An open invitation from the Israel Association of Professional Fundraisers
Shalom Friends and Colleagues,
As you recall, about a year ago we began the process of creating a professional organization for fundraisers, consultants and resource development staff in Israel.
The initiative began as a result of various reports in the media that dealt a severe blow to the image of professional fundraisers. It hit home with many of us since the profession is seen as an ‘orphan’ or ‘stepchild’ and isn’t given the proper recognition by the public, despite our sizable contribution to Israeli society in general, and the philanthropic sector in particular.
In Israel, as opposed to many countries in the world, fundraisers have no professional organization representing them.
The Non-Profit Registrar’s office in the Ministry of Justice is responsible for the non-profit organizations, but not for the professional behavior of those who solicit funding, both public and private.
Because there is no professional organization, there are no compulsory professional behavioral standards, codes of conduct, ethical standards and the like.
Every business sector in Israel has a professional organization that works on behalf of those in the field.
We are now in the process of filing the paperwork necessary with the Non-Profit Registrar in order to become an official non-profit. The registration process is not very expensive, but the ongoing expenses for the first year will require an investment on your part.
Therefore, this is our request of you: we want your opinion, and to know your willingness to invest of your time to discuss the questions: creating a code of ethics, creating a declaration of rights for donors, strategic planning, etc.
Please fill out the questionnaire in order to help us understand better our professional needs in the field.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Founding Members
Lois Cohen says
January 5, 2010 at 4:08 pmYou may find it useful to reference the code of ethics of these highly regarded US and Massachusetts-based professional fundraising associations: Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Women in Development (WID), Coundil for Advancement and support of Education(CASE), and Planned Giving Group of New England (PGGNE).
Rosemary Linsider says
January 5, 2010 at 6:15 pmI’m a development professional who is planning to make aliyah with my husband sometime in the summer. As a member of AFP, I called the main office to find out if they knew of any chapters in Israel, since AFP has organizations in other countries. They didn’t know of anyone in Israel! I would urge you to contact them to see how they can help you get established. They have many wonderful resources, including, as Lois Cohen suggested above, a code of ethics. Their website is afpnet.com.
Zachary Harris says
January 6, 2010 at 9:37 amI am entering the resource development field in Israel, after 17 years of work for a US based family foundation there. I probably know who the “Founding Members” are, and am willing and excited to help get the Israeli organization off the ground, at least in terms of the code of ethics piece. I quickly learned that the non profit side here does not have a clear understanding of the standards in the US and elsewhere. Many organizations try to entice you to work on the basis of percentages, etc.
Come on guys, make yourselves known and let’s get this thing going !
Jonny Cline says
January 11, 2010 at 10:33 amRosemary – I am a member of the AFP, but I think I am the only one in Israel this year, and there is no local chapter.
It is about time that such an initiative came to be, and I intend to do all I can to support it – I suggest we all do the same.
As a professional group, we deserve recognition. As individuals, we deserve respect.
To come together to share, support and promote can only strengthen us, our organizations, and the civil society of the country we love.
🙂
Dan Brown says
January 11, 2010 at 10:47 amI was a member of AFP for many years, including three since making Aliyah. While I firmly believe in the need for, and support, a professional organization here in Israel the fact is AFP offers no added value I can see (unless you are going to their annual conference and taking advantage of the member discount) to those living outside North America.
arnie draiman says
January 12, 2010 at 11:29 amhi all,
i had writrten a response/follow up earlier, but due to technical computer problems, it was not posted…so…i am one of the founding members (along with jonny, david epstein, orit nachmais yosef, shai ben-mordechai and one or two others).
we want to parellel very closely the various overseas professional fundraising organizations, but we also want to be sure to maintain an israeli individuality….
we are in the midst of registering as a professional organization and as we move forward, one of the items for public input will the shaping of a ‘constitution’ and a list of ethical and moral standards we subscribe to.
feel free to ask any questions along the way….
arnie draiman
http://www.draimanconsulting.com
050-515-6776
Shai Ben Mordechai says
January 15, 2010 at 1:26 pmISRAEL ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL FUNDRAISERS
Hi again,
Thank you to those of you have already completed our survey and/or pushed it out to your constituents. The response rate has been fantastic. As you know the more responses, the better the data. Therefore, we are sending this friendly reminder to ask those of you who have not had a chance to complete the survey to do so within the next week and a half. We will be closing the survey at the start of business on Sunday January 24. At that time we will begin the analysis of the data and create a formal report that will both be distributed and posted by mail.
Please see below for the original survey.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en_GB&formkey=dFlORjNYOEEyZUtzT0llV0tGY1JMTnc6MA
Thank you again for your participation!
The best,
The Founders:
Arnie Draiman
Danny Wieler
David Epstein
Jonny Cline
Orit Nachmias
Rosalind Elbaum
Shai Ben Mordechai