Tonight: The Lean Years
Tonight, Natan and the Samuel Bronfman Foundation will host a discussion called “The Lean Years”. The program will consist of four presentations from experts in various fields, who will offer different perspectives on the current economic crisis and how it might affect small entrepreneurial non-profits. They will be joined by a veteran of corporate philanthropy & consultant to several foundations; a professional fundraiser who has worked in various capacities in the Jewish community; a portfolio manager and venture capital research director; and a financial institutions expert from a major consulting company.
At the end of the program, there will be a brief period for question and answers.
The program will also be available live on JTA’s Fundamentalist blog from 6:00-8:30pm (EST). For more information, or for those viewing online and wishing to submit questions in advance, email: theleanyears [at] thesbf.org.
update: A video recording of the discussion is now available.
Thanks to Felicia Herman (Natan) and Ariel Groveman Weiner (The Samuel Bronfman Foundation) for putting this all together.
Survey of New Jewish Nonprofits Underway
The global economic downturn is on all of our minds – funders and nonprofits alike. Though no one knows exactly what is going to happen or how it will impact the Jewish community, we do know that the tough times ahead will require creative, informed thinking.
As a service to their colleagues, Natan, The Samuel Bronfman Foundation, and Jumpstart have partnered to conduct a survey of the “start-up sector” – the new Jewish nonprofits of the past decade. It is a baseline survey, designed to provide both a current snapshot of the financial health of the sector and a basis for comparison down the road. They believe the data from the survey will help the entire sector to craft better strategies for working together in the coming months, and will enable all of us to be more informed when we talk about organizations’ needs.
They also know that this is a busy time of year for all of us, and that completing this survey will require precious time and attention. But they strongly believe the information generated by this survey will be critical as we all begin to strategize about weathering the downturn. They plan to make the results of the survey widely available, to enable everyone to benefit from the information they gather. The survey itself is completely anonymous and results will be reported only in the aggregate.
Participation in the survey is by invitation only and is currently underway.
The World Around Us
Following are items on other Web sites that are of interest to our Jewish philanthropic world.
from The Jerusalem Post:
New humanitarian group aims to train Jewish leaders to ‘fix world’
There’s a lack of young Jewish-Israeli leaders in the Tikkun Olam world, contend Adam LeAdam [Human being to Human being] founders Uri Amit and Yarden Tenenbaum.
Recognizing that lack in the field of humanitarian projects abroad, the two, both former emissaries of the Jewish Agency came together to form Adam LeAdam and develop a program to train and support future leaders, both Israelis and Jews from the Diaspora.
Their philosophy is at once avant garde and traditional. Unlike others of their peers who divide their “Jewish” and “Israeli” identities, they see the two as inseparable parts of a complex whole - which should anchor and guide one’s actions.
from The Forward:
Leaders of Indie Prayer Groups Get Grants, Become Mainstream Darlings
Independent minyans — those scrappy, do-it-yourself Jewish communities that have sprung up from Boston to Seattle and many places in between — largely have been defined by a central characteristic: They exist in the margins of the mainstream Jewish world.
But that may be changing.
If the past year is any indication, independent minyans — part of a growing number of alternative spiritual collectives known as “emergent Jewish communities” — are the new darlings of the Jewish philanthropic establishment. Long-standing foundations, previously worlds apart from the alternative communities that have recently energized young Jews, are for the first time funneling significant dollars to leaders of independent minyans.
also from The Forward:
One has to be in a coal mine in Uzbekistan to be unaware of the Bronfmans, particularly Edgar M. Bronfman and his Jewish communal activities…
As a philanthropist, he has had a critical involvement in the acclaimed Birthright Israel programs — and so has his philanthropist brother Charles, benefactor of one of the more creative foundations in the Jewish world. But the story begins earlier, with the family patriarch, whiskey baron Samuel Bronfman…
Ski Shul
Enveloped in breathtaking scenery and a resort town atmosphere, this stunning Utah synagogue so wants to accomadate members it moved Sunday school to Wednesday to avoid a clash with weekend skiing.
Hilary Leila Kreiger with Mountain Jews, the cover story from this week’s Jerusalem Post Magazine:
“At a time of soaring intermarriage and waning affiliation, a blossoming congregation in the most unlikely of places - a spot known for the Sundance Film Festival and outsize Mormon population it hosts - sees itself as a model for the future of Jewish life in America, a template for drawing Jews in rather than turning them away.
They call themselves “mountain Jews.” Not because they’re descendents of the rugged Jews of the Caucasus who have traditionally claimed that moniker, but because they have made their home here, where the snow-capped peaks of the Wasatch mountains define the way of life - Jewish life included.”
tip to Cantor Tamar Havilio
Hadassah, Tipping Into Decline?
Hadassah just concluded their 94th national convention in Los Angeles. And at the closing dinner Tuesday night, a prominent Medical Center board member warned the organization was on “the tipping point” into decline.
Two pertinent facts were stated by Stewart Greenebaum during his remarks: in the past year Hadassah’s membership has declined by 6% and dollar donations have decreased by 20%.
So, it appears that like every other organization with USD revenue and NIS expenses, Hadassah is facing the reality of the current exchange rate due to their vast array of needs in Israel. But unlike many U.S. organizations, including some of the largest Federation’s in the U.S. who are showing fundraising revenue increases for 2007, Hadassah appears to be tracking backwards. I wonder how 2008 is progressing.
As an aside, this begs the question of how the apparent shortfall played into the recent WUJS Arad decision and their attempt to begin anew in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Some other articles of interest the past few days; from Haaretz: (more…)
