Center for Jewish Life

Legal name: B'nai Brith Hillel Foundation at Princeton

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
226071127
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Princeton, NJ, USA
Phone
6092583635
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,252,337
Expenses
$1,709,143
Assets
$9,968,650
Liabilities
$92,039

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RABBI GIL STEINLAUF (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • RABBI GIL STEINLAUF (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $235,826 total reported compensation
  • ROBIN RUDOFKER (DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONAL): $162,812 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Cjl partners with students and other members of the princeton community to sustain and grow a welcoming, multi-faceted and pluralistic jewish community that is fully-integrated into the fabric of campus life and which provides personally meaningful jewish experiences for every student. Fy24 was an especially challenging year for the cjl and jewish students at princeton in the wake of the horrific october 7, 2023 hamas attack on israel. The cjl played a central role in providing a safe and supportive environment for students throughout the academic year, investing increased resources for programs that focused heavily on student engagement and health and wellness with the goal of supporting every jewish student on campus in the many and changing ways needed throughout the academic year.

What it reported doing in 2024

Student engagement is a cornerstone of the cjl's mission, with a particular focus on one-to-one peer engagement efforts. With the ongoing israel-gaza war, the cjl focused on activities building connections and fostering a safe, warm and resilient community for jewish students on campus. In fy25, our student engagement interns connected with 90% of all identified jewish undergraduate students at princeton through coffee meetings, study breaks, and social activities held at cjl and around the princeton campus. A new student affinity group, princeton israel community (pic), was formed to provide israeli undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to celebrate their heritage and contributions to campus life. The bayit program for jewish graduate students attracted more than 50 students through monthly shabbat dinners and social events throughout the year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 47
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.6%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 50.5%; rating input score 51
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 24.1%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.83; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.3%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 49.6% of revenue deployed · 50.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $863K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $236K · 29 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.