The Natan Fund has announced a pilot round of New Media grants. Examples of new media include, but are not limited to, mobile applications, social networks, online games, interactive content and digital video and audio. (Applicants are encouraged to use existing technologies in new ways and do not need to develop new technology platforms.) You can download the New Media Request for Proposals and further instructions. Applications are due by 5pm ET on Thursday, June 30, 2011. … Continue Reading
Natan Fund Launches New Media Grant Area with Experiment in Crowdsourcing
With the goal of supporting cutting-edge projects that use new media, Natan is launching a New Media grant area. The grants will support cutting-edge projects that use new media to create new access points to Jewish life and learning, build Jewish communities, and/or inspire and enable people to be a part of Jewish life. In this pilot round of the New Media grants, Natan expects to give away at least $100,000 in grants ranging from $10,000 - $40,000. According to Felicia Herman, Natan's executive director, "We're excited to launch this new grant area with an experiment in crowdsourcing. In keeping with the ethos of the field, and inspired by calls for funders to “open up to new inputs” (as the Monitor Institute puts it in this report), Natan is opening up a draft of the … Continue Reading
Social Capital Keeps Jewish Startup Sector Forging Ahead
Despite the economic downturn and its effect on Jewish philanthropies and nonprofits, the number of new Jewish non-profit organizations continues to rise dramatically, today reaching more than 600 initiatives serving 630,000 people across North America. In addition to money - nearly $200 million per year flows to this startup sector each year - a robust portfolio of education, leadership and organizational development programs is powering the innovation sector and its leaders - and in turn, broadening the reach of their startup initiatives. These are the major findings of the 2010 Survey of New Jewish Initiatives in North America, a project of Jumpstart, The Natan Fund and The Samuel Bronfman Foundation. The survey is intended to help current and potential funders and nonprofit leaders make … Continue Reading
Natan Fund 2012 Grant Areas Open
Natan is now accepting Letters of Inquiry for its 2012 Grants in the areas of: Advancing Inclusiveness in the North American Jewish Community Economic Development in Israel Emerging Models of Jewish Connection in North America Jewish Peoplehood Letters of Inquiry are due at 3:00pm ET on Friday, April 15, 2011. The Request for Proposals (RFP) in each grant area is available on the Natan website, along with eligibility criteria. Within each RFP is a link to the application website. Please note as well: The most recent round of the Birthright Israel NEXT/Natan Grants for Social Entrepreneurs is also open, with proposals due May 6, 2011. Click here for more information and for application materials. In April 2011, Natan will open the application process for our newest grant … Continue Reading
Natan Annouces 2011 Grant Recipients
Natan has announced the awarding of over $950,000 to 47 emerging nonprofit organizations and individuals around the world that are working to strengthen the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Information on all of the 2011 Grants is available on the grants page of the Natan website. Natan has also announced three important changes to their grant areas for the 2012 Grants cycle: They are adding a new grant area, to support cutting-edge Jewish New Media projects. More information on the specific focus of that committee will be forthcoming soon. Gary Rosenblatt of The Jewish Week discussed the launch event for this new committee in his latest column. To augment the existing national Natan/Birthright Israel NEXT Grants for Social Entrepreneurs program, Natan is piloting a local … Continue Reading
Jewish Philanthropy in 2011: Some Thoughts
by Felicia Herman Jewish tradition warns us to stay away from prophesiers (Lev. 19:26; Dt. 18:10 and 18:14), which drove much of the collective Jewish skillset away from augury and into strategy. In that spirit, I offer not a list of predictions about what will happen in Jewish philanthropy in 2011, but rather some reflections on what I think needs to happen if the Jewish philanthropic world is going to expand and grow stronger in the coming years. Where you stand, of course, depends on where you sit. These reflections are the product of my having had the privilege to be involved with The Natan Fund for the past seven years, working together with the exceptional young philanthropists who make up Natan’s membership, with the groundbreaking emerging organizations around the Jewish world that … Continue Reading
Post-Startup Nation
For several years now the organized Jewish community has rallied around the innovative work of social entrepreneurs and the programs that support them. Hundreds of new projects and organizations have been launched as a result of this movement, which has been spearheaded by organizations like PresenTense, ROI, the Joshua Venture, Bikkurim, The Natan Fund, Jumpstart, Upstart [Bay Area], and the Lippman Kanfer Institute at JESNA. And the flow of startup projects shows no sign of abating. If the recent past is any guide, however, we will soon see some restlessness about the continuing focus on startups, and a desire to move on. That happened after “continuity” was heralded as the most urgent priority; it happened after day schools were favored. And it happened again after Jewish camping moved … Continue Reading
Natan Fund Accepting New Proposals
The Natan Fund is now accepting Letters of Inquiry for five major 2011 grant areas. (Two have been open for a few weeks, and the other three are newly open.) Natan supports entrepreneurial organizations with annual operating budgets under $1.5 million that demonstrate an innovative approach to addressing the challenges facing the Jewish people and Israel. Natan strongly encourages applicants to visit their website to determine which grant area is most germane to their activities; Natan will only accept one application per organization per year. To apply, click the link for the appropriate grant area below and locate the "apply now" button on the right-hand side of the page. Advancing Inclusiveness in the North American Jewish Community; *LOIs due Tuesday 5/4. Economic Development in … Continue Reading
Embracing The Maybe: The Case For Risk-Taking
A recent article in the Business section of the Sunday New York Times, entitled “6 Months, $90,000, and (Maybe) a Great Idea,” described the phenomenon of the “Entrepreneur in Residence”(EIR). In Silicon Valley, there is a growing trend amongst venture capital firms to give business entrepreneurs, many of whom have successfully started and sold companies in the past, the opportunity to use their office space, benefit from a generous stipend, and put on their thinking hats. The hope is that they will come up with the next Google or Facebook. Michael Bauer is one such entrepreneur the article highlights: “While the expectations are high for his ideas, Mr. Bauer maintains that the E.I.R. programs work precisely because failure is allowed in Silicon Valley. ... In other parts of the world, … Continue Reading
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