Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
382711480
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Ann Arbor, MI, United States
Phone
(734) 677-0100
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Federated Giving Programs
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,738,420
Expenses
$3,933,056
Assets
$14,931,018
Liabilities
$4,002,238

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARLA LINDERMAN RICHELEW (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • EILEEN FREED (EXECUTIVE DI): $177,396 total reported compensation
  • ROBERT DESCHAINE (FINANCE DIRE): $105,919 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 Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor is the vibrant hub of a community that celebrates Jewish life. We are the safety net that enables Jews to fulfill our obligations to take care of one another. Federation is your center for philanthropy, engagement and community-building — an energetic network of organizations, programs and services that maintains and sustains our Jewish community. Federation is all of us working together to repair the world and ensure a thriving and connected community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Overseas - the majority of our overseas funding goes to three organizations: the jewish agency for israel jafi, which is responsible for the absorption of immigrants from around the world and their integration into israeli society; the jewish distribution committee (jdc), which helps support impoverished jewish communities in over 60 countries around the globe and the jewish federations of north america (jfna), our umbrella organization that coordinates the whole process. Additional overseas allocations support programs in arab-jewish coexistence and religious pluralism in israel and additional support for elderly jews in the former soviet union.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 78% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.89 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 91%; rating input score 91; 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -43.6%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.8; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.2%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 83.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $177K · 17 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 28 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 24 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.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.