Archive for April, 2008
Jewcy Media Strikes Partnership With Zeek
New York, NY, May 1, 2008. Zeek, an online journal that has helped shape modern Jewish-American culture, today announced that it is joining forces with Jewcy.com, one of the web’s most innovative and rapidly-growing online communities. Beginning today, Zeek’s online content will be published at www.jewcy.com/zeek.
Zeek joins Jewcy as the first content partner in Jewcy’s initiative to create a publishing network of editorial sites serving the YoCo psychographic – young, culturally omnivorous Americans looking for meaning and community.
“We are joining strength with strength,” said Jo Ellen Green Kaiser, chief editor of Zeek and formerly the managing editor of Tikkun magazine. “We’re a leader in Jewish intellectual, cultural, artistic, and spiritual life, and Jewcy is the largest and most dynamic Jewish community on the internet.”
“Zeek is the first of many partnerships to come in our effort to assemble an all-star team of the nation’s most original, creative voices,” said Tahl Raz, CEO and founding editor with Joey Kurtzman. Kurtzman said, “Zeek consistently publishes daring, groundbreaking work. This had to happen.”
Zeek will retain its editorial independence and continue to publish its print journal. Its most recent issue, published last month, is a 120-page anthology of Russian-Jewish art, fiction, and poetry.
The venture is the first such merger among the publications and organizations collectively known as the ‘new Jewish culture,’ and represents a joining of two of the leading forces in independent Jewish media. Said Kaiser, “This is a natural evolution of the work all of us have been doing, and we’re thrilled to be joining forces.”
Branding 102
The American Red Cross spent $10. million to develop their web site; $2. million annually sustains it. While I do not know any organization in our communal world with an expenditure so large, I do suspect more than one are in the same ballpark as a percentage of their operating budgets.
So, the question is, you’ve put all this time, effort and money into the site. Beta-tested new ideas; possibly even held focus groups. And you’re still left with the nagging question,
will they come?
You can easily fall into a bottomless pit spending money to market your website. But, there are also many (and important) ways you should be building your brand for free.
What brings this up now?
During the past month or so we have seen a number of Conferences in our Jewish world. Many of our regular readers took time off for the Pesach Chag. As a result, on any given day our daily updates are sent, I receive a good number of automatic “out of office” replies. Looking at the email signatures is often a good way to tell the organizational affiliation and responsibility level of our subscribers.
The surprising fact? The name is there; occasionally a title; generally the phone number; and sometimes even the email address is printed below. But, uniformly what is missing? the organization’s web address.
That’s right. From the largest, and wealthiest, organizations in our Jewish world (including two powerful Foundations); from their media spokes-persons (unbelievable!) to the CEO’s, the email signature does not contain the web address. And every single one of these organizations has a pretty good web site.
In fact, a “shout-out” to Sharsheret; the ONLY “out-of-office” reply we received with a web-site tag-line!
We list for you six places you should always list your web address. After all, you’ve probably spent a fair amount of money designing not only your site but your ancillary marketing materials. What’s more, this is all free advertising!
- letterheads
- pledge cards
- newsletters
- business cards
- all marketing materials
- last but not least, your email signature.
A Free People In Our Own Land
A snapshot in history with rarely seen footage.
Provisional Government of Israel Official Gazette: Number 1; Tel Aviv, 5 Iyar 5708, 14.5.1948 Page 1
The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel:
WE APPEAL to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great struggle for the realization of the age-old dream - the redemption of Israel.
PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE “ROCK OF ISRAEL”, WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES TO THIS PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE, ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND, IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS SABBATH EVE, THE 5TH DAY OF IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY,1948).
Family Foundation Giving Up Sharply
America’s family foundations gave away $16 billion in 2006, a 13 percent increase from the previous year, according to Key Facts on Family Foundations, released last week by the Foundation Center. Since 1998, the first year for which statistics on family foundations are available, giving by these grant-makers has more than doubled. Family foundations also accounted for the bulk of giving (59%) by independent foundations.
According to Steven Lawrence, senior director of research, “Despite the economic fluctuations since the start of the 2000s, donors and donor families have continued to establish new foundations and build the endowments of their existing foundations. We expect these trends to continue to boost family foundation giving for the foreseeable future.”
Among the key findings:
- 67 percent of all family foundations have been established since 1990.
- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ranked as the largest family foundation by giving and assets in 2006.
- Many family foundations are small, with 48 percent giving less than $50,000 annually.
- Education was the top funding priority of family foundations located in the Northeast, Midwest, and South, while health accounted for the biggest share among Western family foundations, largely due to the Gates Foundation.
Key Facts on Family Foundations identified 37,800 independent foundations with measurable donor or donor-family involvement. The fact sheet examines giving by recipient type, type of support, population group served, and geographic location. It also details differences in the size of the boards and staff of family foundations and lists the top 25 family foundations by giving.
Click below to read the report.
Key Facts On Family Foundations 2008
In The Press
A selection of recent articles and posts you may find interesting.
Philanthropy Can Be made To Measure
Gara LaMarche, president of the Atlantic Philanthropies, is offering advice to donors about how to evaluate their philanthropy.
