room manager

philanthropy manager

administrative assistant

director

travel consultant

The Jewish Federation

I have no issues working in an environment that is demanding, deadline-driven, and fast-paced.  My co-workers were very lovely people with whom I enjoyed working. The CEO is earnest, supportive, mission-driven, and focused on modernizing the Federation.  However, overshadowing this is a distinct lack of support by some members of the C-Suite team, which borders on intimidation. 

New to the position, the CEO  endeavors to build a staff that shares his vision. Unfortunately, he also inherited staff members who have probably been there too long.  There is little to no training on the various software platforms that have been incorporated and are 1) required to effectively communicate within the organization and 2) stay on task. Rather than streamline, the multiple communication platforms dilute efficiency.  There is no HR support and staff is left to interpret the complex organizational structure on their own.

These are not issues unheard of in the nonprofit environment, however, those in other positions of authority can be dismissive and demoralizing. Inquiries related to work product and productivity are met with uncongenial responses that leave staff feeling undervalued and deficient. Meetings and attempts to define roles dissolve into scenarios where one is talked over and made to feel inadequate and incompetent, which a highly-experienced, competent, diligent employee should never feel.

There has been a tremendous amount of turnover, which is not uncommon when new leadership is brought in. However, they are losing talent due to an undesirable work environment.

Most of the work being conducted by the Federation is very meaningful and directed at education, youth and dispelling antisemitism. Conversely, an extreme amount of time, energy and resources are invested in tangential activities centered on social activities as opposed to societal impact.  A necessity to cultivate donors, but seems excessive within this organiztion.

A typical day at work at the Jewish Federation for me begins at 8:00am.  I catch up on the latest news from Israel in case there is anything happening my donors may want to talk about that day.  I then go through my emails and any event registrations that I received overnight to make see if any of my donors need to be contacted immediately.  What makes the work environment so great is that much of my day can be spent researching my donors and catching up with them over the phone.  Much of the job really is about maintaining relationships with donors.

At the Federation I have learned a lot about delegating responsibility.  Many of the tasks we undertake are simply too large for one person to handle alone.  Although I am many times the lead person on the job I had to learn to delegate responsibilities out to my Development Manager, the events team, marketing, and others.  Learning to stay on top of different teammates' progress towards our common goal is the best thing I have learned in my time at the Federation.

My coworkers are simply phenomenal.  I know that I can count on them to get the job done on time, on budget, and in spectacular fashion.  I have rarely seen a team that is as tight knit as ours.

The hardest part of the job is handling rejection from donors.  Sometimes even a long time donor just won't give this year for one reason or another.  Keeping my head up and moving on to the next task with no loss of enthusiasm is the most difficult part of the job.

The most enjoyable part of the job is working with my teammates.  I make sure to take time every day to drop by everybody's cubicles and office to see how they're doing.  This investment of time has paid off time and again for me because my coworkers know that I care about them.

Coming in to work is good, getting to my desk, pulling off voicemails, bringing up my computer. Have learned loads about the volunteer community and other software programs. Workplace culture is tough...dealing with several people who seem like prima-donnas, both work colleagues and a few patrons, which is really the hardest and worst part of the job. Also, many of my co-workers would interrupt me as they were going past my desk, each time, coming and going! That makes it extremely difficult to concentrate on what you are doing at any given time. Most of those co-workers had their own office, and did not realize how disruptive it was. The most enjoyable part of the job is that the gym is a free membership, so you can lower your stress by participating in that membership. 

It's a highly corporate and rigid working environment with more than half of the staff in managerial roles making it very top-heavy. There exists high power distance making questioning superiors unacceptable and reaching out to them unwelcome. 

It was at times hypocritical with all-staff meetings called to discuss professionalism in the workplace by showing up on time to meetings and barring cell phones from meetings, yet upper management seemed to be exempt from these decrees.

There are a couple mandatory volunteering events on nights and weekends throughout the year plus countless, "not mandatory, but it's important to help out"-events. Not to mention nighttime committee meetings which can be once a week.

There is no HR department other than a part-time consultant with no office on-site. So to whom do you raise questions/concerns?

The Federation is a great place to work.  They give you training every year, and offer consideration for training out of town.  It’s a close group of officers who help each other reach the company groups to give the best service possible to the Jewish Community. 

The Jewish community often expressed their appreciation of our services to their community.

Supervisors and upper management goes out of their way to help you succeed and make it possible to flex your schedule to make doctors appointments and family time outside of your normal off days.

Executive staff also communicated their concern for any issues you may have , including the health of family members.  They would personally call you via phone and or in person on how things are progressing with medical issues of family members.  Their sincere outreach to you are usually unheard of at the top level down.

This organization has no infrastructure at all.  No policies or procedures, no checks & balances, no PTO, or no benefits package either.  They treat their employees like slaves.  Until recently there wasn't even hot water.

The Board (legends in their own minds) are so busy micro-managing the staff that they are a daily hindrance, yet no one is auditing the books.  There are lies of omission so no one from the Executive Director to staff or to the entire board know what's really going on.  It all depends which way the wind is blowing at any given moment.

They aren't interested in being a Federation & really serving people & doing good deeds.  They really want to be a Country Club that really caters to an elite few.  The concepts of nonprofit standards & best practices gets resistance consistently.  SOP is to do whatever they want anyway,

They can't even close out 2015 because they can't pay the 2014 auditors.  The owe their vendors too.  How pathetic is that?

What is the best part of working at the company?
AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!! CEO has no idea what happens in his company. CEO is amazing and wonderful but other C rank officers and HR are absolutely awful. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
EVERYTHING!!!! They constantly change things once you TEACH YOURSELF no training is provided this is a sink or swim employment place. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Toxic and stressful. You never know who will be getting fired DAILY. You start your day next to your co workers and go to lunch or end of day they are gone. Never seen such high turnover before 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Come in and half of the company comes in the office some get to work hybrid. Everyone takes vacations at the same time. Super political here. Avoid

What is the best part of working at the company?
Serving a nice community and many of the coworkers are good people and generally friendly atmosphere

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Not always very clear sense of direction or collaborative approach. Some unprofessional behaviour by senior level staff. During pandemic layoffs included some key individuals which was disappointing.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Generally positive but really depends on who your supervisor is 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Pleasant overall with lots of process and not as much productivity. Colleagues with wide ranging experience can be positive and constructive but can also hamper collaboration and cohesion

There is no typical day at work. Staff are expected to be flexible and move from job to job and department to department within agencies without raises. 
Management rewards those who kiss up rather than those who actually do the work. The hardest part of the job was advocating for yourself when you knew you deserved a raise or promotion and were continually denied it. The most enjoyable part of the job was making friendships with some staff who truly are good people and care about the work they do. I would NEVER recommend working here if you have respect for yourself and want to advance your career with a shred of dignity while earning a livable salary.

I've been with the company for over 25 years and there have been a few management changes which has changed the office culture.  

My main responsibility was the creation all the registration sites for missions and some events for high level donors.   Depending on the time of year, my workload can can vary from very busy to moderate.  

During my time with JFNA, I've learned to engage and interact with many of the donors and communicate with them in a way that meets their needs. 

The registration sites that I created were from difficult constituencies within the organization, and I was interacting with many different staff members, which I taught me how to prioritize my workload.

The most enjoyable part of my job was engagement with the donors.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Room manager 104 salaries reported	$23.00 per hour
Philanthropy manager 15 salaries reported	$93,967 per year
Administrative assistant 4 salaries reported	$27.38 per hour
Director 10 salaries reported	$97,021 per year
Travel consultant 25 salaries reported	$21.50 per hour

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