Key Facts
Key Information
About
The Jewish Communal Fund (JCF) is the largest Jewish donor-advised fund (DAF) sponsor in the United States and a leading Jewish philanthropy organization, established in 1972 to simplify, enhance, and facilitate tax-efficient, values-driven strategic charitable giving for Jewish philanthropists. Based in New York with national reach and a primary concentration in the tri-state area, JCF manages nearly $4 billion in charitable assets across approximately 5,400–6,600 donor-advised funds, serving over 7,000 fundholders who distributed a record-breaking $1 billion in grants to more than 11,500 charitable organizations in FY 2025 alone. While supporting a diverse range of causes across education, health, social services, Israel-related initiatives, and broader charitable needs, JCF maintains a strong commitment to Jewish life, with roughly 77% of all grants ($471 million in 2025) directed toward Jewish organizations. The organization distinguishes itself by its dual role in facilitating individualized strategic philanthropy while directing a portion of its fee revenue through the Special Gifts Fund to provide unrestricted support to core Jewish communal institutions, particularly UJA-Federation of New York and other organizations; this mechanism creates a reliable funding stream for federation priorities, pressing communal needs such as food security initiatives and emergency relief, and crisis-response grantmaking, allocating millions annually and supported by a portion of JCF's management fees. JCF emphasizes professional investment management and oversight, low administrative costs, multi-generational legacy and succession planning, crisis response capabilities, and expanded technological infrastructure, including a custom client portal to efficiently manage its 95,500 annual grants and serve thousands of fundholders, acting as a central vehicle for Jewish philanthropy.