Thanks to our donors, partners, professionals and volunteers, we have collectively built one of the strongest and most engaged Jewish communities outside of Israel. Together, you have helped make Toronto a recognized philanthropic leader in the Jewish world. Being a leader means constantly looking for ways to adapt and improve our methods so that we can collaborate on better ways to serve the community’s growing needs.  

In keeping with what we’ve learned from our experiences, and by looking at proven best practices in other industries, the Board of Directors of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto has approved a shift to an outcomes-based granting model.

In the past, we measured success by the number of people who were impacted by, or participated in, the programs and services we funded. And that impact was enormous. An outcomes-based approach, however, will allow us to benchmark our community’s impact against more meaningful outcomes that demonstrate we are truly moving the needle on the biggest issues facing Jewish life in Toronto, Israel and around the world. 

Universities, hospitals and non-profits have demonstrated that outcomes-based funding models have positive impacts on both fundraising campaigns and an organization’s effectiveness in delivering on their mandate.

This change to outcomes-based grants will challenge us and the community to collaborate on more innovative and data-driven solutions to our most important and urgent issues. It will allow us to stretch your dollars further by developing and investing in programs that deliver the highest return on investment. It will ensure more advanced reporting and accountability to our donors and the community about how your contributions, volunteer time, and hard work have made a positive and lasting impact on the challenges we are trying to overcome for the long-term.

Of course, this kind of change is not possible without extensive coordination with our valued donors, employees, volunteers, the broader Jewish community and, of course, our funded partner agencies. Our partners are on the front lines and their insight, expertise and collaboration will be critical as we move to make the community more responsive to the complex and evolving challenges we face. 

Our consultation process with our stakeholders is already underway and will continue through the fall, with final outcomes expected to be shared with the community by the end of the year.

This is an exciting time for UJA Federation and the Jewish community. This shift reaffirms our commitment to adapt to best practices so that we can make sure that our community continues to serve as a model for others Jewish communities to follow. 

Thank you for your support.

Adam Minsky,
President and CEO, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto