, the bottom line for UJC and the Jewish Federations of North America during 2007 is $2.4 billion. And in many respects, that is just the beginning of what we do.”
