The Jewish Wisdom Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474315104
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Farmingtn Hls, MI, USA
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other
Affiliation
Judaism

Reported finances

Revenue
$470,025
Expenses
$402,946
Assets
$103,613
Liabilities
$4,442

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • YAACOV HEIDINGSFELD (President)

People named in this filing

  • YAACOV HEIDINGSFELD (President)
  • BEREL WEIN (Director)
  • Eli Mayerfeld (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To create a dynamic community of Jews, nourished by mutual respect and honest, open dialogue, challenging stereotypes, invigorating curiosity, plumbing the depths of their great heritage and empowering a revolution in Jewish identity. In New York City, the Foundation operates Kii.

What it reported doing in 2024

Social Action Initiatives: Kii's social action projects aim to cultivate a spirit of giving. We believe this value should be instilled, nurtured, and encouraged, ensuring that current and future generations embrace this foundational principle of Judaism. We organize events and volunteer opportunities for young Jewish adults in New York, which this year have included: delivering soup to vulnerable people on the streets of NY, support for victims of terror attacks, a ? Build a Board? project to create and donate skateboards to children in foster care, aid for Holocaust survivors, care packages for essential workers including doctors, EMTs, police, and firefighters, and a partnership with Tomchei Shabbos to provide food relief for 1,000 families.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.6%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 71.8%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.3%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.26; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.9% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 27.4% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 90.1% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.6% of revenue deployed · 71.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $289K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.