COMMUNITY NEWS
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia mobilizes
financial and volunteer resources to address the
communities’ most critical priorities locally, in Israel and
around the world.

Using Data to Map Our Communities’ COVID-19 Needs
AT THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA, it’s our
job to get your money to the people and organizations who need it most.

So nothing is more important to us than being in touch with the people we
serve, whether that means picking up the phone and talking to them one-on-one
or using complex data tools to get a big picture view.

When COVID-19 hit, we knew that many more people would find themselves
in need, and that their needs would be increasingly complex. To respond to this,
our Strategy and Impact team put out a Community Needs survey that more
than 1,000 people answered. Individuals were invited to share how the pandemic
had affected them personally, and organizations shared how COVID impacted
their businesses and the services they provided to the community.

The end result is data that will guide our strategy and reveal areas of need that
would have remained hidden. Check out our interesting stats.

Individual needs
When it comes to individuals and families, our evaluation team learned:
• The three service needs cited most frequently were virtual community
programming (29%), mental health (21%) and job loss/employment services
(18%). • Households with children are more likely to have decreased participation in
Jewish engagement activities.

• 37% of households indicate decreased participation in volunteer activities, and
27% indicated decreased participation in Shabbat or holiday programming.

• Adult education during COVID-19 saw a higher level of both decreased and
increased participation as compared to youth education.

Want more data? Visit jewishphilly.org/covid-19-survey-results.

Organizational needs
When it comes to local organizations, our evaluation team learned:
• 84% of organizations reported some degree of revenue loss, and 16% had to
furlough or lay off staff.

• The most-cited services reported by organizations as requested by their clients
include: virtual community programming (65%), virtual Jewish education
(39%), food services (35%), financial assistance (33%) and child care (31%).

• Half of social service organizations reported an increase in service requests,
and Jewish life and learning organizations were more likely to see a decrease
in demand.

• Jewish life and learning organizations, such as camps and day schools,
reported a harder time meeting new service needs (56%) than community
engagement and social responsibility organizations (25%).

Franki Chamaki Unsplash
22 OCTOBER 1, 2020
JEWISH EXPONENT
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM