Major Jewish Group to Undergo Restructuring

United Jewish Communities—a coalition of the nation’s Jewish federation—will undergo a major restructuring, according to JTA, a news service that covers Jewish affairs.

In an internal e-mail memo dated March 30, Howard Rieger, president of the organization, wrote that United Jewish Communities would reorganize into two major units—“a global operations group based in Israel and managed from Jerusalem, and a community capacity-building group, to enhance our engagement with federations.”

The organization’s top volunteer leader, Joseph Kanfer, told the JTA that the restructuring was designed to get rid of duplicative efforts and improve communications among people at the organization. United Jewish Communities is expected to provide more details about the plan in May, he says.

United Jewish Communities, the result of a merger of a several organizations, has undergone frequent criticism, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported in an in-depth series of articles.

United Jewish Communities and its members are fund-raising powerhouses: The group’s headquarters was No. 34 on The Chronicle’s list of the 400 organizations that raise the most money, and 11 of the federations also appear on the list.

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