Editor’s Note: The Jan. 22 issue of The Voice & Herald (“Key agencies will operate as one”) reported that the JFRI, the JCCRI and the BJE/RI will integrate their operations and programs with the goal of improving the quality and availability of programs and services for the community. This is the second in a series of occasional stories about these changes.

PROVIDENCE – The corner of Sessions and Elmgrove has been buzzing in the past month as the boards of the three big agencies housed there voted to encourage the process of combining into a single entity. In interviews, the presidents of the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island (JFRI), the Jewish Community Center of Rhode Island (JCCRI) and the Bureau of Jewish Education of Rhode Island (BJE/RI), discussed the background and next steps for the change.

Doris Feinberg, JFRI president, said the integration would be the second major move in a process to “realign the way our community does business.” A comprehensive review of the community in 2008 had revealed some duplication: multiple agencies administering Kosher meal sites and Meals on Wheels, for example, and multiple preschool programs. To foster coordination and ensure that spending matched community priorities, the JFRI first shifted allocations away from agencies and toward specific programs and services.

Once donor dollars were oriented toward programs, not agencies, it made sense to talk about combining at least some of those agencies. That’s also because with the growing complexity of their operations, it’s become increasingly difficult for each agency to run effectively on its own.

Doug Emanuel, JCCRI board president, noted, as an example, that foundations and other external sources require complicated grant applications nowadays, yet none of the agencies is big enough to hire a dedicated grant writer. There’s no one who specializes in human resources or in information technology. Agency staffers have been doing double duty to cover those growing needs. Combined into a single entity, the agencies will be explore hiring at least some of these specialists – allowing everyone else to go back to doing what they were hired to do.

Economies of scale from combining will help in a number of ways beyond administration. But, Sharon Gaines, president of the BJE/RI, stressed that an even bigger opportunity lies in the freedom to rethink programs according to the needs of the community. Besides reducing outright duplication, the new entity will have an easier time creating a continuum of education and support, because there will be fewer organizational silos to cross. Program directors in this yet-unnamed entity will be able to cross-promote their offerings much more readily.

Asked about possible downsides – other than the enormous effort to bring about the integration – the presidents pointed to the risk of losing volunteers and donors who identified closely with the existing agencies. But they hope that the greater effectiveness of the new entity will help to excite the community around even higher levels of volunteering and giving.

While some savings may be possible, the presidents agreed that the goal is improving results on the ground, not cutting costs. The recession has certainly added to the urgency for change – they mentioned Stoughton, Mass., which just closed its JCC ­– and said that other communities have drastically scaled back on education programs. But they said the move to a single entity was compelling even before the economic downturn. They see it as the only way to strengthen the institutions’ ability to grow in both revenue and offerings – which they say is necessary for the overall community to sustain itself in the long run.

If integration makes so much sense, why did the agencies ever start off separately at all? Here the presidents deferred to people with more experience. Melvin Zurier, a longtime resident active in many of the community’s institutions for decades, noted that each agency started with a narrower mission and constituency than it has now. The JFRI, for example, began as the Jewish Appeal, focused on channeling money to Jews overseas and the fledgling state of Israel.

Philanthropy has changed as well. The presidents said that that not only are foundations requiring detailed grant applications, but also donors increasingly seek transparency and accountability. They think less in terms of building up institutions and more in terms of impact on the ground. The shift from agency-thinking to program-thinking should make it easier to attract funding from a range of sources.

Besides the three big agencies, the plan looks toward better coordination with other community institutions. The board of the Jewish Community Day School, for example, just indicated its willingness to cooperate more closely. The presidents also support efforts to help revive merger talks between Jewish Family Services and the Jewish Seniors Agency.

Regardless of where these and other talks go, the presidents emphasized that some community agencies, such as the Hillels, will always stay fully independent and separate. And the community will continue to fund specific programs at these agencies, as these programs meet community priorities.

What’s next? The three presidents, along with their executive directors and a consultant, will be meeting in the next several months to hash out the details of the integration. They said they will rely on the insights of other community leaders in shaping the final result.

There’s an enormous amount of work to be done to combine the staff, governance, and assets of these institutions. They hope to see results from this process by Rosh Hashanah, in order to usher in the New Year with a more sustainable institutional foundation for the future.

John Landry is on The Voice & Herald’s Editorial Board and the father of two sons at JCDS.