Skip to content
Plinth
Foundation DossiersMostly funded, not a grantmaker — see who funds it →
Plinth

· Public charity

Jewish Federation and Family Services of Orange County

Federation convenes, engages, and leads the orange county jewish community and its partners, leverages resources to enhance and sustain jewish life, assists jews in need, and mobilizes on issues of concern to the local jewish community, and strengthens its bond with israel and jewish people globally.

$1.9M
Granted FY2018
19
Grants FY2018
4
States reached
$358k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

59% of Jewish Federation and Family Services of Orange County’s FY2024 grant dollars went to The Jewish Federations Of North America Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 10 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2018, the last year Jewish Federation and Family Services of Orange County named its own grantees at scale: 16 organizations, $1M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

25
’17
16
’18
15
’19
0
’20
8
’21
13
’22
16
’23
10
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2017–2024.

Philanthropy$4.1MHuman Services$1.9MReligion$1.2MEducation$536kInternational$285kArts & Culture$198kYouth Development$191kRecreation & Sports$79kOther$0
02FY2018 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 19 grants below total $1,060,610 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $1,930,571 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $869,961 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised rows only.

By grant size · FY2018

  • Under $10k6 grants · $40k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $123k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $539k
  • $250k+1 grant · $358k
$12,031
Median grant
4
States reached
$15M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MERAGE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY$358,000
BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION$176,750
HILLEL FOUNDATION OF ORANGE COUNTY$162,750
SHEVET TAPUZ THE ISRAELI SCOUTS OF ORANGE COUNTY$79,967
HONEYMOON ISRAEL FOUNDATION$70,000
THE HEBREW ACADEMY$50,000
UC REGENTS$48,037
JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER LOS ANGELES$16,805
EZRA CENTER$15,000
ORANGE COUNTY MUSIC AND DANCE INC$12,031
CAF AMERICA$10,870
CHABAD JEWISH CENTER OF MISSION VIEJO$10,000
CONGREGATION SHIR HA-MA'ALOT$10,000
CHABAD LUBAVITCH OF LOS ALAMITOS AND CYPRESS$7,500
CONGREGATION B'NAI ISRAEL$7,500
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY17–24, $2.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 52% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 10%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF SAN DIEGO: $352k → 11%KAVOD: $20k → 12%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF SAN DIEGO: $219k → 11%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF SAN DIEGO: $211k → 11%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF SAN DIEGO: $208k → 11%JFCS OF LONG BEACH & WEST ORANGE COUNTY: $10k → 14%THE FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE: $30k → 10%EZRA CENTER: $15k → 10%MERAGE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY: $358k → 10%MERAGE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY: $252k → 10%MERAGE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY: $78k → 10%MERAGE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY: $62k → 10%MERAGE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY: $55k → 10%MERAGE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY: $52k → 10%MERAGE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY: $50k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

04

Where the work is directed

The same grants, placed two ways — where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose earmarks the money.

About 11% of Jewish Federation and Family Services of Orange County’s grant dollars are earmarked, by their stated purpose, for a different county than the recipient’s own address — money that lands at a nonprofit in one place but is meant to do its work in another. Read by recipient address, 49% of the giving stays in CA; read by stated purpose it is 39% — less of the work is directed home than the recipients' locations suggest.

Jewish Federation and Family Services of Orange Countylessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 56% directed abroad (not shown)

Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the foundation’s own 990 grant descriptions.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$4.0M · 25 repeat orgs$482k to everyone else

25 repeat relationships — 13 still active in FY2018, 12 since wound down; 12 grantees were first funded in FY2018 (too recent to call). Read against FY2018, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
8

Total granted

$4.0M
$102k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+54%
+208%

Still filing today

40%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEducationInternationalReligionArts & CulturePhilanthropyOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as “new.” Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • JF
    JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF SAN DIEGO
    4× · 2021–2024 · $990k · revenue +107%
  • JC
    JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY
    7× · 2017–2024 · $906k · revenue +35%
  • HILLEL THE FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMPUS LIFE
    7× · 2017–2024 · $618k · revenue +42%

Funded once

  • TO
    The Orange County Friendship Circle Incgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $30k · revenue +208%
  • TI
    THE ISRAEL INSTITUTE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $30k · revenue +268%
  • SR
    SOUTHCOAST RECONSTRUCTIONIST HAVURAH
    one grant, 2017 · $8k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
University of Judaism Foundation
—
2
The Jewish Agency for Israel

The jewish agency binds jews across ideologies and civilizations together in a worldwide jewish family with israel at its center. it provides the global framework for aliyah, ensures global jewish safety, strengthens jewish identity and…

—
3
University of Southern California Hillel Foundation

To create an informed, celebratory and satisfying jewish community for students at the university of southern california, to deepen jewish identity through social, intellectual and spiritual participation, to offer diversified…

—
4
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

To prepare students for the rabbinate and to issue the traditional certificate of ordination in connection therewith. the seminary is authorized to confer the degree of master of hebrew literature (m.h.l.), doctor of hebrew literature…

Education
5
San Diego Jewish Academy

San Diego Jewish Academy empowers each student to learn for life, guided by Jewish values and rooted in strength of community.

