JCC of Greater Columbus

Legal name: The Jewish Community Center of Greater Columbus

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
314379496
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Columbus, OH, United States
Phone
614.231.2731
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$23,307,474
Expenses
$15,156,007
Assets
$26,284,207
Liabilities
$2,017,793

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

Leadership & pay

42 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAREN SHORE MEYER (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
  • MARK UNGAR (PRESIDENT)
  • JULIE COHEN (PRESIDENT ELECT)
  • BENJAMIN KOZBERG (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • HEIDI SOLOMON (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • RICK MEZLISH (PAST PRESIDENT REPRESENTAT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL KLAPPER (CEO): $221,501 total reported compensation
  • DAVID MITTELKAMP (CFO): $130,142 total reported compensation
  • RONNEL CONN (COO): $122,401 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 Community Center of Greater Columbus is a human service agency offering a varied program that is Jewish in nature. It is committed to enhancing the quality of individual and family life through the promotion of physical, intellectual and spiritual wellness. It provides educational and cultural programs that reflect the Jewish heritage, health related activities and many services to the community at large. Through its wide array of programs, the JCC pursues its mission of strengthening the individual, family and community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Early childhood services division: the early childhood services (ecs) program serves over 390 children ages six weeks to pre-kindergarten at three sites. Play centered education is full of weekly activities, including singing, dancing, reading, cooking, and creative arts, as well as mastering pre-k skills. The children also learn traditional jewish values through jewish programming, such as nearly 18,000 hours of jewish and hebrew education, and celebrating over 650,000 hours of jewish holidays, traditions, and history with preschool families. Jcc preschools graduate over 85 students annually, who move on to kindergarten. 75% of the graduates continue to jewish learning opportunities, including day schools, religious schools, hebrew school, and jewish summer camps.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.4%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $30.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 35%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.73; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.1%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 59.4% of revenue deployed · 89.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 38 of 38 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $13.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $222K · 42 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $139K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.