Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto is a 2-star rated charity. It has a below average results reporting grade and overhead costs outside of Ci’s reasonable range. The charity has $641.4m in reserve funds, of which $58.7m are donor endowed. Non-donor-endowed reserve funds can cover over a decade of annual program costs. Before you give, read Charity Intelligence’s report. 

Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto (previously United Jewish Welfare Fund of Toronto) collects donations and distributes grants to charities in Canada and Israel. The foundation aims to sustain Jewish people, enhance their lives, and strengthen the Jewish community. In F2022, the foundation distributed $52.2m worth of grants to over 700 organizations. In comparison, it granted $39.9m to over 350 organizations in F2021. Grantees include hospitals, food banks, Canadian universities, and Israeli foundations. The charity adds that in F2022, it had $648.8m assets under management, a 96% increase over five years. Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto invests its pooled assets with the goal to produce long-term returns, with a reasonable level of risk. In F2022, its investment return after investment fees was ($39.9) million or -7.3%. The estimated average annual return since 2016 has been 3.3%.

In F2022, the charity’s grants went towards helping those affected by the war in Ukraine, supporting Holocaust survivors, making day school affordable and tackling antisemitism. The charity does not disclose how much it granted in each area.

Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto works with the United Jewish Appeal of Greater Toronto. In F2017, significant changes were made to the corporate structure to increase the partnership’s efficiency. The United Jewish Appeal of Greater Toronto also controls 13 other organizations.

Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto is not fully financially transparent. It only posts its most recent year of financial statements on its website.

Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto received donations of $60.3m in F2022, a $57.7m drop compared with $118.1m in donations in F2021. Administrative costs are 2% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 2% of donations. This results in overhead costs of 4%. For every dollar donated, 96 cents are available for programs, which is outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

The foundation has $641.4m in reserve funds, of which $58.7m are donor endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, the foundation could cover 11 years and ten months of grants at the F2022 level with reserves. The foundation reports a -4.7% investment return in F2022.

The charity does not report any employees on its CRA filings.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on August 25, 2023 by Victoria Allder.