The Human Services Relief Matching Fund

The need for Jewish Human Services is growing — this limited-time matching fund can help fill the gap.

Jewish Federations across North America have been blessed with some of the most compassionate donors in the world. Still, due to the current economic crisis, an estimated 1.2 million Jewish adults are worried about paying their next month’s housing costs. More than 500,000 are facing food insecurity, not confident they will be able to afford to feed their families – unless we support these unmet needs. That’s why JFNA created the Human Services Relief Matching Fund, to raise $54 million to increase our efforts. These funds will go exclusively to meet the critical needs of our Jewish community members most affected by the crisis.

Here’s how it works.

From now until December 31, 2020, every eligible dollar given to your Jewish Federation’s Human Services Relief Matching Fund will be matched by 50%. Gifts are eligible if a donor’s intention is to support Jewish human services, and donors must be either increasing their existing gift, be a first-time donor, or not have made a gift in at least 18 months. The matching fund will count only the increase and not the maintained gift amounts. If that’s the case, then a $10,000 donation becomes $15,000. $200,000 becomes $300,000, and so on. That is real change.

Just imagine what this 50% match means in human terms.

If $100,000 can enable 20 families to keep a roof over their heads, then the 50% match to that gift will enable 10 additional families to keep their homes. If a gift normally feeds 100 children for a month, then with the match, it will feed 150 children.