JCRIF Announces Second Year of Grantmaking, Including New Reset Grants
February 22nd, 2021
The core funders of the Jewish Community Response and Impact Fund (JCRIF)’s Aligned Grant Program—Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Jim Joseph Foundation, Maimonides Fund, and The Paul E. Singer Foundation—are today announcing that they are launching a second round of JCRIF grantmaking for 2021, and that the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation, a partner on the JCRIF Loan Program, will also be joining the Grant Program.
A major piece of JCRIF’s 2021 efforts will be its new RESET Grants, which will support efforts to seize this unique moment in history to reimagine, renew, and reset Jewish communities for the future. The funders are hereby issuing a Request for Proposals for those grants—seeking new ideas that look beyond current organizational boundaries, structures, missions, and program delivery mechanisms to envision a new future for Jewish communities in North America. Applicants can apply for up to $10 million of funding over 1-5 years for major new efforts to reset Jewish communal life. The JCRIF grant program will also continue to offer grants for emergency needs and for innovative adaptations to programs and organizational structures in response to the pandemic.
JCRIF’s second year of grantmaking will build on lessons learned in its first 8 months. The funders are also pleased to share JCRIF Lessons Learned 2020, a report written by Felicia Herman, Director of the JCRIF Aligned Grant Program. Grant funding to date has provided emergency support, fueled innovation and adaptation, and addressed some of the many systemic issues that have arisen from—or been accelerated by—the wholesale closure of Jewish institutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Jewish Community Response and Impact Fund was created in April 2020 as a partnership of 8 major Jewish foundations and the Jewish Federations of North America to distribute more than $90 million in grants and no-interest loans to Jewish communal organizations meeting new challenges and opportunities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information, please reach out to [email protected]