BJCWF: Donor Directed Grant Making

This fall the Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund (BJCWF) begins its tenth grant cycle.

Since we began our work in 2000, The Fund has awarded over $1.36 million to 45 groups and programs that focus on issues unique to women and girls.

Our membership reflects the complexity and diversity of Boston’s Jewish community, and now numbers 175 women. Each one has made a minimum financial commitment of $10,000 to support our independent grant making program. A portion of each gift builds a growing endowment and the rest is designated to current use.

In the national community of women’s funds sponsored by Jewish federations and independent groups across the United States, we’re known as innovators and leaders.

We work together to make grants, and our record is exceptional. We make grants in Boston’s Jewish and secular communities and in Israel. We see issues through a gender lens and support programs that range from rape crisis intervention to sex trafficking, to relationship abuse and domestic violence, to preventing eating disorders to leadership development, skills training and more.

Grant making is the core of what we do. Each year our members volunteer to join grant review committees, read proposals and make the final decisions about awards.

And our grantees are not the only beneficiaries. We’re learners, and our programming focuses on the depth and complexities of issues. And our social programming, including dinners before events and meetings, give our members the chance to get to know each other – like minded women who are concerned about their community.

The women’s philanthropic community that The Fund has created looks forward to increasing its membership and making more and larger grants to help women and girls realize their potential and live full and productive lives. For more information please contact Susan Ebert susane@cjp.org or 617-457-8590.