JCA undergoes biggest overhaul in 60 years

The Jewish Communal Appeal (JCA) has undergone the most significant overhaul in its near 60-year history, shifting from being run by its member organisations to a corporate, board-led structure.

The NSW Jewish community’s central fundraising and planning body has also amended its Trust Deed to make funds available if needed to support non-member organisations providing services to Jews in NSW and the ACT.

Under the new structure, the 24 member organisations are now members in JCA, which is run by nine directors; the president, a nominee of the president, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD) president and six board members that have been chosen via a rigorous independent process.

The first iteration of this new board sees JCA president Ian Sandler joined by his nominee, vice president Myra Salkinder along with JBD President David Ossip, Jillian Segal, Phillip Wolanski, Roxanne Dunkel, Kevin Kalinko, Jason Sandler and Lance Kalish.

CEO Alain Hasson told The AJN the “very strong, independent board” will steward JCA for the foreseeable future.

“As one of the largest community trusts in our community, understanding who governs it – if I’m someone who’s giving money to JCA – is fundamentally important,” he said.

“All of these trust mechanisms – knowing the strength of who is on this board now, and also how they will take JCA forward from a strategic vision perspective and independence from the individual organisations – as a member of community, as a donor of JCA, I think that is a critical point.”

Ian Sandler said the new legal structure and Trust Deed “are the vital steps we needed to take to prepare us for the future, ensuring flexibility, accountability, and the ability to protect and grow our fundraising to meet the needs of tomorrow”.

He added that the “updated and fit for purpose Trust Deed is not merely a legal document—it’s a reflection of deep collaboration, rigorous thinking, and tireless dedication”.

Hasson noted that the ATO said “it is the most complicated Trust Deed they’ve ever seen”.

“This was two and a half year’s worth of work just evolving this,” he said.

“But when we look strategically where JCA needs to move, the feedback that we’ve had over a number of years, is ‘JCA is a closed shop. You only support your member organisations’.”

He named a number of organisations, including Jewish House, Australian Jewish Fertility Network, Abraham’s Tent, Community Health Support and Friendship Circle, who are not JCA members for various reasons but are making a valuable impact.

“JCA should have a look at how we support those organisations,” he said.

“From my perspective, the end client is our community. If JCA is not assisting in enhancing what is ultimately provided to our community then at the end of the day we are failing our community.”

This is more important than ever after the December 14 Bondi Beach terrorist attack, he added.

A further major change has been the establishment of the Jewish Community Foundation, a separate trust also managed by JCA Limited’s board.

Previously, Hasson explained, having DGR 2 (Deductible Gift Recipient category 2) tax status, JCA could not by law receive donations directly from donors with their own private foundations, which are also DGR 2s. This meant substantial donations had to be directed to member organisations without flowing through JCA.

The Jewish Community Foundation, established by ministerial decree on December 24, 2025, has community charity status, which Hasson described as “the strongest charity status in Australia”. This allows “our most significant donors can now pay through to the Jewish Community Foundation,” solving the previous tax barrier, he said.

He noted that in the wake of Bondi, “they kept the ATO open after closure on Christmas Eve” in order to finalise the foundation’s establishment.

“So the government – I know we’ve got our challenges – but to their credit, what they did to get it for us was remarkable,” he said. “We’ve now got two trusts under the management of the JCA limited directorship. They will work in parallel, in sync, and they are governed by the same board of directors, by the same corporate trustee.”

Beyond making donations simpler for donors with private foundations, the foundation provides greater flexibility for future crises. “God forbid we face future crises… our ability to respond to that will be far, far, quicker,” he said.

Looking ahead to this year’s fundraising period, Hasson said it would be “anything but an ordinary campaign”.

“This is the most extraordinary year that our community will ever face,” he said. “The asks of JCA, without question, will historically be more than we’ve ever seen in almost 60 years.”