Time To Increase Funds For Innovative Groups

In the next three years, Jewish foundations and significant individual Jewish funders should act as modern governments do in times of significant contraction — increase their expenditures, with the intention of returning to normal levels of giving when the economy grows again. Modern governments go into deficit to provide fiscal stimulus to the economy in times of severe recession, and this is precisely the scenario we need in the Jewish world. Any foundation that cares seriously and strategically about the Jewish future should play a countercyclical role by increasing its giving to see this vulnerable sector through the crisis.

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The new economic reality will also undoubtedly move donors to be more focused in their philanthropy, supporting only those institutions and charities that can demonstrate added value to Israeli society as well as provide full accountability.

There is concern that the economic downturn will move some overseas donors to cut back on their giving to Israel and focus more on local community institutions at home. In this respect, Israeli institutions must emphasize that we live in one Jewish world with responsibility one for the other. So while it is important that local institutions thrive and are strongly supported, it is equally important and in the best strategic interests of world Jewry that Israel’s institutions also remain strong and vital.

The new situation will also require Israeli institutions to develop an even stronger local donor base and fundraising presence. Studies demonstrate that Israelis are increasingly generous in both giving of money and volunteer time, and the Israeli economy appears to be in a relatively strong position to weather the current economic storm.

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from Haaretz; an opinion piece by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews:

Crucial Friends

Many Israeli organizations are dependent on the benevolence of foreign philanthropists and donors as the primary suppliers of their welfare needs, whose aid can at any given moment in time seal the fate of their continued existence. However, these days, the economic crisis, the credit crunch and the financial uncertainty have resulted in a dramatic decrease in Jewish philanthropy. The new reality is such that the Jewish communities in the United States and elsewhere in the world believe it is best to invest donated funding in meeting the needs of their home populations, instead of transferring the money to various organizations in Israel.

from The Jewish Exponent:

One Philanthropist Gets It Right

Long-overdue program to lower day-school costs gives hope for the future

from The London Jewish Chronicle:

Volunteers out in force to help the less fortunate

An estimated 12,000 volunteers performed good deeds on Sunday on the first nationwide Mitzvah Day. Across the country, synagogues, youth organizations and other grouos were involved in 250 charitable projects, helping Jews and non-Jews alike.

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from today’s Jerusalem Post:

GA largely ignored by Hebrew press

All but ignored by the Hebrew-speaking press as they gathered in Jerusalem this week, American Jewish professionals and activists have lashed out at the Israeli media and society for failing to notice - and learn from - another Jewish community nearly as large as their own..

“They don’t understand the community, the day-to-day work of charity and volunteering, people devoting their whole lives to these things,” agreed Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “The Israeli media’s disdain is not new. It’s responsible for a lot of the gap in knowledge about American Jewry [among Israelis].”

Meanwhile, here are some aditonal news stories on the GA from the American Jewish press:

from The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle:

G.A. organizers reach out to ‘Next Gen’

“I think we don’t appreciate ourselves as much as we should be,” said Frielich, one of several Israeli participants (Noa Frielich, a student at Ben-Gurion University and part of the Hillel contingent). “We are not the Next Gen, we are the current leaders. Maybe some of the people who are current leaders, to them it doesn’t make sense, or they can’t believe it that we are the current leaders and we have the power to do things. But I see it now in the States with the elections. I see it now in Israel. A lot of young people just won their municipality elections. And there is a lot of movement of young people. I feel it. I feel the spirit of change. It’s a lot because of the people that came here today.”

from the Forward:

At UJC Assembly, Speeches About Iran and Fears About the Economy

But not everybody found the discussions so constructive. “They have been on a level of vague platitudes — but nobody expects the G.A. to be anything but a greet-and-shmooze,” said Jay Shofet, director of the New Israel Fund’s arm Shatil. “For Israeli NGOs, the slowdown is a huge situation, but it feels like for the federations, it is just a bump in the road.”

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Zveeik’s oft-stated mission is to serve the Jewish people; now he has yet another opportunity. We wish him well as he begins this new journey.

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Everyone is smiling and having a good time. Jerusalem has that effect on people. But, in conversations, the story changes. Everyone is worried. They’re worried about numbers; a shrinking donor pool, endowment losses, donors extending on paying pledges. Higher costs due to higher communal need. Budget deficits. The large Federations often have mega donors and endowment funds as a fall-back (UJA-NY has already authorized some dipping into reserves). The smaller Federations generally have more limited resources. JAFI’s cutting another $45m – the Joint has not yet weighed in. Both organizations are worried about a backlash with donors feeling they need to use their resources locally. The Haredi world is already experiencing this.

