As non-profit institutions are losing donations in wake of the current world financial crisis, the United States’ largest Jewish federation has decided to downsize. The United Jewish Appeal (UJA)-New York announced Wednesday that it plans to lay off 53 employees, more than 11 percent of its staff.
The anticipated loss of funds took into account loss of donations from New York donors who were hit hard by the Madoff Ponzi scheme, even though the agency itself was not directly touched by the scandal. Federation CEO John S. Ruskay confirmed the layoffs on the same day that employees were notified.
"We are doing everything we can to maintain support of our agencies and programs," he said. It was estimated that the downsizing, along with the decision to eliminate 20 unfilled staff positions and other cost-cutting measures, would save the federation an estimated $7.4 million.
UJA-New York funds hundreds of non-profit organizations in New York and abroad. The agency plans to slightly reduce its allocations, and has also cut travel expenses, reduced its events budget, and mandated a salary freeze in its efforts to bail out of an $8.9 million deficit it anticipated for 2010.
But the downsizing has come as a surprise. In July, the UJA-Federation of New York officials announced that $153.7 million was raised for its annual campaign, a $2.7 million increase over the previous fiscal year. In total, UJA-Federation raised more than $225 million, including $47.1 million in Planned Giving & Endowments, an increase of more than $3 million.
The world’s largest local philanthropy, UJA-Federation of New York provides non-sectarian funding of programs for those in need and assists Jews in New York, in Israel, and around the world.