by Helen Chernikoff G-dcast.com is a poster child of the Jewish startup sector, the grass-roots movement that aims to reach the disinterested and unaffiliated by offering new ways - such as record labels, bike rides and online Shabbat services - to connect with Judaism. Over 3,000 educators around the world use G-dcast’s funky parsha-of-the-week videos, which have been viewed over a million times on the web, the group says. Why, then, is G-dcast about to find itself out on the street? “It’s not just my problem,” said Sarah Lefton, founder and director of G-dcast, which has doubled its budget and hired three part-time staff in the past year, but will soon struggle to make rent. “All of the young Jewish organizations in San Francisco have the same problem.” In fact, most young … Continue Reading
The Samuel Bronfman Foundation Second Stage Growth Fund
The Samuel Bronfman Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of a Second Stage Growth Fund. This fund will offer an opportunity for organizations in the post start-up phase of development to apply for general operating funding, which will help them successfully adapt their organizational structure to fit shifting and expanding needs. A recent report, generated by Bikkurim: An Incubator for New Jewish Ideas and supported in part by The Samuel Bronfman Foundation, notes that many innovative organizations that have injected new energy into Jewish life by offering alternative and relevant programming are now transitioning into a post start-up phase that requires, among other things, larger annual budgets and a greater investment in infrastructure. “Our mission is to create a Jewish … Continue Reading
What Does a Post-Start-Up Need? Bikkurim Finds Out
by Abigail Pickus A few years back, the Jewish community experienced a start-up explosion. It was a heady time and one that spoke to a new chapter of innovation and diversity in Jewish life. But now that the honeymoon is over, what’s next? That question and more propelled Bikkurim, a New York-based “incubator for New Jewish ideas,” to commission an in-depth report to identify the unique needs of Jewish post-start-ups and make recommendations to the community. The result is the recently released, From First Fruits to Abundant Harvest: Maximizing the Potential of Innovative Jewish Start-Ups. “If the Jewish community in aggregate is serious about fostering and sustaining new ideas, then serious new supports need to be built into the system to enable start-ups and post-start-ups to … Continue Reading
Peoplehood is the Consequence, Not the Goal: JHub as a Case Study
This essay is from The Peoplehood Papers, volume 7 – Reinvigorating Jewish Peoplehood: The Philanthropic Perspective; published by the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education. by Shoshana Boyd Gelfand According to Jewish tradition, the world stands on three pillars: Torah, Avodah, and Gemilut Hasadim. Some would claim that these are the central principles which hold the Jewish people together. My Jewish childhood identity, however, stood on three completely different pillars. Like many others of my generation who grew up in non-religious homes, three of the core experiences which formed my Jewish identity were: the Holocaust, the State of Israel, and the Soviet Jewry movement. My early memories include: watching the series “Holocaust” on television with my family, listening to my … Continue Reading
Bikkurim Releases Pivotal Study That Identifies Unique Needs and Characteristics of Jewish Post-Start-Ups
New York, NY, March 14, 2012 - To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Bikkurim: An Incubator for New Jewish Ideas has released a pivotal study conducted by Wellspring Consulting that identifies characteristics of successful start-up organizations and highlights the unique needs and challenges that Jewish “post-start-up” organizations face. A cohort of post-start-up (also known as mezzanine or second-stage) organizations has grown over the past seven years, and has gained traction within the Jewish community as offering significant, new entry portals into Jewish life. They have secured initial funding, are growing rapidly, and are strong in transformational potential - but their success is far from assured. From First Fruits to Abundant Harvest: Maximizing the Potential of Innovative Jewish … Continue Reading
Bikkurim Seeks Innovative Jewish Initiatives
Bikkurim: An Incubator for New Jewish Ideas is accepting applications for 2012. Bikkurim seeks innovative, NYC-based, Jewish, non-profit projects that are in early stages of formation. They provide free office space, free and subsidized capacity-building consulting, small stipends, access to local and national networks and a strong peer community. Bikkurim is a joint project of the Jewish Federations of North America and the Kaminer Family. Pre-applications can be downloaded from bikkurim.org and are due February 1, 2012. For more information, contact Caryn Roman at info@bikkurim.org or 212-284-6896. … Continue Reading
Internalizing Innovation
by Evonne Marzouk Our recent investment in Jewish innovation has caused a proliferation of small, scattered non- profits organizing individual programs and competing against each other for scarce funding. Caryn Aviv and Shawn Landres have recently written important articles about this Jewish innovation landscape. Shawn Landres argues for impact investing as a new paradigm. Caryn Aviv suggests the possibility of “for-profit” organizations. Both of these are valuable potential models for future Jewish innovation. In this piece, I’d like to suggest another potential model for bringing innovation into existing Jewish institutions. One of the challenges of this burgeoning innovation sector is that, as a Jewish community, we’re losing focus. Young Jews are connecting to smaller and smaller … Continue Reading
Increasing Supply, Not Only Demand
by Shawn Landres People sometimes ask me how Jumpstart balances what appear to be the competing dimensions of our work: global vs. local, research vs. advocacy, startups vs. the “establishment,” and, most fraught of all, funders vs. grantees. The thing is, we just don’t see our work that way. In our effort to help make Judaism & Jewish life vibrant and relevant, we know we gain strength and purpose by working together. Changemakers with shared visions shape the world with the tools they have available, whether those tools are financial or programmatic, operational or intellectual. I was struck by Yoni Gordis’s observation to a roundtable on innovation and philanthropy moderated by Seth Cohen, just published in the October 2011 issue of Sh’ma: “...We’ve done a great deal … Continue Reading
Building the Innovation Community
by Eric Levine Many of us have followed the dialogue about innovation with intense interest, especially discussion about insufficient funding and the demise of organizations in the Jewish innovation sector, such as J-Dub. Over and above this specific case, we should all lament the passing of innovation projects. I had an experience of my own many years ago (too many!) when I created a student-led organization providing social support and friendly visiting to homebound elderly Jewish adults in the South Bronx. Looking back, that start-up (and I) would have benefited tremendously had we been a Bikkurim resident project. As readers may know, Bikkurim is the model par excellence of a non-profit incubator for groups with new Jewish ideas, vision and entrepreneurial spirit, providing a physical home as … Continue Reading
Young Funders: To Innovate or Not to Innovate: That Is the Question
by Erica Schacter Schwartz Is funding innovation economy-sensitive? Does it flourish during good times and wane during an economic downturn? Has the relationship between young funders and innovation been a mere fling that is likely to unravel from the pressures of a new economic reality? Based on conversations with some young funders and professional staff from across the Jewish philanthropic landscape, the answer appears to be “no.” The interest of young funders in innovation seems to be stronger and more long term than a fling. Through collective philanthropic funds, family foundations, and as individual donors, young funders who have pursued innovation during periods of economic growth have continued to pursue innovative projects and organizations during today’s more challenging … Continue Reading
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