Facing a declining donor base 20 years in the making, UJC/The Jewish Federations of North America is reframing its brand and the way its community of member federations works together.

By Abny Santicola

It found that local Jewish federation familiarity was pretty good (about 50 percent), but there was a significant familiarity gap for younger Jews. For example, 57 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds who already donate to Jewish causes are not familiar with their local Jewish federations.

"Because familiarity is the basic building block of any branding activity, you cannot, obviously, become a donor or a loyal donor or an advocate for the charity before you are aware that the charity exists," Smolyar says.