IFC 2010: Celebrate 30 Years of Changing the World

For 30 years the International Fundraising Congress (IFC) has showcased ideas that have helped fundraisers change the world. To celebrate the 30th IFC, they’ve invited 30 of the sector’s leading minds to share weekly insights into the future of fundraising… For more information on the IFC, check the Congress Website. [Translate] Bookmark:  Read More →

Changes in Cross-Border Giving in Europe

from Civil Society Fundraising: Continental drift: Changes in cross-border giving in Europe The world did not have cross-border charitable giving in mind when it organised itself into separate nations. Charities, over the centuries, have been typically local or national although a relatively small number have always been truly international.  However, in recent years this has changed as both individual donors and civil society organisations have become so much more mobile in how they give and how they operate. The amount of cross-border donations has increased. Correspondingly, so too have the frustrations of donors who naturally expect a tax benefit for their gifts.  For obvious reasons, governments have always been very reluctant, to say the least, to grant tax relief to a donor making a gift to... Continue Reading

The Hypocritical Earthquake

The following is brought to us through the courtesy of World ORT. by Chilean writer Rafael Gumucio It is being called the hypocritical earthquake in Chile. A distracted visitor could walk through downtown Santiago and visit the upper and middle class residential areas and barely be able to tell that the Earth shook here last week as few times it has ever done so before in seismological history. Years of preparation, powerful previous earthquakes and undeniable development led Chileans to believe that this catastrophe would practically leave no victims and that the human factor would’t be affected at all. Such as many or better said too many things in Chile, disaster is subtle and many times invisible, but it is there, hidden by our anxiety to be and seem normal, that is to say, to be seen as... Continue Reading

Moishe House: Engaging 20-somethings Globally

from JTA: Moishe House bringing community to Budapest Jews When 29-year-old Eszter Susan announced on Facebook last September that she had moved into a Moishe House, few of her friends knew what she was talking about. Six months later the rambling, high-ceilinged apartment she shares with two other young women has become a focal point of Jewish involvement for dozens of Budapest Jews in their 20s. There are parties at Jewish holidays, movie nights, lectures on Jewish topics, social action meetings and a Kabbalat Shabbat service followed by a potluck dinner that attracts dozens of people each Friday night. “It’s about being informal, and being young, and being Jewish,” Susan says while sipping tea at a cluttered kitchen table with housemates Anna Balint, 26, and Zsofia Simon,... Continue Reading

The Challenge for The Jewish Agency

The Agency’s New Agenda an editorial from The Forward The Jewish Agency for Israel is embarking on a bold and necessary attempt to create a new mission for itself, downplaying its historic role in promoting immigration to Israel and emphasizing instead an intriguing but still amorphous notion of Jewish “peoplehood.” Applause is warranted anytime a sprawling, calcified bureaucracy seeks new direction and energy, and never more so than in this case. The agency that once effectively acted as a governing body in pre-state Israel, and since 1948 promoted aliyah worldwide, has lost its way. Immigration is no longer as much of a pressing task, and other groups handle it far more efficiently. The pipeline of funding from the American Jewish community has shrunk, both in real dollars and in the percentage... Continue Reading

The New Jewish Agency Approach: Peoplehood for Survival

A new emphasis on ‘Peoplehood’ reflects both the economic reality and Russian roots of The Jewish Agency. by Gal Beckerman Natan Sharansky knows he’s disturbing the status quo. Days before the most recent meeting of the Board of Governors, the body that oversees the Jewish Agency for Israel, Sharansky, its relatively new chairman, declared that the agency’s traditional mission had outlived its usefulness. “It’s not enough to speak about aliyah,” Sharansky said, talking in front of a delegation of American Jewish leaders. “It’s almost prohibited for the head of the Jewish Agency to say so, but it can’t be our goal [just] to bring more Jewish people [to Israel].” With these words – and the recent appointment to key positions of people who share his views – Sharansky has... Continue Reading

Expanded Survey of New Jewish Initiatives Launched

2010 Survey of New Jewish Initiatives Focuses on Startup Leaders, Expands to Europe Jumpstart, The Natan Fund, and The Samuel Bronfman Foundation announced the launch of the 2010 Survey of New Jewish Initiatives. The survey builds on the successes of the ground-breaking partnership that produced the 2008 Survey of New Jewish Organizations and The Innovation Ecosystem: Emergence of a New Jewish Landscape. This year, it will include a special focus on the leaders of Jewish startups. Also, for the first time, the survey will be conducted in Canada and Europe as well as the United States. “New initiatives, whether they are independent startups or intrepreneurial ventures at established institutions, are the building blocks for 21st-century Judaism,” said Shawn Landres, co-founder and CEO... Continue Reading

Dateline: Santiago de Chile

On-the-ground reports from Chile: from Masorti-Olami: How about damage ? In Concepcion, close to the epicenter of the earthquake, Rabbi Angel Kreiman told us that he went to the Synagogue, and “it was like the hurban habayit (destruction of the temple), the walls were all cracked and the roof had fallen down. I couldn’t stay there, so I got the sifrei Torah and left.” Rabbi Shmuel Szteinhendler in Santiago told us, “we have some damage to our home, but its not too severe … . we will try and replace things and try to go on, while also assisting our kehillah members and at the same time supporting the local community at large who have suffered so much.” The Rabbis, along with leaders of the Jewish community have come together to form a Crisis Committee. They are the... Continue Reading

August (1929) and Everything After: The Jewish Agency at the Crossroads of History

The fruit of three thousand years of civilization and a hundred generations of suffering may not be sacrificed by us. It will be sacrificed if dissipated. Assimilation is national suicide. And assimilation can be prevented only by preserving national characteristics and life as other peoples, large and small, are preserving and developing their national life. – excerpt from “A Call to the Educated Jew” by Louis Brandeis History teaches everything, including the future. – Alphonese de Lamartine What was it like to be part of the leadership the Jewish Agency in August, 1929 in Zurich? Less than a month earlier, the 16th Zionist Congress established an expanded Jewish Agency after a seven year long debate about how Zionist efforts would incorporate a wide array of Jewish groups in the... Continue Reading

Social Finance and Philanthropy: A Special Section

The European edition of The Wall Street Journal has published a special section called Social Finance and Philanthropy. Here are just a few of the articles: Measuring the Bang of Every Donated Buck Scoring charitable work is evolving from an art into a science. Making Ends Meet The credit crunch choked off funding for good causes. And there are worries it won’t come back soon. Microfinance’s Midlife Crisis Companies that provide banking services in developing countries are attracting private investment. But is the industry losing sight of its mission to alleviate poverty? Cross-Border Giving The rules on tax relief can be complicated. But for expatriates or foreigners seeking to donate to charities in another country it has traditionally been very simple: There is no tax relief. [Translate] Bookmark:  Read More →

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