by Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll
As we are all aware the past few years have seen a significant shift in donor relations. Gone are the days of knocking on doors and walking away with a check, not to be seen again until the following year.
Donors want more, need more and want to be more to the organizations that act as their agents of good. I am not telling you anything you don’t already know. However, knowing something and knowing what to do about it are two very different things. To help nonprofits cope with this shift, excellent resources have been developed. There are blogs, websites, books, organizations and consultants dedicated to helping nonprofits understand and utilize the tools available to them.
Keeping up with so much information, sorting it, remembering it and utilizing it is a full time job in and of itself; those heading nonprofits just don’t have that kind of time. Dedicated as they are to running and supporting their nonprofits, taking the time to look up and breathe is hard enough – needing to consistently learn about new media, engagement and technology can seem impossible.
Across the United States, conferences such as the Future of Jewish Nonprofit Summit [FOJNP], NextGen: Charity and NTen are providing targeted opportunities for nonprofits to come together and learn. These conferences focus on sharing best practices, cases studies of new technology and great ideas worth sharing are the first of their kind.
They are part of the overall new reality of the melding of the technological, nonprofit, media, marketing and corporate worlds. Here, nonprofits learn branding from top marketers, engagement from social media professionals and opportunities in technology from technologists. People in all sectors are looking to share their expertise in order to “do more good”. We in third sector need to let them teach us.
All around us are examples of those already tuning in to this new reality. A perfect example is The Jewish New Media Fund the joint effort of Schusterman Foundation, the Righteous Persons Foundation and the Jim Joseph Foundation created solely to fund projects using new media to reach the Jewish audience with Jewish content.
It is with the above in mind that Causil and REACH3K came together to produce The Future of Nonprofit Summit: Israel on February 28, 2011. The Third Sector deserves and needs to be inspired by those who are already putting great ideas, strategies and technologies into motion. FONSI is the second conference in a series on the future of nonprofits being produced by Causil. Upcoming events are in Toronto in March, Portland in June and Washington, DC in December.
FONSI is geared to create an atmosphere where nonprofits will learn about trends and opportunities in technology, marketing, corporate philanthropy, the governmental sector, donor engagement, new media and much more. Nonprofits will come together and hear about the tools available to them and meet like minded people with whom they might collaborate.
By shifting to a culture of innovation, collaboration and best practice, the Third Sector can properly utilize its supporters and take its place alongside corporate and government as leaders of change in Israel.
While it is very commendable that several prominent foundations have gotten together to put on this one day conference, the sad part is that many of us in Israel who work in this area will be unable to attend. The costs are prohibitive and the timing is more than just a little difficult.
To spend 400 NIS plus a hotel for a one day conference held from 8 – 5:30 does not take into consideration that there are many non profits that are not located in the Center of Israel. Many of us do not have cars which means that we must rely on mass transit. With a traveling time of anywhere from three to four hours to reach Jaffa, it is sad that this conference was not held for more than one day. If one needs to arrange to stay at a hotel anyway in order to attend the morning sessions, it would have been a little more thoughtful had those who were planning it considered that not everyone lives in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.
That’s just my two cents worth.
Rena,
If your main point was that we have so much to learn that one day could never suffice, I agree fully!
You know what, my first reaction when I read about the cost was quite similar to yours, but then I thought about the ROI (not the Schusterman version) – where would we be able to imagine a line-up of top notch speakers, all on the same stage, all on the one day? If we did happen to be in the US, UK or Europe, attending such a conference would cost so much more, necessitate so much more travel time and cost, and inconvenience us so much more that those wishing to attend would truly invest in making the most out of it. As it is, we in Israel have become so used to settling for low-cost, low value and local “seminars” that we have truly managed to accumulate in proportion to our speculation (got what we paid for) – and you see what a state the sector is currently in as a result.
Whilst it may have been painful for me to accept the need to ask my organization to pay, the cost is nothing relative to the knowledge I expect to bring back to my office from the conference, the networking opportunity it will afford, and the precedent it will set for the standard and value of such events in the future.
Thank you to the organizers for their initiative and investment. I happen to know that a financial gain was neither their aim, nor will it be the end result. I do expect to be overwhelmed by the content, enthused by the atmosphere, and comforted by the optimism.
After all that, Rena, will I see you there?
Hi Jonny,
Sorry you won’t see me there and it’s not all about the cost.
Rena