In an opinion article in The Financial Times, Mr. LaMarche sets out guidelines for measuring charitable work. One piece of advice, “Measurement efforts should be a learning tool for both the beneficiary and donor.
Salesforce.com + Google = Improved Productivity
The above two organizations announced a new level of integration; both freely available to non-profits.
Testing the Waters With Internships
INTERNSHIPS, a rite of passage for job-hunting students, are attracting the attention of older adults who are eager to dip into new ventures, paid or not, before taking a full plunge.
Chol HaMoed in Review, II
from the world of philanthropy:
In the for-profit dot.com world, the bottom line is easy to measure — it comes down to dollars and cents. For nonprofit organizations, success is more difficult to define. How many people were educated? Informed? Served? Engaged? Activated? How much money was raised? Did legislative policy change? Corporate policy? Public opinion?
A new study at an Irish university suggests that gossip influences generosity.
Leadership Without A Safety Net
The Spring issue of Non-Profit Quarterly is out; titled “Leadership Without a Safety Net”. Their focus in this issue is “to draw readers away from the emphasis on strategic career development and towards a focus on leading for impact and effectiveness.”
Making A Case for Social Media Marketing
Regular visitors to eJewish Philanthropy know we believe strongly in the use of social media / social networking within our non-profit world. There are many variations for an organization to choose from; no “one size fits all” approach. Hopefully, we are encouraging you to consider the various possibilities available and pointing you in some useful directions. Also, in speaking about Social Media Marketing, a second post, Facebook Publishes Insider’s Guide to Viral Marketing
The Trouble With Percentage Commissions
Paying a fundraiser a commission is a controversial issue. Many professional organizations ban the practice outright in their Codes of Ethics. Here in Israel, while such is also the practice among professional fundraisers, every week advertisements appear for commission based positions in parts of our fundraising community.
Chol HaMoed in Review
We hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable Pesach.
Judging from both our Web traffic counts, and “out-of-office” automated replies, we know many of you took some time off last week. Here, hopefully in easy to read form, is a summary of the various posts added during Chol HaMoed. As you will notice, not much happened in our Jewish world, but a couple of significant studies were released in the broader American philanthropic community you might want to check out.
In Our Global Jewish World:
A New Capacity Building Grant for Birthright Israel
The Birthright Israel Foundation will be the recipient of the largest grant ever provided by the Jim Joseph Foundation. The $17.5 million gift, to be distributed over the next five years, will provide $5 million in trip support, and an additional $12.5 million as a matching grant for building community initiatives among young adults after the trip.
Major Israeli Philanthropist Speaks Out
Oudi Recanati speaks to the Jerusalem Post about a change in mentality among Israeli philanthropists. He believes, Israeli philanthropists should take the lead in Jewish philanthropy in order to inspire overseas Jews to do the same. “If Jews don’t give to their own, no one else will.”
PresenTense and New Voices publish new editions.
A new image and marketing campaign, timed for Israel’s 60th, for the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute.
Just for Fun:
High above Tel Aviv…
eNonProfit Benchmarks Study
Hot Off The Press - being released later today:
In the for-profit dot.com world, the bottom line is easy to measure — it comes down to dollars and cents. For nonprofit organizations, success is more difficult to define. How many people were educated? Informed? Served? Engaged? Activated? How much money was raised? Did legislative policy change? Corporate policy? Public opinion?
The eNonprofit Benchmarks Study is the first of its kind look at the effectiveness of major American nonprofit organizations using the Internet to raise money and influence public policy. The study is a tool that nonprofits can use to measure and compare their online performance to other organizations’ online programs.
What you will find:
- Return in Investment: Hallmarks of a Successful Program
- e-mail Messaging: Cornerstone of Nonprofit Online Programs
- e-Mail List Growth: Just How Big Is That E-Mail List?
- e-Mail List Composition: Who Are These “Online Subscribers,” Anyway?
- Online Advocacy: Mobilizing Subscribers for Online Action
- Online Fundraising: Making Online Programs Pay Off
- Best Practices in Online Communications: Practical Steps for Improving Your Online Progra
2008 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study
Highlights from the report can be found in this article from the Non-Profit Times and this post from the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Prospecting.
Rebranding The Weizmann
This year, Israel has kicked off a major re-branding campaign to encourage the world to look beyond Middle Eastern conflict and recognize Israel’s global contributions as a nation. Here’s one example:
The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science (ACWIS), a world-renowned scientific institute based in Israel, aims to help celebrate Israel’s important milestone. At the same time, ACWIS is preparing for the 60th Anniversary of the naming of the Weizmann Institute by enhancing its own branding efforts on behalf of Weizmann.
Weizmann is recognized in the scientific research community as one of the world’s leading basic research institutes, regarded as highly as Rockefeller, MIT, Caltech are in the U.S. However due to its location, common misconceptions exist among the American public.
Now, ACWIS is tackling these misconceptions head-on with a bold new U.S. campaign, spearheaded by attention-grabbing advertisements with the tagline: “Israel’s Gift to the World.” Each execution in the new series presents one of the Institute’s more notable scientific advances – garlic-powered cancer treatments, crops that grow in extreme conditions, and a microscopic cancer spy.
Said simply: “The World Needs Our Research. We Need Your Support.” You can view the new campaign:
