Frequently Asked Questions
Initially we expect that Foundation donors will come from individuals, families and companies that are in some way affiliated with our participating organizations. However, we expect that future donors may come from the unaffiliated population and from organizations outside of our geographic territory.
Since the Foundation will focus principally on long-term endowment types of donations, we also expect that bequests and other lifetime gifts will make up a significant portion of our future capital base.
The Foundation is a cooperative organization that exists solely to support our participating organizations and the needs of their respective community populations. While it is possible that some donors will place donations with the Foundation that they may have otherwise provided directly to another Jewish organization, we don't expect this to occur very often nor do we expect this to be a problem.
The Foundation focuses on long-term endowments and other similar donor gifts, which is quite different than the majority of fund raising typically undertaken by Congregations and other Jewish organizations.
Principal and earnings will be distributed in at least two different ways based on the type of donor funds established.
Endowment and other restricted funds will be established with formal spending policies that will specify how earnings are computed and how much of the earnings can be distributed in a given time period. The spending policy will also identify under what conditions and whether the principal or corpus of the fund can be distributed. The Foundation has established an approved Endowment Spending Policy that will be used to guide individual donor and organization established spending policies.
Income and principal from Donor Advised and other philanthropic funds will be guided by periodic donor recommendations. All recommended distributions must be approved by the Foundation Board of Directors. The Foundation has an approved Distribution Policy that specifies three criteria to guide the distribution approval process. Two distribution criteria are required by the Internal Revenue Service. Only one criteria was established by the Foundation Board. That criteria states that the Foundation will not approve distributions to organizations that: " .. support or endorse the destruction of Israel, anti-Semitism, racial discrimination or ideals and principles inconsistent with Jewish teachings and laws."
All distributions are currently processed on a monthly basis.
The Foundation was established as a cooperative organization. Our mission is to support our participating organizations and the Jewish community at large. The Foundation will work with each participating organization to assure that all of our activities compliment and not conflict with other organizational events or programming priorities.
The first Board of Directors determines where to locate the Foundation office.
A committee of the Board conducted a search for office space within the private market based on referrals from members of the Jewish community. Five sites were considered in the final analysis, including: (1) sublease of a downtown office in a law firm managed by a member of the Jewish community, (2) sublease of an office within the Jewish Family Service offices in East Sacramento, (3) undeveloped private office space in mid-town, (4) space within an 'office suite' in an East Sacramento office park and; (5) space offered by the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region at their Wyda Way facility. Rents at each of the sites were approximately $600 per month, with the exception of the Federation site which was offered for 'no rent'.
The Foundation Board decided that our most prudent option was the 'free rent' offered by the Federation. While the Wyda Way facility is not the preferred location, the Board strongly believed that financial prudence required us to minimize our expenses as long as we did not jeopardize either the operations or image of the Foundation.
The first Board of Directors was nominated and eventually elected by a Foundation Task Force comprised of representatives from several of the participating organizations. Terms for each of the first Board members were randomly selected such that one-third of the Board positions come up for election each year. All future Board members will nominated from the community of participating organizations and elected by the Board.
The first Board of Directors is responsible for hiring the Executive Director. They will also be responsible for evaluating and selecting the Investment advisors, accountant and all other professional resources necessary to support Board operations.