The good: I attended two sessions yesterday, Educating Towards a Global Jewish Future and Social Entrepreneurship: Reinvigorating the Jewish People for the 21st Century (where I was also a facilitator). Both were excellent and easily could have been a plenary by itself; content summaries on both coming next week. Meanwhile, if the entire break-out session program was on a similar level, Kol Ha-Kavod to those who made it happen.

The exhibit hall featured the most attractive and professional set of exhibits I have ever seen at a GA.

Sunday’s NextGen program: the participants are psyched, despite the day’s dinner selection. A message to our communal leadership: don’t blow it! And be sure to take a listen from JAFI; NextGen is finished. Kaput. They’re the NowGen.

Numbers: hats off to the Lions for raising $16m this year; more than a 13.3% increase

The bad: more numbers. Seems like everyone is having difficulty with them these days. Are 2500 people here for the GA; 3000 or 4000. All three have been quoted in recent days by professionals who have access to accurate registration details. Spin, spin, spin. Nashville was the same way. Perhaps Wyndham Jade needs new computers. Or a simple adding machine.

MASA, numbers again. How many are here on MASA programs this year: 800, 850 or 900. I’ve heard all three quoted this week from those whose paychecks indicate they have access to registration information. This is likely not spin; most probably carelessness. I wonder if these same people can balance their own checkbooks.

The GA deficit: this is the number that counts for the week. How much is the unplanned budget shortfall for this year’s GA; $100K, $500k or $1m? More important, where will it come from?

The ugly: Binyanei Ha’umah, the Jerusalem Convention Center, was one huge balagan all day Sunday, right into the  evening program. Someone did a pretty poor job of organizing the entire entrance way along with the necessary security screening. Blaming it on the Prime Minister’s Office doesn’t cut it; especially with people who live through Israeli security 24/7/365.

Israel’s politics: The winds of change are most certainly in the air. The Prime Minister addressed the opening plenary (and said nothing). For a man who has been warmly embraced by the American Jewish community for a very long time, the tepid audience reception must have hurt.

Shimon Peres on the other hand was treated to two standing ovations and cameras that wouldn’t stop clicking as he slowly made his way out through the assembled guests.

Nir Barkat, Jerusalem’s Mayor-elect: As I listened to him I could not help thinking that like Obama, he has set a very high bar for himself. I hope for all our sakes, that both of them are successful in reaching their goals.

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Over the past two days, long attending GA participants from North America expressed a very different take to me than Israeli’s and NextGen participants attending for the very first time. There is no question that a visitor’s perspective to this GA was colored by ‘where you are from’. But, let’s hold that thought and go back to the preceding 24 hours.

The hottest ticket in town this past weekend was the invitation only event hosted Motzei Shabbat by the Samuel Bronfman Foundation at Jerusalem’s Cinematheque theater. Renting out the entire building for most of the night, movers and shakers of the international Jewish philanthropic world gathered to hear a conversation between David Horovitz (of The Jerusalem Post) and Edgar M. Bronfman titled, Setting the Agenda: A Candid Conversation on the Critical Issues Facing the North American Jewish Community. Focused around Bronfman’s recent book, Hope, Not Fear, the dialogue was engaging, and for some controversial. And once some technical difficulties with the loudspeaker system were corrected the next hour flew by.

Sunday was home to a multitude of events. On the UJC front, was Next Generation Day -  supported by The Samuel Bronfman Foundation to provide an opportunity for young people from various communities around the world to explore issues of Jewish identity together. Wayne L. Firestone, president of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, had this to say about the program:

“It was frankly thrilling for me to see hundreds of Israeli and American students interacting with one another at UJC Next Gen programs and at the GA. Many had been involved in other Israel-Diaspora programs such as Otzma, Taglit and MASA, in which Israeli and American young people can engage in meaningful conversations about their Jewish identities, reinforcing one another in their appreciation for Jewish peoplehood. I did not encounter any of the cynicism that one might expect from this age cohort but rather a spirit of optimism and entrepreneurship that is very encouraging for our future.” From my conversations with many in this group, Wayne’s last comment is right on target.

Sunday afternoon, Hillel honored Edgar Bronfman’s commitment to Israel and Jewish students by naming their Israel headquarters on the Hebrew University campus in his honor.

On the other side of campus, many of us were gathered at the University Center for the Study of Philanthropy for the conference, Jewish Philanthropy and The Israeli Third Sector in a Changing Environment. The keynote speaker was Dr. Jeffrey R. Solomon, president of The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies. Dr. Solomon’s presentation on The Changing Patterns of American Jewish Philanthropy was informative and filled with qualitative and quantitative information. I have pages and pages of notes and will post highlights next week. The room was filled to capacity; though it’s a shame there was a complete absence of UJC and Federation professionals who could have learned so much.

