The Boulder Jewish Community Foundation (BJCF) was founded in 1995 with a mission to create “a gathering place where Jewish life will flourish.” 

Early in our history we:

• acquired facilities for a Jewish preschool (1996),
• acquired a much larger facility for the Boulder Jewish Community Center (1999),
• raised $1 million for an endowment to support future operational (space) needs of the Boulder Jewish community, with the support of the Rose Community Foundation and the Allied Federation of Colorado (2002),
• spun off the Boulder Jewish Community Center into an independent charity (2005),
• helped incubate the:
  • Boulder Jewish Community Calendar
  • Boulder Jewish News
  • Boulder Community Career Network (2011).

We have continued to expand our support to Jewish charities throughout Boulder County. The 2014 grants – totaling $15,160 – were made to 19 organizations (see table below).

BJCF grant overview:

• The Boulder Jewish Festival, Boulder JCC, and Boulder Jewish News received grants that were towards the higher end of the range as they fulfill broad community needs.   The Boulder Jewish Festival Grant helps provides a “Tent” for all the Jewish organizations in the community.  The Boulder JCC Grant assisted the Boulder JCC in their Capital Campaign and the grant to the Boulder Jewish News helped to create and sustain a Community Calendar.    
• Ten synagogues, the Boulder Mikvah, the 9 Health Fair @Boulder JCC, Boulder’s Chicken and Goat Coops, Hadassah, Haver, Menorah Adult Education, Jewish Family Services and JT Boulder received funding for space grants.

Since our organization currently has no employees and all work (including annual tax preparations) is performed on a volunteer basis, all funds available for allocation (100%) are distributed to community organizations. Overhead fees are absent!

BJCF is a co-sponsor of Jewish-Together Boulder and solicits individual donations and make additional grants in support of local Jewish collaborations. These donations often qualify for matching grants (which in 2014 was at a 2:1 ratio). The goal of our grants is to foster collaboration and strengthen community services.

BJCF also supports “out of the box” types of projects, such as:

• Incubation of new startups (i.e., the Jewish Community Career Network).
• Underwriting community fundraising events.
• Leadership Initiatives.

The Boulder Jewish Community Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and all donations are tax-deductible. If you’re interested in supporting additional activities of the BJCF, contact BoulderJewish@gmail.com.

Organizations and Programs receiving 2014 grants include:

• 9 Health Fair @ Boulder JCC
• Adventure Rabbi
• Beth Ami
• Boulder Jewish Community Center
• Boulder Jewish Festival
• Boulder Jewish News
• Boulder Mikvah
• Boulder Orthodox Synagogue
• Boulder Jewish Chicken Coop
• Boulder Goat Coop
• Chabad at C. U.
• Chabad Center of Longmont
• Congregation Bonai Shalom
• Congregation Har Hashem
• Congregation Nevei Kodesh
• Hadassah
• Haver
• Jewish Family Services
• Jewish Together – Boulder (Leadership Initiative)
• Judaism Your Way
• Lemon Tree Peace Walk
• Lubavitch of Boulder
• Menorah