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October 11, 2002
Federation cuts budget
Tough decisions leave more money for other agencies.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
With a dual goal of balancing its own budget and leaving more Combined
Jewish Appeal (CJA) funds available for other community organizations
and Israel, the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver announced
it has cut $71,000 in staff and program costs for the fiscal year
that started Sept. 1.
Increased operating costs for health benefits and Federation-based
programs would have left the organization with a deficit for the
year that the organization's leadership chose to avoid.
"We made a determination up front that we were not going to
run a deficit," explained Federation executive director Mark
Gurvis. "So we started developing a series of strategies to
avoid that."
Federation does not generally run with a deficit. However, they
did last year.
The budget cuts will primarily affect Federation's leadership development
programming, including programs such as YAD - the Young Adult Division,
the Ben-Gurion Society, the Chicken Soup for the Mind series and
decreased publication of the organization's Yachad magazine. While
admitting that budgetary cuts are never easy to make, Gurvis was
confident in the decisions the Federation board made.
"No one likes to be in a position to have to cut back programs,
services and staff," he said. "But for an organization
like Federation, with everything that it's about, we have to also
reflect integrity and good process in our community and it's important
that we meet that kind of standard.
"These are enormously stressful times for many nonprofit organizations
because the environment in this province is very tough," he
continued. "It means you have to get more focused about what
your core mission is and your core responsibilities are and put
your resources there. That's what we're trying to do."
The majority of Federation's annual budget comes from allocated
funds raised from the CJA campaign.
For the 2002/03 fiscal year, approximately $898,481 is allocated
to Federation. $563,000 of that is for CJA operating expenses.
Gurvis said that even though this year's campaign is looking strong,
there are currently no plans for Federation to ask for an increase
in funding.
"It's not as simple as, if we raise more money in the campaign,
we'll have more money for Federation's expenses," he explained.
"The allocations are set for the next two years and we haven't
slated Federation operations for increased dollars if the campaign
is successful. We've actually worked to hold the line on Federation
allocations so that increased dollars could flow to other agencies."
The budgetary announcement came shortly after the launch of the
2002 CJA campaign.
Though it was feared that the summer's Israel Now campaign, which
raised more than $2.2 million dollars locally for Israel, might
lead to a weaker CJA drive, Gurvis said the annual campaign is on
track to reach their goal of $4.5 million.
As of press time, CJA canvassers had helped raise approximately
$1.8 million, which represented a 24 per cent card-for-card increase
over last year's campaign.
"I think the situation that Jews are facing in the world, Israel,
Canada and elsewhere has people more aware of the sense of threat
and need and people are more motivated to support the community
as a result," Gurvis said. "I think it's also true that
we're making a more articulate case for why people should give.
We're seeing a very strong response so far."
For more information about the CJA campaign, call 604-257-5100.
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