Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass is to build a thriving and inclusive Central KY Jewish community that engages and serves both Jews and non-Jews across our state, the nation, and the world. Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) addresses issues that affect the Bluegrass Jewish community by offering direct and indirect support services. The JFCS staff provides services in a manner sensitive to Jewish culture, values, and ideals. JFCS promotes the dignity and self-respect of its clients while helping individuals, families and elder community members maintain a self-sustaining lifestyle. Major services offered include case management, assessment and coordination of services, information and referral to other community resources, crisis intervention, elder care assistance, processing requests for financial assistance, and advocacy for members of the Jewish...

Operating model

Revenue model

Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.

Distribution model

Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

• Financial Efficiency: 41
• Transparency & Controls: 69
• Accountability: 31
• Sustainability: 48
• Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Details

• What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
• Where the money goes: 46.1% of revenue deployed · 47% of spending went to programs
• Governance: 0 of 17 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
• Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $303K in reported program spending
• Leadership: top reported pay $129K · 18 people listed
• Consistency: 32 of 34 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
• Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
• Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2025
• 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.

Key Signals

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

• Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 46/100.
• High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
• Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 47/100.
• Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 49/100.
• High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
• Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
• Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
• Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
• Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
• High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.