Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Mercer

Legal name: Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Mercer Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237174039
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Princeton, NJ, United States
Phone
609-240-9511
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,501,871
Expenses
$2,405,856
Assets
$21,416,187
Liabilities
$6,936,628

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOYCE KALSTEIN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BETH ENGLEZOS (EXCUTIVE DIR): $5,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The foundation is organized to promote philanthropy and to further the charitable needs of the jewish community, other charitable institutions, and community organizations.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provide funds to further the educational, religious and charitable needs of the jewish community, including specifically the jewish community of mercer, somerset, hunterdon and warren counties in New Jersey, and bucks county in Pennsylvania.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 86% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.2%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 96%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $175.18 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 84.5%; rating input score 85; 23rd 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 31.3%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.9; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.2%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 69.2% of revenue deployed · 96% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $6K · 22 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 57 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 55 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.