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I hope by now you’ve heard the big news this week, which is that we exceeded our goal and generated $8.7 million for the community through the Federation Annual Campaign. Included in this is $850,000 in targeted funding to support specific programs that address community priorities. We also raised an additional $1.1 million in funding that was generated outside the campaign for specific projects.

Thank you to everyone who made a gift. Your donations help to support people across our community whose lives are impacted by the issues of affordability and accessibility of Jewish life. You are helping to extend our reach and that of our partners so we can deliver Jewish programing to the thousands of Jews who live in emerging communities outside of Vancouver. And you are keeping the cost of participating in Jewish community life affordable for those hit hard by the high cost of living in Vancouver. 

A strong Annual Campaign means that our partners can continue to address the many needs identified in our 2020 Strategic Priorities, and that they can continue to rely on the Annual Campaign as a consistent source of funding for the vital programs and services they deliver, on which thousands of people rely.

Back in September, our campaign chair, Alex Cristall, expressed his straightforward vision of what we needed to do for the community. He wanted to make it easier to live a Jewish life, and I believe your gift is doing just that.

Alex understands that a healthy Annual Campaign relies in part on continually growing the number of donors, and he and his family spearheaded the funding of a very generous incentive: Every time a new donor made a gift or a donor who had stopped giving renewed their support, an extra $250 was donated to the campaign. It was an incredibly successful effort, and nearly 500 donors contributed to the Annual Campaign for the first time or came back.

And it’s not just the Annual Campaign that is going strong.

Overall, Jewish Federation generated an unprecedented $18.5 million this year. This includes a record $8.7 million in contributions to endowment funds at the Jewish Community Foundation, the $8.7 million raised through the Annual Campaign, and the additional $1.1 million in targeted funding.

Meeting changing community needs requires transforming the ways in which funds are generated, and providing multiple pathways for partner agencies to access support. We are diversifying the ways in which Jewish Federation generates funds so we and our partners are better able to address growing and evolving needs. This includes adapting to changing philanthropic trends and working proactively with donors.

Every successful Annual Campaign takes tremendous effort on the part of a team led by the Working Cabinet. Our Board chair, Karen James, and I would like to give enormous kavod to everyone who worked so hard to make the campaign a success:

Alex Cristall - Campaign Chair
Neil Pollock - Past Campaign Chair 
Jonathon Leipsic and Andrew Merkur - Co-chairs, Major Gifts 
Megan Laskin - Chair, Women’s Philanthropy
Shay Keil and Ken Miller - Co-chairs, Men’s Philanthropy
Marcus Brandt, Bram Glotman and Bryan Hack - Co-chairs, Young Adult Philanthropy
Al Szajman - Chair, Marketing and Communications
Alvin Wasserman - Campaign Advisor
Sue Hector and David Waterman - Canvasser Development
Catherine Epstein - Agency Liaison
Michael Nemirow - Sponsorship

We would also like to thank our more than 250 volunteer canvassers, without whom we simply could not operate the campaign. At its heart, canvassing is one Jew asking another Jew to help a third Jew neither of them knows. It isn’t always easy for volunteer canvassers to carve time out of their busy lives to call, email and meet in person with donors, but they always find a way. Many of them have been canvassing for more than 20 years, and they form the backbone of the campaign.

The other unsung heroes, or in this case heroines, of the campaign are our staff. We would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of Laura Braude, manager of women’s philanthropy, who was recently promoted to the role of campaign director; Dana Soffer, manager of men’s philanthropy; Elizabeth Fesherman, our campaign coordinator, who has been promoted to manager of young adult initiatives; and Ayelet Cohen Weil, manager of major gifts, who has recently taken on the position of manager of women’s philanthropy.

You can already see the impact of successful campaigns from past years on our community and in our partnership region in Israel. From the hiring of a director of security, to new Hebrew school programs in Langley and Squamish, to inclusive activities for children with and without disabilities in Kiryat Shmona, and events that welcome newcomers to Vancouver, your support touches thousands of lives.

In addition to feeling ever so grateful for your support this week, I had the pleasure of accompanying my wife Rachel at the Jewish Family Services Innovators Lunch on Tuesday, and of attending the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade Annual Governors’ Banquet, where Gordon and Leslie Diamond received the Rix Award for Engaged Community Citizenship. These two events are great examples of the important work our partner agencies do and of the philanthropists we are so privileged to have in our community.

Shabbat shalom,

Ezra S. Shanken
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver