Otherwise known as: Everything You Need to Know About Networking

(The major summer conference season begins this week. A perfect opportunity to ‘recycle’ a post from a few years back on conference networking.)

There is an old Japanese riddle: Is it the bell that rings? Is it the hammer that rings? Or is it the meeting of the two that rings?

Charlie Jones, an internationally known speaker on the challenging problems in business, tells us: “You are the same today as you will be five years from now, except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read.”

What does this mean to you, the non-profit manager or social entrepreneur?

The books you read simply means keeping up with all that is new, different, and exciting in order to continuously enhance your business and your own mind.

The people you meet are important because they are part of your network. They include not only your present constituents, but extend much further to those you meet at social and business gatherings, your local neighborhood, or shopping mall; the list is almost endless.

“Networking is people talking to each other, sharing ideas, information and resources”, according to John Naisbitt, author of Megatrends.

He continues…

“Networks are structured to transmit information in a way that is quicker, more energy-efficient, and more high-tech than any other process we know.” You can network in your community by belonging to the local synagogue, civic / political group or by contacting professional associates you meet at conferences.

Remember,

the potential for growing your non-profit extends beyond not only the walls of your organization, but also the boundaries of your community. With cell phones, e-mail and the Web, the world has become smaller, which allows you to tell more people who you are and what you do.

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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.

From Prospecting, we bring you a recent post on the subject. We think this is a relevant and important issue in our international Jewish community. Therefore the complete post follows…

When Susan Herr ran a struggling charity, she was sometimes tempted to reward her fund raisers financially for their success, not just for their effort.

“My (desperate) thinking: I’ve got no money to hire someone and if this gal can bring in some funds, why not give her a big chunk of money I don’t think I can access anyway?,” she writes on the Philanthropomedia blog.

But Ms. Herr says that, in hindsight, she’s glad that most ethics codes prohibit fund raisers from being paid based on a percentage of the money they bring in. She encourages readers to take a look at an essay by Paulette V. Maehara, the president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, on what she calls “the percentage problem.”

In a background paper on the issue, the association cites several reasons why percentage-based pay is a poor idea:

• The mission and long-term interests of the charity could become secondary to the fund raiser’s personal interests.

• Donors may be turned off by knowledge that the fund raiser will receive a commission on their gift.

• Fund raisers will be more focused on their own interests, and not enough on those of donors.

A poll released at the association’s annual meeting last month found that accepting commission payments is the most common ethical concern veteran nonprofit officials have witnessed.

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The American based Jewish Funders Network came to town this past week, but you’d never know it.

You see, the community of Israeli philanthropists participating in the Conference put a noose around the JFN’s neck and held them hostage.

They told the JNF they “suffer at the hands of Israeli gossip columnists” and pushed the JNF team against the wall. The sessions were closed to the media; a 180 degree turn from the JFN’s normal practice.

The official program stated the sessions were closed not to “undermine the participants’ feelings of privacy and security”.

I was told by more than one participant of the JNF’s need to have this, their first ever Conference in Israel, succeed; pretty much regardless of cost.

As it turned out, three American media representatives were permitted to attend and “even that was controversial, and has caused discord”. Unfortunately, pretty much anything you read about the Conference itself, regardless of source, is being prepared or edited by the JFN. For even the privlidged three were only permitted access “provided they work together with the organization to ensure that their reports were accurate and factual.”

This was not the only Conference in the world of philanthropy happening in Israel this past week. Under the auspices of Tel Aviv University’s Harold Hartog School of Government, over 100 representatives of Diaspora and Israeli groups participated in a Workshop on Faith and International Development several days earlier. You can read more about this Conference / Workshop here. What was amazing as we gathered at Neve Ilan: the complete absence of Israeli philanthropists. Not one was in attendance; a fact brought forth quite emphatically from the speaker’s podium during the closing session, titled, “Galvanizing the Jewish World.”

Israel’s philanthropists may be worried about the gossip columnists, but they certainly follow some local established business norms as it relates to transparency. In a profile last Fall focusing on the coffee culture here in Israel and franchising, one local chain admitted their most serious obstacle was enforcing transparency relative to the business practices of the franchisee. The complete article is here. (As an aside to you coffee drinkers, Tel Aviv has per capita twice the number of coffee cafes as Manhattan!)

Back to The Jewish Funders Network; they announced last week a plan to open an office in Israel this year. Kol ha-kavod and welcome to them. They do great work and I am certain they will make a strong, and immediate, contribution to the local scene. But I would offer two suggestions: they need to personally know the local community of American / Israeli communal professionals. This group can provide a wealth of information and introductions into a world, I know for sure, they are not familiar with.

Second, talk to Cafe Hillel. They have apparently made progress vis a vie teaching transparency to Israeli business people.

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The U.S. election season has put the issues of diversity and gender on the national radar. Now, a new book looks at gender equity through the lens of North America’s Jewish organizations, where 70 percent of professionals are women, yet few hold top positions.

In Leveling the Playing Field: Advancing Women in Jewish Organizational Life, three experts in organizational change provide strategies and tools for those who want to champion gender equity in the workplace. This new “how-to” book draws upon best practices in leadership theory and human dynamics to tackle gender inequity, a deep-rooted problem that has been discussed for years by Jewish leaders with little being achieved.

In the book, the three authors paint a compelling picture of gender bias in North America’s Jewish organizations, and explain why more equitable environments are essential to the success of these organizations and the long-term health of the Jewish community. Then, they present comprehensive strategies for anyone (executives, staff, lay leaders, volunteers) who wants to build an action plan for change within their own organization.

“Imagine how much stronger Jewish organizations would be if women truly shared leadership with men,” said co-author Shifra Bronznick. “Until now, there have been too many platitudes about closing the leadership gap, but few resources actually devoted to serious initiatives. Leveling the Playing Field will give people the tools to move the community from rhetoric to real change.”

The book tackles the issue of gender equity with an eye toward organizational effectiveness, making its lessons appropriate for any sector: “An organization with overwhelmingly male leadership, despite a majority of female staff, is not likely to be operating as a meritocracy and therefore is not taking full advantage of its talent pool.”

However, the conversation is particularly relevant to Jewish organizations, federations, nonprofits, foundations, and religious institutions, which have been slow to address the problem: “There are fewer women at the high echelons in the Jewish communal arena than in comparable organizations in academia, philanthropy, and the secular nonprofit sector.”

Using the most current studies and data from the Jewish world, the authors explain how recent efforts to address gender equity in the workplace, while encouraging, are still largely superficial and ignore the underlying factors that perpetuate gender bias (e.g., antiquated models of workplace success, unfair policies, inflexible environments and misconceptions about women’s potential).

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD:
Advancing Women in Jewish Organizational Life
By Shifra Bronznick, Didi Goldenhar, and Marty Linsky

Published by:
Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community
www.advancingwomen.org

in bookstores April 7th

updated: read this Op-Ed piece by the book’s authors,

Action is needed to smash glass ceiling in communal world. Click here.

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The NonProfit Times announced the launch of an online portal that gives free access to corporate donation data for fundraising research to nonprofit grant writers and others researchers.

The address is www.nptgrantsearch.com.

The research portal was launched with more than 4,300 searchable records of corporate donations valued at $1 million or more to U.S. charities.

The only free service of its kind, users can search, view and save information about the corporate donor, recipient organization, size of gift, and year of donation.

It’s already live at www.nptgrantsearch.com or from NPT’s home page, www.nptimes.com.

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Billed as a “a one-stop shop for tools to help advance your organization’s mission in a smart, cost-efficient way,” the newly launched Google for Non-Profits portal offers quick links to the most commonly used tools in the Google suite of services. It also highlights some cost-saving benefits that are available only to nonprofits.

This site features ideas and tutorials for how you can use Google tools to promote your work, raise money and operate more efficiently. And to get inspired, you’ll also find examples of innovative ways other non-profits are using these products to further their causes.

