Yes, we know this is on a Shabbat; we still want to bring it to the attention of our greater New York area readers. Join the ePhilanthropy Foundation as they present a content-packed full day conference at Columbia University on Saturday, June 14th. Registration is filling up. The Conference will feature best techniques for online fundraising and what does and doesn't work for social networking online. General and advanced sessions will be held. For more information and to register, click here. If you still need to get you feet wet in social marketing, here's a suggested starting place: 11 Steps to Success with Social Networking.

The press is full of intriguing bits and pieces that suggest the “new charities” may have something to teach traditional charities. By “new” I mean organizations formed since 2000 and driven largely by new technology. Just consider three examples that offer several powerful lessons: Two “charity aggregators” in the US barely attracted any attention when they started a few years ago. After all, people don’t really go online to shop for charity…do they? But the two “online charity malls,” Network for Good and JustGive.org, have hit their stride, together increasing from US$52 million in 2006 to almost US$80 million in 2007, a growth rate of about 50% annually. Read more of this article by Richard McPherson here.

Google Israel - has a new initiative in honor of Israel's 60th birthday! They have decided to dedicate this year to "Our Children and Our Future Generations. " For more information and to join the campaign: Official Website: http://www.google. co.il/israelshel i Google Israel campaign Facebook group: http://www.facebook .com/group. php?gid=12838688 050

MRM Worldwide's digital strategist outlines three key considerations for keeping up with the new online consumer. by By Dr. Augustine Fou Web 2.0 has been described as "lots of video," "cool user interfaces that use javascript," "social networking," "word of mouth." Google, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, etc. have been used as examples, as have countless other companies and terms, correctly or incorrectly. But what really is the essence of this new wave of websites rising from the ashes of the first web implosion? And what are the implications for advertising and marketing? Web 2.0 versus Web 1.0 Web 1.0 was about the tools which made getting information online easier -- HTML, website creation software, standards, internet connections, etc. This led to an explosion of ...

Yad Vashem, the Holocaust remembrance and education center in Jerusalem, has launched two YouTube channels in advance of today's Holocaust Remembrance Day. The channels, in English and Arabic, went live Tuesday. The English channel contains testimonies from Holocaust survivors, including archival footage, historians’ lectures on key issues related to the Holocaust, footage from visits to Yad Vashem, including those of President George W. Bush in January 2008, and Pope John Paul II in March 2000, as well as human interest stories, such as family reunions. The Arabic channel has testimonies and archival footage about the Holocaust, with Arabic subtitles. “We know that YouTube is one of the most popular websites today. This ...

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.

Perhaps just writing a blog on your organization's web site and monitoring comments is what will best for your non-profit. Certainly the "big" tool (and I can't stress this enough) is the use of video. The important thing, though, we hope you will keep in mind,

any ...

Facebook messaged the 4,600 fans of the FacebookPages Page with helpful hints on how to make your presence on Facebook go viral (by messaging all of your fans, for example). Check out some key strategies from the most successful businesses on Pages, including:

• Regularly adding engaging and useful content
• Letting fans participate in the conversation

To read about some winning strategies—along with the nuts of bolts of how to create and manage a Page—here's a link: Insider's Guide to Viral ...

Celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary with a new dance from Moses. Brought to you by Birthright Israel.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH3crBQyyhY[/youtube]

Chag Pesach Sameach

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem

Implementing and maintaining a successful blog may be the most critical aspect of your online fundraising efforts. There are many reasons a non-profit should host a blog. For fundraising, there are a few basic reasons why blogging makes sense:

• Blog Readers are an Ideal Audience - The typical blog reader is young, wealthy, active, and influential. Blog readers are 11 percent more likely than the average Internet user to have incomes of or greater than $75,000. (Clickz.com)
• Continuous Communications Leads to Continuous Donation - Blogs offer the element of human interaction and constant communication needed to truly drive home your organization's goals and objectives. Staff members will be more informed and motivated, and supporters will become lively, engaged, and ready to ...
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  Tags: blogging, web 2.0

The Internet may not have turned out to be everything charities (and the rest of the world) thought it would be 10 years ago. However, Harry Lynch, CFRE, chief executive officer of Sanky Communications in New York, reminds fundraisers that they shouldn’t forget what the Internet has become—especially for groups most likely to give. "Back in ancient times—say around 1998—we all knew that the Internet was going to take over the world. Remember that? How obsolete and uncool was everything else, including every other fundraising medium and method, about to become? It wasn’t to be, of course. Not even close, in fact. Yet even the naysayers, who have a decade’s worth of history and hindsight on their side, would do well ...