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.