Your Impact
For nearly 125 years, Milwaukee Jewish Federation has built, protected and cared for our Jewish community, As One. Today, that shared responsibility is more urgent than ever.
Stand With Milwaukee’s Jewish Community
Milwaukee’s Jewish community is vibrant and engaged, yet rising costs, security threats and growing needs are placing families and institutions under strain. One in five community members reports having to choose between necessities and participating in Jewish life, while 90% have experienced fear simply for being Jewish.
Through the 2027 Annual Campaign, one gift reaches from Milwaukee to Israel and across the Jewish world by strengthening Jewish identity, caring for people in need, safeguarding institutions and responding in times of crisis. The statistics below tell a powerful story, but behind every number is a person whose life is safer, stronger and more connected because of you. Together, we can meet today’s needs and secure a vibrant Jewish future for generations to come.
Your Impact
We Respond
As One, we respond to provide security, fight antisemitism through education, and preserve the Wisconsin Jewish experience.
We Engage
As One, we engage thousands across all ages to strengthen Jewish life, develop leaders, and build a vibrant, resilient Jewish future.
We support
As One, we support the needs of the Jewish people in Milwaukee, Israel, and around the world.
We Empower
As One, we empower each other, for our children, and for generations to come.
Where the money goes
We distribute most of the donations from our Annual Campaign to ten agencies that serve our local community and three national agencies that serve our people in Israel and around the world. We also use a portion of the resources to fund Federation programs and services that help maintain a strong community as a whole.
MJF PROGRAMS
| Jewish Museum Milwaukee Preserves and presents the history of the Jewish people in southeastern Wisconsin and celebrating the continuum of Jewish heritage and culture. | $79,478 |
| Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center Offers programming centered on Holocaust education and remembrance. | $26,953 |
| Coalition for Jewish Learning Promotes and advances Jewish education in our community by providing resources, teacher training and other support. | $142,633 |
| Jewish Community Relations Council Advocates for the rights and values of Jews individually and collectively, locally and abroad through education, social action and advocacy. | $145,400 |
| Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle Wisconsin’s only Jewish community newspaper, published continuously since 1921. | $26,739 |
| Community Security Secures the safety of Jewish Wisconsin by supplying guards, monitoring and training. | $100,000 |
| TOTAL | $521,203 |
LOCAL
| Bader Hillel Academy K5-8 school that provides a well-rounded education in the teaching of Torah. | $221,179 |
| BBYO – Wisconsin Region Pluralistic Jewish teen movement with the goal of involving more teens in meaningful Jewish experiences. | $69,636 |
| Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC Human services organization that provides services for all ages and abilities. More than a gym and swimming pool, other offerings include early childhood education, summer camps, and music and theater programs. | $994,560 |
| Hillel Foundation – Madison Provides a pluralistic home for more than 4,000 Jewish students on UW-Madison’s campus. | $57,695 |
| Hillel Milwaukee Creates a dynamic, warm, and celebratory Jewish environment for students at 12 colleges and universities throughout Milwaukee. | $109,259 |
| Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee Builds relationships among people of faith to promote greater understanding, dignity, and respect, and to advocate for the inclusion and acceptance of all. | $10,680 |
| Jewish Beginnings Lubavitch Preschool Serves children from 6-weeks-old through K4 with a curriculum that incorporates Jewish values, customs and traditions. | $94,553 |
| Jewish Family Services Full-scale social services organization that includes mental health clinical services, case management, older adults programs, and it employs a Jewish Community Case Manager and Jewish Community Advocate. | $505,149 |
| Milwaukee Jewish Day School Serves a pluralistic Jewish community in grades K3-8 where students are guided by the core values of empathy, wonder, and tikkun olam. | $507,021 |
| Ovation Communities Serves the Adult Day Services program that works with adults with some degree of memory loss with programming that includes both a social and brain health component. | $21,046 |
| Wisconsin Jewish Conference Serves as the central advocacy and government affairs office for the state. | $46,600 |
| Yeshiva Elementary School Imparts Torah values and Orthodox moral and ethical ideals through Judaic and secular studies education. | $107,023 |
| TOTAL | $2,744,401 |
ISRAEL & OVERSEAS
| Jewish Agency (JAFI) Provides the global framework for Aliyah, ensures global Jewish safety, strengthens Jewish identity and connects Jews to Israel and one another, and conveys the voice of the Jewish People to the State of Israel to help shape its society. | $648,161 |
| Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) Cares for the most vulnerable, develops innovative ways to fight poverty, and partners with the Jews we serve throughout the world. | $263,893 |
| Partnership2Gether A program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and the Jewish Agency for Israel, designed to cultivate people-to-people relationships, projects, and professional programs between Milwaukee and our partner region, Sovev Kinneret, in Israel. | $110,000 |
| World ORT Transforms lives around the world through education driven by Jewish values and innovation that empowers people and strengthens communities. | $9,147 |
| TOTAL | $1,031,201 |
WHY GIVE?
As One, we have worked to keep six generations of our community safe and advocated on your behalf. We have become critical stewards of our community’s financial resources. We have fostered opportunities to engage in Jewish life, and we have built a foundation which generations of our own family and friends rely on to this day. None of this would have been possible without the investment and support of our community.
90%
of our community reported experiencing fear just for being Jewish.
Only 5%
of local Jewish households earn more than $200,000 annually, compared with 23% nationally.
1 in 5 Adults
in our community report having to choose between necessities such as food and housing or participating in Jewish life.
86% of kids
participate in some form of Jewish education or activities that serve as determinants of lifelong Jewish identity such as preschool or camp
Ways to give
Flexibility for our donors
Give online, over the phone, via check, and more! There are various ways you can make a gift to the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
Support Milwaukee’s Jewish Community
AS ONE, WE BUILD COMMUNITY
For nearly 125 years, Milwaukee Jewish Federation has built, protected and cared for our Jewish community, As One. Today, that shared responsibility is more urgent than ever.