The Fund ensures the future. The Annual Campaign sustains the present.
The Jewish Community Fund of Maine (JCFM) has been established to administer a transformational bequest from the Alfred and Dorothy Suzi Osher Charitable Fund (the Osher Fund). This new resource exists to enhance the vitality of Jewish Maine by funding Jewish communal organizations focused on Jewish traditions, values, education, and wellbeing.
The JCFM is for grantmaking, its purpose to grow over time and provide sustainable support for Jewish life across Maine. In accordance with the trust document and investment policies, the Fund will make grants through a formal application and review process. Once established, grants will be awarded to support eligible programs, initiatives, and organizations that advance Jewish life, consistent with the Fund’s charitable purpose and priorities. The Fund will seed new ideas, promote innovation, and take risks.
Importantly, the Osher Fund is not an operating budget for the JCA. The JCA can apply for grants from the Fund, and funding is not guaranteed. Some areas of the JCA’s work are not eligible for support under the terms of the trust and therefore rely entirely on other funding sources. The JCFM is overseen by a separate and unique Board of Directors from the JCA.
Even with this extraordinary gift, the JCA Annual Campaign remains essential. The Annual Campaign provides the flexible unrestricted dollars that keep our community functioning every day. The JCA’s Allocations Committee, comprised of staff and community and Board volunteers, designates annual campaign funds to support the JCA’s integrated work across its Federation , Jewish Community Center, and Jewish Family Services; community safety and antisemitism response; scholarships and camperships; crisis response; allocations to community partners; and urgent social needs locally and in Israel. This allocation process is recommended by the Allocations Committee and approved by the JCA Board annually.
Annual Campaign dollars allow the JCA to direct resources where they are most needed in real time, including to programs and partners that do not have endowments or restricted funding.
Together, these two funding sources ensure both long-term vision and immediate impact. The Osher Fund provides enduring, future focused support through grantmaking. The Annual Campaign sustains the work of Jewish life today.