Education
6
Sherit Isroel
—
7
Yeshiva Ohr Yisroel
Philanthropy
8
Foundation for Jewish Camp Inc

Jewish summer camp is the enduring and irreplaceable connection and community that strengthens jewish identity, develops jewish leadership, and ensures a jewish future. foundation for jewish camp (fjc) is the only nonprofit whose singular…

Youth Development
9
Hebrew College

Promotes excellence in jewish learning & leadership within a pluralistic environment. see sch ohebrew college promotes excellence in jewish learning and leadership within a pluralistic environment of open inquiry, intellectual rigor,…

Education
10
American Friends of Oseh Chayil

To further jewish education in israel

Religion
11
Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles Inc

Bje enhances the quality of, increases access to, and encourages participation in jewish education throughout the jewish communities of greater los angeles. bje is an advocate, planner, catalyst, and creative leader for strengthening and…

Religion
12
Jewish Federation of San Diego County

Jewish federation of san diego county is dedicated to building a vibrant, caring, connected, and enduring jewish community.

—

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Jewish Community Center of Orange County and the most unlike its peers is Stanley W Ekstrom Foundation Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 33 years old; the field is 14. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number24%4%<5yr15%6%5–10yr20%17%10–20yr18%25%20–35yr11%19%35–55yr12%29%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value24%2%<5yr15%1%5–10yr20%4%10–20yr18%16%20–35yr11%15%35–55yr12%63%55yr+

The field is 24% startups (under 5 years old) — 4% of your grantees by number, and just 2% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 14% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/50
the rest of the field
14%
12,076/85,247

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

05the grantee network

29 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 29 of the 50 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/29
Grantees still filing
20/29
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

THE JEWISH FEDERATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA INC — $4,002,854 · PhilanthropyTHE JEWISH FEDERATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA INC+5 more — $83,024 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF SAN DIEGO — $989,910 · Human ServicesJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF S…JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY — $905,665 · Human ServicesJEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF…+4 more — $74,955 · Human ServicesCHABAD JEWISH CENTER OF MISSION VIEJO — $197,402 · OtherCHABAD JEWISH …ACADEMY YOUTH SERVICE ORGANIZATION — $170,200 · OtherACADEMY YOUTH …SHEVET TAPUZ — $116,467 · OtherSHEVET TAPUZCONGREGATION BNAI ISRAEL — $101,325 · OtherCONGREGATION B…CONGREGATION SHIR HA-MA ALOT — $84,686 · OtherCONGREGATION S…CHABAD OF IRVINE — $59,680 · OtherCHABAD OF IRVI…REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT IRVINE — $58,087 · OtherREGENTS OF THE…+18 more — $294,565 · Other+18 moreHILLEL THE FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMPUS LIFE — $617,584 · ReligionHILLEL TH…HONEYMOON ISRAEL FOUNDATION INC — $70,000 · ReligionHONEYMOON…Jewish Educators Association of Orange County — $142,860 · EducationTARBUT V'TORAH COMMUNITY DAY SCHOOL — $141,000 · EducationORANGE COUNTY JEWISH COMMUNITY SCHOLAR PROGRAM — $30,000 · Education+2 more — $14,100 · EducationBIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION — $176,750 · InternationalTHE ISRAEL INSTITUTE INC — $30,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF ISRAEL SCOUTS INC — $8,000 · InternationalPacific Symphony — $120,000 · Arts & CultureORANGE COUNTY MUSIC AND DANCE INC — $29,531 · Arts & CultureHABONIM CAMP KVUTZA INC — $25,000 · Recreation & Sports
Philanthropy$4,085,878Human Services$1,970,530Other$1,082,412Religion$687,584Education$327,960International$214,750Arts & Culture$149,531Recreation & Sports$25,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTHE JEWISH FEDERATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA INC — $4,002,854 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF SAN DIEGO — $989,910 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetJEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY — $905,665 over 7y, 2.4% of budgetHILLEL THE FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMPUS LIFE — $617,584 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetBIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FOUNDATION — $176,750 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJewish Educators Association of Orange County — $142,860 over 3y, 38% of budgetTARBUT V'TORAH COMMUNITY DAY SCHOOL — $141,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetPacific Symphony — $120,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetSHEVET TAPUZ — $116,467 over 2y, 13% of budgetHONEYMOON ISRAEL FOUNDATION INC — $70,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetORANGE COUNTY JEWISH COMMUNITY SCHOLAR PROGRAM — $30,000 over 2y, 7.9% of budgetThe Orange County Friendship Circle Inc — $30,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetTHE ISRAEL INSTITUTE INC — $30,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetORANGE COUNTY MUSIC AND DANCE INC — $29,531 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetHABONIM CAMP KVUTZA INC — $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCAMP RAMAH IN CALIFORNIA INC — $23,350 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSTANLEY W EKSTROM FOUNDATION INC — $23,288 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA — $20,431 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetIRVINE HEBREW DAY SCHOOL — $20,250 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetKAVOD — $19,955 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION COUNCIL OF GREATER LA — $16,805 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL OF SAN FRANCISCO MARIN & PENINSULA — $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetEzra Center of California — $15,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetONEOC — $12,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICE OF LONG BEACH AND ORANGE COUNTY — $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetJEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF ORANGE COUNTY — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF ISRAEL SCOUTS INC — $8,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION — $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH UNIVERSITY — $6,600 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Jewish Community Foun…Samueli FoundationEric and Sheila Samso…Jewish Community Foun…The Morris & Sylvia T…Jewish Community Foun…Orange County Communi…Jewish Communal FundThe Shimon Ben Joseph…Edwards Lifesciences …National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…
Jewish Community Foundation of Orange CountyCA61.5× affinity27 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Community Foundation of Orange County · Samueli Foundation · Eric and Sheila Samson Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego · The Morris & Sylvia Trachten Family Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles · Orange County Community Foundation · Jewish Communal Fund · The Shimon Ben Joseph Foundation Dba Jim Joseph Foundation · Edwards Lifesciences Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Jewish Federation and Family Services of Orange County funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%your share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25

    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending — grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12–24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 50 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2018, released 2018. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home