Jewish Community Foundation Of Greater Hartford

Mission: The Jewish Community Foundation is dedicated to promoting and perpetuating Jewish philanthropy and enhancing Jewish life through responsible grant making in Greater Hartford and throughout the world.

Background: The Jewish Community Foundation was formed as the “Endowment Fund” in 1972 with $50,000 from the Hartford Jewish Federation to serve the Greater Hartford Jewish community by responding to unforeseen community needs and emergencies, supporting special projects and new programs, and managing charitable funds for the benefit of the community. Today, the foundation manages more than 1,100 charitable funds. As steward of the Jewish community’s endowment, the foundation invests its assets to provide support for the community’s current needs and to preserve charitable resources for use by future generations.

Foundation grants have a broad impact in the Jewish and general communities, and support a breadth of chartable needs — encouraging innovation, addressing emergencies and seeding new community initiatives. In 2008, the foundation distributed more than $3.2 million in grants to charities from its unrestricted community, donor advised and designated funds.

Major Fundraiser: Our goal is to guide donors through a deliberate process of creating a vision for their philanthropy. We work closely with individuals and families in exploring, sharpening and focusing their charitable objectives. Donors may establish funds for a specific purpose, or leave their gift unrestricted to help meet emergency needs in the community. Many donors enjoy the ease of donor advised funds to centralize their giving and involve their children in the grantmaking process.

Special initiatives include “Leave a Jewish Legacy,” a foundation program that assists 22 local agencies, schools and synagogues with establishing bequests and other estate gifts for the community. Since its launch in 2006, $47 million has been identified in bequest expectancies. “The Israel Fund” is a collective donor-advised fund that provides a hands-on way for people to support programs benefiting Israel’s most vulnerable populations.

Leadership: Doreen Fundiller-Zweig,

executive director;

Thomas M. Divine, chair.

Contact Information: Jewish

Community Foundation of Greater Hartford Inc.

333 Bloomfield Ave., Suite D

West Hartford, CT 06117

(860) 523-7460

E-mail: info@jcfhartford.org.

Web site: www.jcfhartford.org

Doreen Fundiller-Zweig is executive director of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford.