08/13/2024
Campaign for Jewish Needs Chair Seeks to Increase Donors
COURTNEY BYRNES | CJN
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
As Amir (Alan) Jaffa looks to his time as campaign chair for the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Campaign for Jewish Needs, he is focused on increasing the number of donors to address ever growing needs.
Selected for a two-year term, Jaffa succeeds Beth Wain Brandon as he looks to lead the 2025 and 2026 campaigns which support local, national and overseas needs of the Jewish community.
“There are so many segments that the Federation is involved in such a big part of the community today,” Jaffa told the Cleveland Jewish News on Aug. 12. “I think the message of all the things that they do has to get out even more so, so that more people get involved. There’s no question about it that we need more unity today than ever before and I think the Federation can help play a part in that role.”
A resident of Beachwood and member of Congregation Zichron Chaim in University Heights, Jaffa moved to the Cleveland area about 27 years ago. He first became familiar with the role of the Federation through seeing its relationship with the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, where his children and grandchildren have attended.
Jaffa
Soon enough, he became more involved with the Federation, serving on the board of trustees, as an officer and various committees, from the audit committee and retirement fund committee to the COVID-19 committee.
Chairing the Federation’s annual campaign will not be his first go-around being involved in a multi-million dollar campaign as Jaffa previously chaired the building committee for the Hebrew Academy’s Oakwood Campus. Under his leadership, the school raised more than $30 million from the community, on par with the Federation’s campaign which raised a record $36,355,013 last year. However, the timeline for the two campaigns differ from several years to just three months, respectively.
“I think the Cleveland community as a whole in coming together and supporting one another has been phenomenal, and it’s a big part of why I took on this role,” Jaffa said. “Because I believe as I’ve been a resident here for 27, 28 years, I think a big part of what we all need to be doing is giving back. So, to a certain degree, this is a big part of my wanting to give back to the community via what the Federation has done.”
Given his own experience of learning more about the Federation through the Hebrew Academy, he sees outreach to the local synagogues and day schools as an important factor in his goal to reach more people with this year’s campaign. After all, the community sees the impact of the campaign most directly at the beneficiary agencies they are involved with, through seeing community security around Jewish institutions or continued services and programs.
After the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel, last year’s campaign turned a focus to coming together in support as a concurrent Israel Emergency Campaign was launched and raised about $35 million by the time the annual campaign wrapped up. While Jaffa said that the events in Israel are still on everyone’s mind, the annual campaign will continue to be important to meet needs overseas and locally.
“A big part of why we need to not only increase our donors and increase the amount of dollars that we need to raise is because we know already without a doubt that the dollars that are needed to support so many of the overseas initiatives that we’ve been supporting for years are only going to increase,” Jaffa said. “And it’s not as if anything local is decreasing, needs all around the board are increasing.”
The 2025 Campaign for Jewish Needs will begin with a Super Sunday Kickoff from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Federation’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Building at 25701 Science Park Drive in Beachwood.