This is just a snapshot of a part of Sunday. Beginning last week when the participants in the International Lions of Judah Conference and JAFI Assembly came to town, this is what every day looks like. Tachlis, with lots of networking, and for many visiting from abroad, added visits to local projects and meetings with Israeli counterparts.

Stay tuned.

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Blogger: Federations must connect with young Jews

When some people, who want to do cool and interesting things, approach the organized Jewish communities and federations, more often than not they get resistance - in terms of money, in terms of support, in terms of anything.

Sallah Shabati no more

Perhaps the ultimate example of targeted giving came in the form of the cash-stuffed envelopes in which Long Island businessman Morris Talansky donated funds directly to Ehud Olmert.

Battling Over the Blue Box

(eJP note: for an update related to this story, see our post KKL and JNF (U.S.) at Peace)

Although 2008 has not quite come to a close, it seems clear that this year’s fundraising figures for the Jewish National Fund in the United States will make grim reading. The downturn was already evident last year, when fundraising stalled at about $44 million - down from between $50 million and $60 million just two years before.

The malaise that has been eating away at JNF-USA donations is not just an outgrowth of the global financial illness - it is a gradually worsening side effect of a bitter legal feud between the Jewish National Fund’s historic base in Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, and its two oldest and largest affiliates, the JNF branches in the United States and Britain, over who has the rights to the JNF trademark.

Israel Ain’t Broke

The question is whether Israel can continue to swim as the second wave - the impact on real economic activity, like continued layoffs, declining manufacturing and consumption, and pain felt in every pocket - reaches its shores. Ask Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, and he will tell you that yes, Israel can.

Shallow Pockets

The annual conference of Civic Leadership, an umbrella organization for Israel’s third sector, was supposed to take place next month at Kfar Maccabiah, as it does every year. But after executive director Yaron Sokolov was unable to get concrete commitments for funding there, he decided to move it to Tel Aviv University.

“Most of the groups are putting things on hold,” says Sokolov. “Businesses I’m in contact with are not making decisions. They aren’t saying that they won’t give, but they’re waiting until the situation settles in early 2009. Among other things, they want to see whether the crisis has already hit rock bottom.”

Crisis? What Crisis?

Israel has yet to feel the wrath of the global economic crisis. Despite fearsome warnings in the business pages, the actual implications of the world’s financial meltdown on the Israeli economy have so far been marginal. No Israeli bank or major company has collapsed, sparing the government from the need for economic first aid. By and large, Israelis are anxious about the coming crisis, which follows an unprecedented boom, and are waiting for a much-expected decline in real-estate prices.

Accounting for Accountability

Over the last few years, a wide-scale interest in reducing social gaps has turned local philanthropy into something of a trend. This could be a good thing for those who need donations now more than ever.

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‘We know for sure from the last quarter-century that an energized Jewish people energizes a federation system. What no one has figured out yet is how to reverse this formula: for an inspired federation system to energize the Jewish people. That connection hasn’t yet been made, articulated, sold and implemented,” says Yossi Abramowitz.

To manage the current financial crisis and solve the deeper problems in Jewish life, the UJC must take a hard look at some underlying structural realities. While he insists on remaining positive throughout the discussion - “it’s about taking a good system and making it great” - Abramowitz articulates concern about the future of the federation system. It is a system that depends increasingly on the vacillations of major donors, who easily jump ship to local universities or hospitals or to the growing world of private Jewish foundations.

“Federations by nature are very big consensus-based organizations with a lot of sensitivities,” says Abramowitz. “Anyone in the hot seat as chief executive or director of development has an overwhelming fear that they’re going to make a mistake and lose a major donor. Jewish leadership is about empowerment. But as major donors become fewer and more important, and older, and start to look elsewhere to immortalize themselves in their own private foundations, federation leaders are being disempowered.”

Check out the complete featured article, A Renewable Light, by Haviv Rettig here.

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This ever-increasing economic efficiency is mirrored by another important shift - the new relationship between government, corporations and private philanthropists. We at Yesod label this “the triangle of influence” - the three primary agents of social change.

Corporations are the newest of the three agents, but are taking the lead in issues ranging from the global environment to AIDS in Africa and local economic empowerment. They bring a business mindset to the world of social change in terms of value for dollar spent, effective business models, and an institutional structure that is affecting the philanthropic world.

Complimentary to this is an increased role for municipal governments, because the more global we become, the more local we become, as national governments fail in many social areas.

