The first Jewish Federation was founded in Boston in 1895 as Associated Jewish Charities. Other cities formed their own Jewish charity groups, caring for the needs of their own communities and sending funds overseas to help Jews in need. In 1932 the National Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds was founded as the umbrella organization for local American and Canadian chapters. In 1939 the national United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was formed, merging the fund-raising campaigns of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the United Palestine Appeal, and the New York Association for New Americans. In 2018 the umbrella organization is called Jewish Federations of North America.

Four local Jewish women’s charities formed the basis of what would become the Jewish Federation of San Diego County. The Ladies Hebrew Aid Society (1890), the Hebrew Sisterhood (1913), the Jolly Sixteen (circa 1912-1914) and the Junior Charity League (circa 1917) assisted the needy, gave loans and welcomed soldiers. These four women’s groups came together to found Federated Jewish Charities, which would, in 1933, split into the Jewish Welfare Fund and the San Diego Chapter of the United Jewish Fund. These were forerunners of today’s Jewish Family Service and Jewish Federation of San Diego County. It was also called the United Jewish Federation and in 2018 it is called the Jewish Federation of San Diego County. The purpose was to provide financial, religious and moral support for Jewish communities in the United States and across the world. In 1946 Federation women created their own Women’s Division. In 2018 it is called Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County.