For more information check the Google blog here

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Treat your e-mail subscribers with respect and protect your organization’s reputation through consistent database policies. Optimize one of your best resources.

“Email marketers’ most valued asset is the mailing list, but few take the necessary steps to protect it. Here are common vulnerabilities to avoid.

What’s your greatest email marketing asset? It isn’t your list software, creative designs or even your budget.

None of those really matter if you don’t have a healthy, vibrant and engaged mailing list. Without your subscribers, whom I will assume have all opted in to receive your mailings, you have no marketing program, or at least not one that recovers its costs and adds value to your company.

So, what are you doing to protect this most precious asset? Not much, judging by what I see marketers doing across the industry. They would never leave money out on a table, but they don’t take the necessary steps to protect their lists from abuse, internally or externally.”

Read more from Wendy Roth as she discusses five common mistakes marketers make with their e-mail databases.

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Social-enterprise leaders gathered in Boston this week are seeking a new legal structure — the low-profit, limited liability company, or L3C — as a way to encourage investments by foundations and others in businesses with a social mission, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports:

“As the lines between the nonprofit and for-profit worlds blur, social-enterprise leaders continue to look for new legal structures that are better suited to such blended activities than current designations…

One proposed legal structure discussed at the meeting — the low-profit, limited liability company, or L3C — is designed to increase the number of program-related investments, or PRI’s, that foundations make in social-purpose businesses by making those enterprises easier to find. Proponents hope that foundation investment in those ventures would, in turn, spur an influx of private capital.”

click to continue reading from the Chronicle and here to learn more about the proposed L3C concept

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Writing in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Jeff Brooks asks us…

Does your newsletter (and/or website) contain any of the following?

• News about back-office staff.
• Photo of well-heeled donor presenting a giant check to your organization.
• Photos of people standing around (possibly holding wine glasses) at your fundraising event.
• Articles whose sole purpose is to educate donors.

If you answered yes to any of these, your organization may suffer from Nonprofit Navel-Gazing Syndrome (NPNGS). This condition causes nonprofits to believe that their own understanding of the world must be shared by others—especially donors. This leads to a lack of respect for donors who “don’t get it.” This elitist attitude prevents effective fundraising.

continue reading here

We do not necessarily agree with Jeff and as you can see, the comments go both ways. But, his post should give you cause to continually review your own marketing materials, always keeping in mind your organizations’ goals and audience.

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Here at eJewish Philanthropy we’ve spent months speaking about online fundraising and social networks. Little did I know some in our Jewish world are still finding validity with radio to reach their target audience! Take a peak at a current AJC initiative. And keep in mind the use of this line in the advert: Charity Navigator and the American Institute of Philanthropy give AJC the highest grades for integrity and efficiency.

March 4, 2008 - New York - Israelis are enduring daily rocket attacks from Gaza and need your help, says American Jewish Committee Executive Director David A. Harris. “People near the border have been killed, houses damaged, and children scarred for life,” he says in his national radio message. “At AJC, we’ve set up an emergency fund to help rebuild lives—and hope.”

The full text:

Israel has endured thousands of rocket attacks from neighboring Gaza.
People near the border have been killed, houses damaged, and children scarred for life.
Why this daily barrage?

Two years ago, Gaza had its first chance ever to chart its own future.
Instead of construction, though, its leaders preferred destruction—of Israel, that is.

A democratic country, Israel, is being targeted. Its citizens near the Gaza border are fair game for the terrorists.

At AJC, we’ve set up an emergency fund to help rebuild lives—and hope.
All funds will be put to work on the ground, where it counts.

Charity Navigator and the American Institute of Philanthropy give AJC the highest grades for integrity and efficiency.

How would life be for you if your community were the daily target of terrorist attacks? That’s how people in towns like Sderot feel.

Let’s send a message of caring. Act today.
Go to ajc.org, that’s ajc.org, to make a secure, online donation.

This is David Harris of the American Jewish Committee.

Be sure to check out the UJC’s new blog, Voices from Sderot

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