Founded in 1964, Jewish Foundation of Manitoba (JFM) collects gifts from Manitoban donors, invests the principal in perpetuity, and distributes the interest income earned as grants and scholarships into communities in Manitoba. The Foundation offers donors ten fund types they can open depending on where they want their money to go. Donors may make designated donations, ensuring the interest made on their donation goes to a specific cause, or undesignated donations, allowing the Foundation to disburse interest income to where it is needed most.

In F2018, 73% of distribution commitments made by JFM were designated and 13% were undesignated. The remaining 15% of distributions were flow-through commitments. The Foundation states that its distributions support education, arts and culture, health and social services, Jewish life, recreation, or religion. 

Jewish Foundation of Manitoba categorizes its distributions into six areas: Israel-based organizations grants, Jewish community grants, women’s endowment fund grants, general community grants, special grants, and scholarships. In F2018, 71% of undesignated grants made by the Foundation went toward Jewish community support, 19% went to general community support, and 9% went toward women’s endowment fund grants.

Major undesignated grant recipients in F2018 include: Camp Massad Manitoba (received $100k for swimming pool repairs and an additional $35k to purchase a new kitchen exhaust and fire suppression system), Adas Yeshurun Herzlia Congregation (received $46k for renovations), Temple Shalom Manitoba (received $35k to hire an Engagement Officer and additional $30k to repair the facility’s windows), Jewish Federation of Winnipeg (received $25k to afford professional help in using its data and fundraising tracking system), and United Way Winnipeg (received $25k in support of its ‘For Every Family’ campaign).

Major recipients of women’s endowment fund grants include 1JustCity (received $9,583 to hire a female housing coordinator), Rady Jewish Community Centre (received $8,500 to partner with Jewish Child and Family Services), and Klinic Community Health Centre (received $8,000 to build a cultural space for women and transgender people with a history of trauma).

In 1964, JFM’s founders (Joseph Halprin, Sam Werier and Abe Werier) donated a 294-acre property near Middlechurch, MB. The land was donated so that it could eventually be sold, and the proceeds could create the Halprin-Werier Founders’ Fund to earn interest income for charitable grants. In F2018, the land sold for $905k and the proceeds went into the Fund for perpetuity.

Jewish Foundation of Manitoba is a large charity, receiving $7.6m in donations in F2018. Administrative costs are 23% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 1% of donations. Per dollar donated to the charity, 76 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Jewish Foundation of Manitoba holds $116.2m in investments, with 62% in equities and 26% in bonds. 47% of investments are held in international accounts. Investment income net of fees was just under $10.0m in F2018, and unrealized losses were $12.5m. With net investment income of ($2.5m), the Foundation had an ROI of -2.2% (9.5% in F2017; 5.8% in F2016). Ci used starting investment balances in its ROI calculation and excluded investments in Canadian real estate. 

Total funding reserves of $116.2m can cover annual granting activities 171 times at the F2018 level. Assuming a 5% annual return on the Foundation’s endowment funds ($114.3m in F2018), annual granting activities can be covered indefinitely.

Ci typically adjusts grants for changes in grants payable to report actual cash grants made during the year. This adjustment would increase total grants by $131k in F2018, decrease total grants by $1.4m in F2017, and increase total grants by $1.5m in F2016. However, the charity’s audited financials do not break down grants payable into designated and undesignated accounts. As such, Ci did not make any adjustment in its financial analysis.

Jewish Foundation of Manitoba’s audited financials report several grant commitments in the upcoming years: $150k committed to Assiniboine Park Conservancy over a five-year period starting in F2015; $50k committed to Canadian Museum of Human Rights over an eight-year period starting in F2015; $125k committed to United Way over a five-year period starting in F2017; and $100k committed to Camp Massad in F2019.

F2017 compensation information represents the most current data available from the charity's T3010 CRA filings at the time of this profile update. 

This profile update has been sent to Jewish Foundation of Manitoba for review. Comments and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on August 6, 2019 by Katie Khodawandi.