12/13/2024
Federation Campaign Chair: 'Jewish Cleveland is Safe and Strong' As 2025 Campaign Closes
Leadership of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland celebrates raising a record $38,087,175 in its 2025 Campaign for Jewish Needs at the closing event on Dec. 11 at the Joseph and Florence Mandel Jewish Day School in Beachwood. CJN Photo / Abigail Preiszig
Abigail Preiszig | CJN
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
The Jewish Federation of Cleveland celebrated the closing of another record-breaking Campaign for Jewish Needs with an estimated 200 supporters on Dec. 11 at the Joseph and Florence Mandel Jewish Day School in Beachwood.
Amir Jaffa, campaign chair, opened the commemoration with gratitude for the community for its commitment and collaboration during the 2025 campaign.
“It’s because of you, your commitments and your leadership, that we arrived at this moment tonight, with a community that engages actively and cares deeply about one another,” he said. “It is because of you that Jewish Cleveland is safe and strong.”
A grand total of $38,087,175 for the 2025 Campaign for Jewish Needs was raised by 9,206 gifts representing 12,275 donors, Jaffa announced. The evening also recognized essential people involved in the campaign including Ryan Levine, the recipient of the 2024 Amb. Milton A. and Roslyn Z. Wolf Young Campaigner of the Year Award.
Levine has proven himself to be a great campaigner and someone with terrific leadership skills, Dan Zelman, board chair of the Federation, said to attendees. He was the Young Leadership Division board chair in 2022 and has continued to contribute to the success of the Federation as a volunteer leadership, especially his ability to recruit others to become involved in the campaign.
“Everybody at Federation, as we get older in leadership, we always have this concern about the next generation and bringing people up to carry on what we do here in Cleveland and Ryan is a great example of why our next generation is in good hands,” Zelman said.
Nancy Wolf, whose parents are the namesake for the Young Campaigner of the Year Award, presented Levine with a trip to Israel with the Federation and a customized plaque honoring his demonstration of leadership, personal generosity and deep commitment to Cleveland’s Jewish community.
Levine shared quotes he found meaningful from the award’s namesakes and thanked the Federation and his friends, colleagues and family for their support, especially his wife, Arica Jacobson, with whom he co-chaired the campaign’s Super Sunday Kickoff for the first time in September in addition to returning co-chairs, Gabrielle and Yissachar Jerusalem.
The total for the annual campaign was further broken down by divisions. Chana Bloom, Ari Messeloff and Avi Wolf announced the high school/college division raised $62,514 from 959 donors. Allison Brandon and Morde Khaimov, Young Leadership Division campaign chairs, announced YLD raised $1,000,971 from 1,581 donors, the first time YLD has reached $1 million, according to the Federation. Mindy Davidson announced that Women IN Philanthropy raised $5,126,192 from 3,108 donors.
Additionally, Brunswick Companies in Garfield Heights donated an additional $1,000 to the 2025 Campaign in honor of every woman who became a new Lion of Judah Society member and every Lion of Judah who advanced to the next recognition level, Davidson announced. A total of 65 women took advantage of the Brunswick Challenge this year. Lion of Judah Society celebrates women who make individual gifts of $5,000 or more to the annual Campaign for Jewish Needs.
Further, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation matched all new gifts dollar for dollar, and matched every additional dollar when gifts were increased by 10% or more, Jaffa shared. The “Mandel Match” – which ran from Sept. 8 through Nov. 1 – garnered 2,447 increased gifts for the 2025 campaign.
In total, the 2025 campaign raised $1,732,162 more than the 2024 campaign, which boasted a record $36,355,013 from 11,881 donors representing 9,045 gifts at the time, the Cleveland Jewish News previously reported. On average, donors gave 10.4% more than they gave last year, according to the Federation.
The 2026 Campaign for Jewish Needs’ Super Sunday Kick-Off will be on Sept. 7, 2025, Jaffa announced.
As Jaffa concluded his first year as campaign chair, Zelman thanked him for the “outstanding job” he has done in the volunteer position. In the role he is responsible for providing leadership, vision and strategy for the Federation’s annual fundraising efforts.
“Since January, when he took on the assignment, he’s really been all over the community,” Zelman said. “He’s been very visible, brought in so many new donors and has just done an overall standing job and we’re looking forward to that for another year.”
Throughout the campaign, Jaffa said learned most deeply was the “incredible generosity of our community” and witnessed “witnessed the power of a united community to not only raise funds but strengthen connections.”
“This collaboration is what makes our community so special,” Jaffa said. “It’s not just about individual efforts but about how we come together to build something greater than the sum of its parts. When we come together, what can’t we do? Cleveland is one of the most generous and caring Jewish communities in the world.”
The annual campaign provides the critical dollars necessary to help keep our diverse, local community safe, strong, vibrant, and welcoming, as well as serve the needs of the global Jewish community – including Israel, according to the Federation.
Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas surprise attack on Israel, Jewish Federations throughout the world, and Cleveland especially, have been working on overtime, Zelman said.
“With so many events and so many issues that were facing throughout, the community (and) staff had really been operating full go, more than full go for this whole time and to do the campaign… it’s just been an outstanding process to witness and to be part of,” he said.
For more information about the Jewish Federation of Cleveland and the Campaign for Jewish Needs, visit jewishcleveland.org.
