Asheville Jewish Community Center

Overview

Mission

To strengthen Jewish identity, celebrate Jewish culture, and build inclusive community. During the 1960s, the JCC expanded and developed the programs established in the prior decade. In 1962, the JCC’s nursery school evolved into The Seven Dwarfs Preschool. The 1967 Six-Day War saw a surge in interest in the Asheville JCC, and the community fundraised to support the war effort in the JCC social hall. Popular programs included bridge, bingo, community dances (with live music and dance styles including watusi, jerk, monkey, and banana), formal dinners, and youth organizations (including B’nai B’rith AZA fraternity and B’nai B’rith Girls sorority). The JCC hired its first program coordinator and part-time director, Kenneth Michalove, who later became Asheville’s first Jewish mayor.

Operating model

Revenue model

Earned-program. 63% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.

Distribution model

Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

• Financial Efficiency: 79
• Transparency & Controls: 94
• Accountability: 95
• Sustainability: 45
• Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Details

• What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
• Where the money goes: 85.4% of revenue deployed · 83.3% of spending went to programs
• Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
• Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.6M in reported program spending
• Leadership: top reported pay $110K · 18 people listed
• Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
• Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
• Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
• Contacts: How to reach this organization
• Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
• Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
• 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.

• Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
• High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
• Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
• Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.
• Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.