Philanthropists and their new partner, corporations, are now pairing with local governments to effect the biggest change on the ground. Together, they are starting to think strategically about their dollars in terms of maximizing impact and even making a profit.

Yet, why is the Jewish world not adopting some of these broad new trends? It remains frightened. And stuck. We continue to look at our basic institutions as if change spells their destruction instead of progress. This outlook is not logical, and greatly limits the effect of our own dollars and the strength of our own efforts at change.

The following are models/methods that the greater global community uses today, and that can be considered for effective integration into the Jewish world.

COOPETITION - Competition combined with cooperation. The idea that only through cooperation will costs be driven down and the magnitude of success enhanced is integral to the thinking of true business leaders. In today’s world, even the greatest competitors are cooperating, looking at joint strategic interests and ways to attain them together. Cooperation allows for the leveraging of finite resources to reach higher levels of development. This concept can be critical to us in the Jewish world. UJC federations and foundations need to increase their communication and cooperation rather than feel at odds with one another. This is coming to fruition with the advancement of the Federation-Foundations task force created in the UJC General Assembly three years ago in Toronto. The forum should be empowered by Federation CEOs and Foundation presidents all around. Federation and Foundation resources should be leveraged against one another, with distinct roles for each, and we should make strategic use of the Jewish grassroots and Israeli small businesses. Let’s dream big together.

DOWNSIZING - The Jewish world seems to be the only realm in which huge establishments are considered sacred, and where downsizing of both manpower and responsibility is avoided. Why?

OUTSOURCING - Major institutions are farming projects and services out to external firms that can produce them more cheaply and efficiently. The Jewish Agency (JAFI), one of the largest and most established institutions, still does everything “in house” - from building curricula to monitoring and evaluating programs. A greater impact could be achieved if JAFI outsourced some activities while streamlining its structure and maximizing each of its philanthropic dollars.

NEW PHILANTHROPIC MODELS - New models of philanthropy are being created to encourage involvement in social change. The philanthropist/investor not only gets a return in the form of a personal gain, but this gain can be re-invested in further philanthropy. These models include community development venture capital funds, social responsibility investment funds, leveraging with businesses (Jewish, Israeli and global), leveraging with municipalities (Partnership2000, for example, has done this very well), and matching efforts with businesses whose strategic interests relate to our needs.

Yesod works with all these types of models to provide the three agents of change with the biggest bang for their philanthropic buck. We see these new models as important ways to relate to broad social change, all the more so as emphasized by today’s financial crunch. These models are the wave of the future in Jewish and global philanthropy, and maximize both our dollars and our energies (business, social, financial, etc.)

LEVERAGING - In finance, leveraging involves the borrowing of money to supplement existing funds for investment in such a way that the potential positive (or negative) outcome is enhanced. In philanthropy, it means that if your foundation or fund wants to help a grantee meet some need but requires extra funds to do so, it can recommend the grantee to others, share its contacts, or collaborate with other funders. Today, leveraging is a way to make sure your philanthropic dollar is matched against another major agent. The Pradler Foundation NGO Empowerment program, for example, has a mentoring branch designed to help organizations develop their own capacity building mechanisms and sustainability strategies, and teaches the smartest methods for financial development.

Also, look to find a partner who will either match or put additional monies into your financial investment and social concern for a broader, more expansive effort. Leveraging will bring greater strength to your assets, allow you to think bigger in terms of philanthropic impact, and bring in different types of resources, relationships and tools to help push your vision and dollar forward.

SERVICE PROVIDER - In this model, a company tailors specific, nuanced services to the needs of each customer. In the Jewish world, the UJC has the potential to become a service provider for the federations, encouraging their growth and independence. It can assist smaller federations with the staff and capacity they would be unable to achieve alone, and meet specific needs for larger federations. If the UJC can’t meet a specific need efficiently, it should suggest the best outsourcing body that can.

THE TRIANGLE of influence has proven itself to be a powerful force globally, each element learning from the other. We at Yesod suggest that in the Jewish world we do the same - learning from each of the three agents of change. It is our experience in advising all the components of the triangle of influence on how to best interact to achieve meaningful social change, that the more efficient the method, the more impactful the change. From today’s business world, we must learn how to become lean and effective, integrating its core practices and new methods. Because the point is the change. Let’s ask ourselves how can we make the smartest, broadest change. Businesslike efficiency and new approaches should be encouraged, both during this financial crisis and beyond.

about: Ahava Zarembski is Founder and President of The Yesod Masad Initiative, a strategic consulting group on Jewish communities in Israel and around the world. She has previously contributed to us with the related post The Modern World of Social Change.

For more information please contact yesodcenter@gmail.com.

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