Cojeco

Legal name: Council of Jewish Emigre Community Organizations Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133955736
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
212-566-2120
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Ethnic, Immigrant Centers
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$931,009
Expenses
$976,741
Assets
$1,340,679
Liabilities
$224,147

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Roman Shmulenson (CEO)
  • Victoria Drob (President)
  • Julia Kosiborod (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Roman Shmulenson (CEO): $242,925 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

COJECO (Council of Jewish Émigré Community Organizations) is the central hub of the Russian-speaking Jewish community in the New York tri-state area. Mission: The COJECO mission is to convene and connect the Russian-speaking Jewish community through collaborative leadership, innovative engagement, Jewish education, capacity building, and preservation of heritage. Congregation Sha’arei Shamayim was incorporated in 1996. Its mission is to educate Russian-speaking Jews about Jewish religion, culture and traditions, and to provide a social climate in which they can establish friendships and find psychological comfort and emotional support. Congress of the Bukharian Jews of USA and Canada Congress of the Bukharian Jews was established in 1998 and serves as an umbrella group for 49 organizations. Its mission is to integrate the Bukharian Jewish community into American society and U.S....

What it reported doing in 2024

The cojeco b'nai mitzvah family journey program provides jewish education to children and parents in a group of like-minded peers. Children learn about jewish history, culture and traditions. The program culminates in a community ceremony and a travel and learning experience in israel.project kavod matches russian-speaking jewish b'nai mitzvah families and holocaust survivors for meaningful jewish learning, intergenerational volunteering, and joint celebrations.the cojeco adult jewish learning center provides various in-person and online learning opportunities. These include lectures, workshops, presentations, as well as the adult bnai mitzvah journey, a carefully curated program for a cohort of adult jewish students who delve into jewish tradition and culture. The program culminates with a beautiful bnai mitzvah ceremony in a New York jewish historical landmark. Cojeco continues to support its network of organizations and grassroot initiatives, providing quality social, cultural, and educational programs for and by the russian-speaking jewish community. Cojeco provides financial and logistical support for its network organizations. As a result of these activities, over 30,000 russian-speaking jews are involved in meaningful community life.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 66% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 61
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.5%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 81%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 16.1%; rating input score 16; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: -4.9%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.37; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.9%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.8% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 85.5% of revenue deployed · 81% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $791K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $243K · 9 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.